This is underscored by the many references to his identity crisis: "I a woman, I a young man, I a lad, I a boy" (ego mulier, ego adulescens, ego
ephebus, ego puer, 63); (17) "Shall I now be called a servant-girl of the gods and a maidservant to Cybele?" (ego nunc deum ministra et Cybeles famula ferar?, 68); "Shall I be a Maenad, I a part of me, I a sterile man?" (ego Maenas, ego mei pars, ego vir sterilis ero?, 69).
Quid hoc sibi vellet scite intellexit
Ephebus, & motus internos prodidit vultus.
I assigned Drusus and a red-haired lad, Ephebus, to stand guard over the wheelbarrows, fearful that the oryx might overturn them in his late-night meanderings, and then I retired to my tent.
The obvious terror of red-haired Ephebus assured me that I was mistaken.
First, you will fan out across the hills and bring Sleepy Drusus back to camp." Then I looked pointedly at Ephebus. "And you may assure the young man that nobody will raise a hand against him over this episode."
Ephebus fell silently to his bare knees, his body slumped, moisture staining his pock-marked cheeks.
I approached Ephebus and rested my staff" on his shoulder.
(4.) In ancient Greece an
ephebus was any Athenian youth who entered into a specialized training program in preparation for full citizenship.