Pope Ganymede V was a pope whose "doubtful masculinity" supposedly led to the rumors of Pope Joan, according to A Short Guide to Catholic Church History (Saint Fidgeta and Other Parodies, 62).
Background[]
Much about the pontiff's early years are unknown, though by the early 1500s he was described as "golden-haired [and] rather limp-wristed" and by the anti-Catholic historian Furze as "a raving queen". The Short History assumes that his election in 1503 was so that his reign would counter the then-recent run of lecherous popes.
Ganymede was known to fall into the arms of Leonardo da Vinci, who was so inspired his unfinished painting Saint Sebastian Dying in a Bed of Zinnias was really Ganymede frolicking in the Boboli Gardens wearing a kirtle of begonias.
The body of the pope was found in 1505, having been smothered by orchids that fell from an open skylight while he slept.
Inspiration[]
Ganymede is another name, similar to Sporus, with classical antecedents, specifically a Trojan prince who is abducted by Zeus, in the form of an eagle, to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus[1]. The story was the subject of the poem "Ganymed" by Goethe[2], and in Shakespeare's As You Like It, Ganymede is Rosalind's name when she is disguised as a man. Today Ganymede is known as Jupiter's largest moon, named after the mythological character.
Had Ganymede V a record in the Annuario Pontificio, the annual directory of the Holy See that lists all the popes to date[3], his brief tenure as Pope would have overlapped with the following papal tenures:
- Alexander VI (1492-1503)
- Pius III (1503)
- Julius II (1503-1513)
References[]
- ↑ Wikipedia: Ganymede (mythology)
- ↑ Wikipedia: Ganymed (Goethe)
- ↑ Wikipedia: Annuario Pontificio