Catullus Commentary

How does 1 show Catullus freedom to write in conversational idiom?

·      Catullus demonstrates the qualities which he most admired in the Greek. Claims freedom to write poetry in conversational idiom: introductory question and answer, diminutives, ‘esse aliquid’, parenthetical Iuppiter as an exclamation

How does he show a high degree of metrical freedom?

·      High degree of metrical freedom. In lines 2-4, the basis of the line is varied each time: trochee, followed by sponge, followed by iambus

What structure (followed in 1) is common in Catullus poems?

·      8 + 2 structure common in Catullus’ polymetrics where final two lines are markedly different from the rest of the poem

What does commentator say on the word patron?

Word patron fits neither literary atmosphere of the time or C’s utterly independent character

What does x suggest ‘ergo’ means?

·      ‘Ergo’ does not mean ‘by the agency of’ as Bergk suggests

Why can Catullus describe a poet as impius/ pious

·      Notion of clientela with the subsequent duty of fides explains why C. can describe a good poet as pius and a bad one as impius

What can be said about the structure of poem 2?

·      Torrent of words – poet does not seem to draw breath. Linear progression

·      8 + 2 lines structure

·      Cyclic structure in the first eight lines. ‘Ludere’ echoes the verb later on and ‘et tristis animi levare curas’ picks up ‘gravis ador’

·      Describes play —-> then interprets it (intellectual framework)

·      Last two lines come as a surprise. Two things C’s readers would be expecting ‘would that I were [some jewel on my mistress’ chest]’ found in early skolia and Hellenistic poetry. Meleager AP. 7.195.2 ‘could I be relieved from passion’. C’s exclamation is half and half

Where does the obscene intepretation of this poem come from?

·      An obscene intepretation of the poem has commonly been ascribed to Politianus (Misc.), but was originally aired by Pontanus (Am.). Recent rival of this interpretation Genovese (1974), Giangrande 1975, Hooper 1985

Why might 2b exist?

·      Possible that a short unrelated poem was inserted between the two passer poems in the collection, just as 6 appears in the collection between the two kiss poems 5 and 7

What does 2b tell the story of?

·      Possible that a short unrelated poem was inserted between the two passer poems in the collection, just as 6 appears in the collection between the two kiss poems 5 and 7

·      Tells story of Atalanta, Hippomenes, and the apple

How is the tone of 3 quasi comical

·      Tone is quasi-comical and almost flippant owing to colloquial bellus , tenebricosum, and negant

·      Quantum est + gen’ is colloquial e.g. Plautus Captivi

What can be said about the structure of poem 3?

·      16 + 2 structure

·      Although there is a change of direction in the final two lines unity can still be found. Circled bu weeping, eyes, and reference to ‘meae puellae’

What is Oculis as an example of?

A Hellenistic figure

What is Euphorion’s Thrax and why is it relevant?

·      Euphorion’s Thrax is a series of curses called down on an unnamed enemy for the death of some victim. Their tone seems to be mock heroic and the editors suggested that the victim is an animal. Lloyd-Jones further suggests that it may be a pet bird and compares it with this poem

How can the structure of poem 4 be described?

12 +12 + 3

What could poem 4 be an adaptation of?

·      Slightly adapted form of lost Phaeslus Berenices by Callimachus

Why might this not be one of Catullus’ Bithynia return poems?

If this is one of Catullus’ return from Bithynia poems then why does he not mention specific places like in the other Bithynia poems (46,31,10)

What does the pure iambic line represent?·     

·      Pure iambic line = speed in movement and reflective of the ship

What is the twist in the last three lines?

Twist in last 3 lines we realise this is not a poem a funerary empigram but a dedication to a god

How is legendary language produced in poem 4?

Legendary language produced by artificial diction such as ‘floating plank’ and foliage as ‘hair’

What does the word ‘hopites’ belong to?

The genre of sepulchral epigrams

What can ‘ait celerrimus’ be described as

A conscpicous Grecism

What is odd about ‘horrida’?

It is strangely applied to water not land

What is true about the vowel sound in poem 5?

Support structural configuration

What language does C use?

·      C uses the very language of the senes to whom the poem bids defiance in order to confound their malignant calculation

How is sound used in poem 5?

·      Open as are the index of triumph. O sounds announce male speaker. Grumbling of senes also voiced in s and r sounds

·      Use of ‘u’ and ‘a’ in ‘Una perpetua nox’ suggests endless sleep vs brutal cutting off of ‘lux’

Why was it important to be able to count your evil adversaries?

So that you could put a spell on them

Describe the rhetorical terminology in line 11 and why it is interesting?

·      Rhetorical terminology in line 11. Appears to contain argutatio and inambulatio both belong to the orator’s craft. Flavius likely to be following ‘triconium fori’

‘Febriculosa’

Plautus’ Cist. 406 suggests that febriculosa was used of common low grade prostitutes

What form does C really show his love of in poem 7?

C’s love of learned poly syllables ending in ‘atio’. They are, of course, particularly suited to hendecasyllabic verse.

Who was the first poet to use the figure of stars and why? What else might they have introduced?

