The Propoetides

“And the obscene Propoetides had dared

to stir the wrath of Venus: they declared

that she was not a goddess. And—they say—

this was the penalty that Venus made

those girls of Cyprus pay for their outrage:

they were the first to prostitute their grace,

to sell their bodies; and when shame was gone

and they could blush no more, they were transformed

(the step was brief enough) into hard stones.