The poisoning of Camma and Synorix in the temple of Diana (Charles Poerson, 17th century).
Camma (Ancient Greek:Κάμμα)[1] was aGalatian princess andpriestess ofArtemis whomPlutarch writes about in bothOn the Bravery of Women and theEroticus orAmatorius.[2] As Plutarch is our only source on Camma, herhistoricity cannot be independently verified.[3][4] In both works, Plutarch cites her as an exemplar of fidelity and courage in love.[3]
In Plutarch's accounts, Camma was wedded to thetetrarch Sinatus, and became known and admired for her virtue and beauty.[5][6] Sinatus' rival, another tetrarch named Sinorix, murdered Sinatus and proceeded to woo Camma herself. Rather than submit to Sinorix' advances, Camma took him to atemple of Artemis where she served poison to both herself and him in a libation of either milk andhoney[5] ormead.[6] Camma died happily, according to Plutarch, in the knowledge that she had avenged the death of her husband.[5][6]
Plutarch's story of Camma inspired a number of works of later art and literature.Polyaenus briefly reprises Plutarch's tale in his 2nd-century CEStratagems of War.[7] In the Renaissance, the story of Camma enjoyed considerable popularity, inspiringDe re uxoria by Barbaro,[8]De institutione feminae christianae by Vives,[8] theLibro del cortegiano by Castiglione,[8] andOrlando furioso by Ariosto (where Camma is renamed Drusilla).[8]Thomas Corneille wrote a play namedCamma (1661) about the story of the Galatian princess. The operaNephté (1789) byJean-Baptiste Lemoyne uses the story of Camma but moves the setting to Ancient Egypt.Tennyson subsequently wrote the tragedyThe Cup (1884), in which Camma is again a Galatian princess. The poem ‘Camma’ byOscar Wilde has been seen as a hedonistic commentary on Plutarch's Camma.[9]
^Henri d’Arbois de Jubainville is cited by Sandra Péré-Noguès (2013) as declaring that the Greeks had invented such stories, though she is not so dismissive.
Bartera, Salvador (2011). "Review of Carlo Caruso and Andrew Laird (eds.),Italy and the Classical Tradition: Language, Thought and Poetry 1300–1600 (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 2009)".International Journal of the Classical Tradition.18 (1):138–144.doi:10.1007/s12138-011-0241-8.S2CID161262553.
Gilabert i Barberà, Pau (2000). "Oscar Wilde. 'Camma', a Severe and Hedonic Aesthetic Correction of Plutarch's Ethics".Actas del VII Simposio Internacional Sobre Plutarco de la Sociedad Española de Plutarquistas. Majorca.hdl:2445/12170.
