Camma ( Ancient Greek: Κάμμα) [1] was a Galatian princess and priestess of Artemis whom Plutarch writes about in both On the Bravery of Women and the Eroticus or Amatorius. [2] As Plutarch is our only source on Camma, her historicity 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 the tetrarch 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 a temple of Artemis where she served poison to both herself and him in a libation of either milk and honey [5] or mead. [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 CE Stratagems of War. [7] In the Renaissance, the story of Camma enjoyed considerable popularity, inspiring De re uxoria by Barbaro, [8] De institutione feminae christianae by Vives, [8] the Libro del cortegiano by Castiglione, [8] and Orlando furioso by Ariosto (where Camma is renamed Drusilla). [8] Thomas Corneille wrote a play named Camma (1661) about the story of the Galatian princess. The opera Nephté (1789) by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne uses the story of Camma but moves the setting to Ancient Egypt. Tennyson subsequently wrote the tragedy The Cup (1884), in which Camma is again a Galatian princess. The poem ‘Camma’ by Oscar Wilde has been seen as a hedonistic commentary on Plutarch's Camma. [9]