View source for Belphoebe

'''Belphoebe''' (or ''Belphebe'', ''Belphœbe'') is a character in [[Edmund Spenser]]'s poem ''[[The Faerie Queene]]'' (1590), a [[Allegory|representation]] of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] (conceived of, however, as a pure, high-spirited maiden, rather than a queen).<ref>{{Nuttall|inline=1|title=Belphoebe}}</ref> Spenser intended her name to mean "beautiful [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]]" ([[Phoebe (given name)|Phoebe]] being an [[epithet]] of the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] moon goddess [[Artemis]], who was known to the [[Roman mythology|Roman]]s as Diana), and it is suggested that she is a member of [[Poseidon]]'s family. A virgin [[hunting|huntress]], Belphoebe can certainly fight, as a potential rapist found out. She is the stronger, [[Women warriors in literature and culture|militant]] sister of Amoret.

Belphoebe is mentioned in [[Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]]'s poem "The Queen's Men",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/peter.bellamy/songs/thequeensmen.html |title=The Queen's Men (The Two Cousins) |website=www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319050059/http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/peter.bellamy/songs/thequeensmen.html |archive-date=2011-03-19}} </ref> which is based on Spenser's work and which constitutes a lament for two young sea-captains who perished on a mission to which she sent them:
{{blockquote
| text = <poem>[They] passed into eclipse,
Her kiss upon their lips —
Even Belphoebe's, whom they gave their lives for!</poem>
}}

Belphoebe is also mentioned in [[Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh]]'s poem "If Cynthia be a Queen".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bartleby.com/257/20.html|title=Continuation of the lost poem, Cynthia; now first published from the Hatfield MSS.; 1604-1618? XX. Sir Walter Raleigh. 1892. Poems|date=27 September 2022 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{The Faerie Queene}}

[[Category:Characters in The Faerie Queene]]
[[Category:Fairy royalty]]
[[Category:Female characters in literature]]
[[Category:Fictional androgynes]]
[[Category:Fictional fairies]]
[[Category:Fictional female warriors]]
[[Category:Fictional hunters]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1590]]

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