Camma was a Galatian princess and priestess of Artemis whom Plutarch writes about in both On the Bravery of Women and the Eroticus or Amatorius. As Plutarch is our only source on Camma, her historicity cannot be independently verified. In both works, Plutarch cites her as an exemplar of fidelity and courage in love.
In Plutarch's accounts, Camma was wedded to the tetrarch Sinatus, and became known and admired for her virtue and beauty. Sinatus' rival, another tetrarch named Sinorix, murdered Sinatus and proceeded to woo Camma herself. Rather than submit to Sinorix' advances, Camma took him to a temple of Artemis where she served poison to both herself and him in a libation of either milk and honey or mead. Camma died happily, according to Plutarch, in the knowledge that she had avenged the death of her husband.
Plutarch's story of Camma inspired a number of works of later art and literature. Polyaenus briefly reprises Plutarch's tale in his 2nd-century CE Stratagems of War. In the Renaissance, the story of Camma enjoyed considerable popularity, inspiring De re uxoria by Barbaro,De institutione feminae christianae by Vives, the Libro del cortegiano by Castiglione, and Orlando furioso by Ariosto (where Camma is renamed Drusilla).Thomas Corneille wrote a play named Camma (1661) about the story of the Galatian princess. The opera Nephté (1789) by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne uses the story of Camma but moves the setting to Ancient Egypt. Tennyson subsequently wrote the tragedy The Cup (1884), in which Camma is again a Galatian princess. The poem ‘Camma’ by Oscar Wilde has been seen as a hedonistic commentary on Plutarch's Camma.
I'm sittin' here thinkin' about you tonight
And all that you mean to me
I used to think I would never fall in love again
I guess I was wrong
When your heart was broken
When your wounded pride was laid to rest, baby
You'll never open your heart to anyone else you said
But you lied, I know you're lyin' tome
You see your mind might be made up, mmm
But your heart has got it's own plans
There's no one to blame for false pride, tellin' lies,
tryin' to hide
From feelin' the pain, I know you don't wanna feel it
There's nowhere to hide when the love is callin' your
name, yeah
From the dark, babe, nowhere to hide, baby
There's nowhere to hide, so let love have it's way
with your heart
When love calls, love calls, love calls your name
It's on my lips
And I wish that you were still here
To take me away with your kiss
And take me away from all this crazy, crazy
'Cause too many words have been spoken, mmm
Too many lies have been told, baby
You'll never do it again you told yourself over and
over and over
You're wrong, dead wrong, babe, yeah
There's nowhere to hide, mmm, when love is callin'
your name
In from the dark, baby, nowhere to run, girl
There's nowhere to hide, yeah, so let love have its
way, girl, with your heart, babe
Love calls, love calls
There's nowhere to hide, yeah, when love calls your
name
You fall apart, baby
Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run when love is on its
way, girl, to your heart, baby
When love calls, love calls your name, babe
Love's callin' your name, hey, hey
It's callin' out for, callin' out for me, baby
Love's on its way, baby, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm sittin' here thinkin' about you tonight
And how you make me feel
The sweetness of your touch
The softness of your voice, mmm
You make me wanna be a better man, baby
And I wanna thank you for calling me into your life