·      Callimachus the first poet to use the figure of stars as an image of uncountability. Krostenko also suggests many kisses motif might also go back to Callimachus

What is the debate about poem 8? What is the commentator’s opinion?·     

·      Humorous or not humorous much the debate of criticism. The repetition of line 5 in poem 37 (not humorous) suggests otherwise

What unpoetical language produces liveliness in this poem? What else produces liveliness?

9

·      Certain liveliness through unpoetical language antistans, quantum est hominum beautiorum)

Variation of tense produces liveliness too

What vibe does poem 10 give?

·      The atmosphere and tone are those of Roman satire

·      Closest resemblance to its tone might be found in Greek mime

What was anointing the head with rich perfume a sign of?

·      To anoint the head with rich perfumes was a sign of prosperity and of the kind of luxury appropriate to days of ease

What cult was growing more popular?

Cult of Serapis was growing more popular. Counter measures had to be taken on 3 occasions. Cures by incubation and dreams

What is true about the structure of 11?

·      Structure is top heavy (only two stanzas devoted to the message itself)

How does Horace underline the imbalance of poem 11?

·      Horace imitating the first twelve lines condenses them into four underlining this imbalance

What metre is poem 11 in? What is notable about line 6?

Sapphic metre. Line 6 has no caesura at all

Tunditur unda, 11

repetition of sound suggests repeated pounding of waves

Caelites 11

Epic and archaic language

Why is the affectionate diminutive used in poem 12?

Affectionate diminutive used for metrical reasons and not implying he is favoured over Fabullus, whose name is already in diminutive form

What is similar about the structure of poem 11 and the structure of poem 13?

·      Two themes rolled into one as with 11

What does poem 13 present?

Traditional topics of mock-invitation with marked originality

Cenabis 13

Cenabis implies invitation rather than self invitation

Mi Fabulle poem 13

Mi Fabulle’ form of address suggests close friendship

What is again true about the structure of poem 14?

·      Two themes again are intertwined

‘Impiorum’ 14

·      Note language of clientele e.g. ‘impiorum’

‘Malum pedem 14

·      ‘Malum pedem’ literary allusions?

What is distinct about poem 63?·    

·      Note that this is a tragedy – goes further than other accounts of cults

·      Very little myth in the whole poem except passing reference to Pasithea in line 43

What is metrically interesting about this poem?

·      There is a firm diaresis at the end of the second foot only in line 37 is there even so much as an elision there

·      At then end of the line we can have either long or short and these final longs or shorts are in fact fairly evenly distributed throughout the poem

·      Line 73 the last line of A’s speech in which he sadly sums up his remorse at his act of self mutilation -iambic dimeter catalectic and iambic dimeter dicatalectic

·      C uses two different forms of the same name in this poem Cybele can have both a short and long second syllable e.g. short (12)

Lassulae 63

·      The core tic rhythm of lassulae, combined with the languor of the unexpected diminutive gives and effect of weariness

Pasithea 63

Pasithea – obscure figure in mythology – Alexandrian in extending the simile in a way that while digressive adds to the artistic exquisiteness of the simile itself

Line 73 talente do , 63

73: talents do (with pathetic effect) imposed by the slow heavy rhythm – galliambics normally light and rapid

How does the poem end?

Poem ends with a moralising epilogue like 64. The concluding prayer is an instance of Alexandrian technique. The deep passion of C’s utterance however adds a personal note to his use of the conventional device

What changes has C made in 64?

The removal of the scene of the wedding from Mount Pelion to the palace at Pharsalus – which has been taken to indicate a major source in Hellenistic court poetry, perhaps describing a Ptolemaic nuptial feast

What evidence might suggest Catullus is trying to show the failures of the heroic age?

·      Trying to show the failures of the heroic age? Lots of inversions: Apollo and Artemis absent themselves from the wedding, Chiron brings unusual gifts, it is the Parcae not the Muses that sing the epithalamium with its prophecy of Achilles; Bacchus does not come upon and suddenly fall in love with the sleeping Ariadne, but brings his noisy rout all ready to capture her, Minos the proverbially just ruler is paradoxically iniustus

·      Athena referred to as incola Itoni and Artemis as unigena cultrix montibus Idri

Allusive references

What odes Catullus assume?

On a more microcosmic scale Catullus seems to assume that the story is already familiar to his  reader and therefore that it is unnecessary to relate it in full

What language mirrors that of the shorter poems?

·      Note how language on ‘fides’ and the loss of it mirrors that of the shorter poems

What does Catullus use in the passages of description?

·      In passages of description poet uses the technical flourish of the spondaic hexameter

Sponadaic hexameters?

·      Spondaic ending - Neoteric had brought them back into favour as an imitation of the verse rhythms of the Hellenistic poets – for this reason C adopts them

What is interesting about the opening of 63?

·      Rushing into in media res = Alexandrian trait, opening of 63 has similar rapidity

‘Verrentes’ 64?

The metaphor of sweeping ‘verrentes’ goes back to Ennius

What two lines can be related to Alexandrian poets in 64?

