Ganymede, whose name Rosalind takes on as part of her disguise, was a divine Trojan hero, described in The Iliad by Homer as the most beautiful mortal in history. In one myth, Zeus abducts Ganymede in an act that has since been recognized as an act of sodomy. The name’s mythical association with homosexuality further complicates Rosalind’s gender identity.
Ganymede Quotes in As You Like It
The As You Like It quotes below all refer to the symbol of Ganymede. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 3, Scene 2
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Then there is no true lover in the forest, else sighing every minute and groaning every hour would detect the lazy foot of Time as well as a clock.
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Love is merely a madness, and, I tell you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as madmen do; and the reason why they are not so punished and cured is that the lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are in love too. Yet I profess curing it by counsel.
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Act 3, Scene 5
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Dead shepherd, now I find thy saw of might, “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?”
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Act 4, Scene 1
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Nay, you were better speak first, and when you were graveled for lack of matter, you might take occasion to kiss. Very good orators, when they are out, they will spit; and for lovers, lacking – God warn us! – matter, the cleanliest shift is to kiss.
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Act 5, Scene 2
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[To Orlando] As you love Rosalind, meet. [To Silvius] As you love Phebe, meet. And as I love no woman, I’ll meet. So fare you well.
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Ganymede Symbol Timeline in As You Like It
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ganymede appears in As You Like It. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Scene 3
...says that she’ll disguise herself instead like a man, given her height, and call herself Ganymede. Celia will call herself Aliena. They decide to bring along Touchstone, and Celia concludes their...
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Act 2, Scene 4
The scene opens with Rosalind (disguised as Ganymede) rejoicing in her merry spirits and Touchstone complaining of tired legs. Rosalind admits that she,...
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Act 3, Scene 2
Rosalind, dressed as Ganymede, enters, reading one of Orlando’s poems that she has pulled from a tree and is...
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Rosalind (still disguised as Ganymede) approaches Orlando and asks what time it is. When he answers that he doesn’t know...
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...love-swept poet who’s posted them. Orlando admits to being the very poet. Though Rosalind (as Ganymede) at first pretends to express doubts that Orlando is truly in love (just to hear...
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Act 3, Scene 4
...she feels like weeping. She is upset that Orlando did not come to meet with Ganymede (i.e. Rosalind in disguise) that morning as he had promised to. She alternates between speaking...
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Act 3, Scene 5
...and compares her to a hardhearted executioner. Rosalind and Celia enter, in their disguises as Ganymede and Aliena, along with Corin, just as Phebe cruelly mocks Silvius’s "poetic" language of love,...
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Rosalind (as Ganymede) steps forward and interjects with an extended insult directed at Phebe: she accuses Phebe of...
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...around so she can talk to him about love. She gives a lengthy description of Ganymede’s attributes, equivocates on whether she loves or hates him, and then orders Silvius to deliver...
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Act 4, Scene 1
Jaques approaches "Ganymede," wanting to get better acquainted. Rosalind calls Jaques a “melancholy fellow,” and Jaques accepts the...
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Orlando enters and Rosalind (dressed as Ganymede) scolds him for missing their meeting that morning, claiming that she’d rather have a snail...
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Next, Rosalind (as Ganymede) tries to make herself (Rosalind) seem unappealing by promising Orlando that she will be jealous...
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Act 4, Scene 3
Rosalind (still disguised as Ganymede) is impatiently awaiting Orlando, who is now late. Celia suggests that he has gone to...
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...prayers move!” Celia says that she is sorry for Silvius, since his love now loves Ganymede. But Rosalind says that she has no pity for him since he loves someone like...
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Act 5, Scene 2
...happiness, but admits that he does not feel happy himself, because his mental imagination of Ganymede as Rosalind can no longer satisfy his longing for the real thing.
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Silvius and Phebe enter, and Phebe says that she's upset that "Ganymede" shared her letter. Rosalind again tries to persuade Phebe to love her faithful shepherd, Silvius....
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...scene by telling everyone what will happen the next day: Orlando, Silvius, and she (i.e. Ganymede) will all be married; and she (i.e Ganymede) will satisfy Orlando, content Silvius, and marry...
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Act 5, Scene 4
...Jaques, Orlando, Oliver, and Celia (as Aliena) enter. In response to Duke Senior’s questions about Ganymede’s promise, Orlando says that he sometimes believes and sometimes doubts that it will come true....
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When Rosalind (as Ganymede) and Celia leave, the Duke remarks that Ganymede reminded him of his daughter, and Orlando...
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...Rosalind.” At the sight of Rosalind, Phebe bids adieu to her chance at love with Ganymede. Hymen sings a marriage hymn, in which he says he will remove all confusion and...
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