Philological Dissertation on Honored, Learned, Adored, and Fruitful Virginity

§. I.

An ornamental decorative initial letter H features foliage and scrolling vine patterns.

When I say "honored" here, I understand those preferred in sacred rites, devoted to the gods, and dwelling in temples. And, in the first place, it is not difficult to prove that the ancients esteemed Virginity highly, even if very few practiced it. For what is that from Ovid, Book 1 of the Metamorphoses:

Grant me, dearest father, she said,
To enjoy perpetual Virginity. The father granted this before to Diana.

What is this concerning Europa, who would have pleased Jupiter too much, mourning her own fall in Horace, Odes, Book 3, Ode 27:

--------- O father, she said,
The name of daughter abandoned, and piety
--------- Overcome by madness.
Whence? Whither have I come? One death is light
For the fault of Virgins.

And Virgil praises Camilla in Aeneid 11, because

--------- content with Diana alone
She cultivates an eternal love for weapons and Virginity.