Two lines can be related to lines by Alexandrian poets that happen to have been preserved in isolation: one probably by Euphroion (1.30) and the other by Callimachus (1.111)

What are the examples of this (64) narrative poetry which have survived as entire?

·      The only examples of this kind of narrative poetry which have survived entire are three poems in the Theocritean corpus, Hylas, The Infant Hercules, and Heracles the Lion Killer (Theocritus or at least definitely first two), Europa of Moschus

What does the particular form of digression C uses go back to?

The particular form of digression Catullus employs goes back to Homer and the shield of Achilles and was favoured by Hellenistic poets Apollonius describes at length the embroidery on Jason’s mantle

What does the commentator say of Catullus’ digressions?

We cannot profess to know why Catullus chose to compose in this way but we can of course speculate…

Whose absence from the wedding is notable? 64

·      The reader’s attention is caught by a reference to Apollo’s absence from the wedding; this variation occurs in no other version of the story that we have

What devices to Catullus take from Alexandria? 64

·      Catullus takes from Alexandria the enliving devices of exclamation, apostrophe, and interjected question

What is distinctly Ennian about 64?

·      To the same Ennian tradition belong the long rambling periods 1-10 and 60-67, the prosaic connections utpote quae, quae quoniam, quandoquidem

·      ‘Prognatae’ old fashioned stately word, Ennian, used by Plautus in formal, solemn contexts

·      Liquidas – stock epithet of the epic style

What is notable about the names in 64?

·      In earlier Latin verse Greek names are normally given Latin inflexions. Catullus uses Greek terminations freely

Aeetos 64

(spondee in the 5th foot)

Nereides’

spondaic ending – lingering look of surprise?

O nimis optato saeclorum’

 the apostrophe belongs to the hymn style

Taedis’

Catullus is first to use this metonymy

What confusion does Catullus have in 64?

Pthiotica Tempe the valley between Olympus and Ossa is in the north of Thessaly far from Phthiotis, the southerly region of the country, but Catullus has precedent for his confusion in Callimachus

How does Catullus go about the commonplace description of the deserted countryside?

·      Commonplace description of the deserted countryside is pursued with extravagant hyperbole

79f beginning Cecropian

79f (beginning Cecropiam) three consecutive spondaic hexameters, occur in Latin only here, but obviously has Greek precedent

Magnanimum

‘Magnanimum’ is a conventional epic epithet

‘You have left me like this?’ Trope

‘You have left me like this?’ As often in comedy. Reminiscent of Medea’s lament in Apollonius

In Homer what does Chiron bring?

in Homer Chiron brings ash spear as a fight here he brings flowers – Hellenistic touch!

What colour are the Fates usually?

Fates are [urple in Greek literature e.g. Plato Rep. here red and white - a favourite cliché of Latin verse – is added to their dress

Dens 64

Dens abnormal rhythm produced by the stressed monosyllable at the end of the line conveys the snap of the broken thread. The only other instance of this is at 68.19

Who sings the marriage song in the older version of the myth?

In the older version of the legend the Muses sang the marriage song in honour of Peleus and Thetis. By transferring it to the Fates the poet finds opportunity for carrying his story on into the future

What does ‘peiuri’ refer to? 64

·      Periuri – Pelops bribed Oenomaus’ charioteer Myrtilus to help him to win a chariot race and thereby secure marriage with his daughter Hippodamia: after his victory he murdered Myrtilus and so brough a curse on his house

What is 68?

It seems at first to be a formal poem (41-148) -elegiac, between a formal letter to a friend and an epilogue. The situation of 65 and 66. But the letter far from introduces a poem as explains the absence of one

What is going on with the addressees in 68?

·      The name of the two addressees do not appear to have the same name Mallius/Manlius and Allius. Lachman suggests the friend is Manius Allius and that Catullus used first his praenomen and then his nomen. But the use of praenomen in writing between intimates does not seem to have been normal practice

Epistolium 68

Epistolium = latinization of Greek diminiutive

Vestis…plura 68

 the toga virilis, the plain white toga that a Roman boy normally assumed at the age of 15 or 16 as the symbol of entry into manhood, in place of the child’s toga praetexta with a purple edging

Dulcem…amaritiem’ 68

The oxymoron goes back to Sappho

 ‘Sed totum….’ 68

·      Ending in a stressed monosyllable and the break after the first foot in line 20 convey the shock of sudden sorrow

What tricksy thing does the poet do with the muses? 68

·      The poet tells his story to the muses and invites them tell it. Usually the other way round!

Pacificasset’ 68

 obtained peace, a characteristically Roman conception

In tunica 68

Use of in of costume

How does the commentator describe the poet’s se of self address?

Looking at himself from the outside

‘Mulier mea’ 70

‘Mulier mea’ commentators compare Plautus’ Bach. 842

Water writing trope 70

Wind and water appear fairly frequently in reference to idle words. Writing in water does not appear elsewhere in Latin but Greek uses it e.g. Plato’s Phaedra

What comparison does Catullus use in 72?

Catullus tries to convey the quality of his feelings for Lesbia by a comparison unique to ancient literature: his love for her was like a father’s affection for his children

Quocquam quicquam’ 73

·      The emphatic repetition is common in Plautus