(Ancient Text by Longus, translated by Paul Turner) and Wet Dreamz (Contemporary Song by J. Cole)
In the tale of Daphnis and Chloe by Longus discusses the first experiences in love of a young couple, and so does the song “Wet Dreamz” by J. Cole. In Daphnis and Chloe, translated by Paul Turner, we can see one part in the work where Daphnis describes Chloe with “…her hair was as golden as fire, that her eyes were as big as the eyes of an ox, and that her complexion was really whiter than the milk of the goats”(page 30), and that “The only person he would talk to was Chloe; and if ever he was apart from her and alone, he would rave away to himself…”(Page 31). We can see similar ideas in the song “Wet Dreams”, where J. Cole describes his love interest with “Long hair, brown skin with the fat *ss/…/‘Cause when I seen ‘em thighs on her and them hips on her and them lips on her/Got me daydreaming, man what”, we can see a similar fascination with the beautiful and stunning beauty of his love interest as well. Also in the song, J. Cole describes how his love “Sat beside me, used to laugh at mad jokes/…It started off so innocent/She had a vibe and a n*gga started digging it/I was a youngin’ straight crushing trine play this sh*t cool/But a n*gga couldn’t wait to get to school”. We can see in this later quote a similar “vibe” and intimate connection between J. Cole and his love interest as with Daphnis and Chloe, as well as the reciprocation of his attempts to bond with their respective crushes. Both Daphnis and J. Cole also express this idea of wanting to always be present with their interest, and if they did happen to be away, either waiting in desperation to reunite or simply going mad.
One distinction, however, is the characterization of these two loves. J. Cole uses the rest of this song to describe the process of losing his virginity, and this sexualization of the first love is definitely more common in our society of today rather than in the time of Daphnis and Chloe. By contrast, the love present between both Daphnis and Chloe, while certainly romantic in nature, does contain a certain innocence with their discussions of sexual nature. The manner in which they learn how to express their love for each other, namely through kissing and then sex as learned from Philetas and then Lycaenium, is more innocent than the manner in which J. Cole learns, which he describes as “…watching pornos tryin’ see just how to stroke right/Practice putting condoms on, how it go right”.
“…her hair was as golden as fire, that her eyes were as big as the eyes of an ox, and that her complexion was really whiter than the milk of the goats”(page 30)
“The only person he would talk to was Chloe; and if ever he was apart from her and alone, he would rave away to himself…”(Page 31)