catullus 13- otium

Cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me

You will dine well, at my house, my Fabullus

paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus

in a few days, if the gods favour you,

si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam

if you bring with you a good and great

cenam, non sine candida puella

meal, as well as a pretty girl

et vino et sale et omnibus cachinnis

and wine and wit and all the banter

haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster,

if you bring these, i declare, our charming friend,

cenabis bene; nam tui Catulli

you will dine well, for the wallet of your Catullus

plenus sacculus est aranearum

is full of cobwebs

Sed contra accipies meros amores

But in return, you will receive true love,

seu quid suavius elegantiusve est:

or whatever is more pleasant or more elegant:

nam unguentum dabo, quod meae puellae

for i will give you perfume, which to my girlfriend

donarunt Veneres Cupidinesque,

the Venuses and Cupids have given,

quod tu cum olfacies, deos rogabis,

and when you smell it, you will ask the gods

totum ut te faciant, Fabulle, nasum

to make you, Fabullus, all nose

the life of the poet

• catullus was a roman poet who lived during the late roman republic (2000 years ago)

• full name gaius valeius catullus

• Born in verona- italy

• came from a wealthy family

• spent a lot of time in rome

• famous for his lyric poetry style

  • often express strong emotions like love, friendship and sadness.

  • some of his most famous poems are about his love for a woman named lesbia

• known for his clever wordplay and his ability to create beautiful and emotional verses. personal and intimate, gave readers a glimpse into his own thoughts and feelings.

• some people in rome criticised him for writing about personal matters and using language that was considered vulgar and innapropriate.

• now considered one of the greatest roman poets.

poet persona

refers to the narrator of the poem

• easily argued that this is catullus.

  • can assume he was a man who enjoyed romance and falling in love, based on catullus 50.

  • likes enjoying himself- written poetry based on the idea of having a good time.

  • enjoyed good food, wine and the company of women.

fabullus

poem is addressed to him (apostrophe) and is often referred to by a possible translation of its first line, ‘Fabullus, you’re going to dine well.’

• poem revolves around playful invitation to fabullus, urging him to come and enjoy a lavish feast together.

• catullus describes an extravagant meal- incl. delicious dishes and fine wines. poems tone is light hearted and filled with humour.

• close friend, casual and jovial relationship → invitation serves as an expression of their friendship and catullus’ desire to spend quality time in a convivial setting.

• believed to be a literary invention or pseudonym used by catullus to represent a friend or acquaintance.

venus and cupid

cupid was a god of love, beauty and physical attraction.

• Represented by the greek poet Hesiod as a primordial deity who created himself at the beginning of all creation, and whose duty it was to make sure humans multiplied to fill the earth.

  • also fundamental in bringing the world to order. greek creation myth starts w. world being formed in chaos, it was cupids uniting powers of love that brought everything together and into order.

• Hesiod later described cupid as working with himeros (god of desire) to accompany venus everywhere she went, after her spontaneous birth from seafoam.

  • some theorise that this means cupid and himeros were venus’ children.

• greek geographer pausanias wrote ‘most men consider eros (greek name for cupid) to be the youngest of the gods…’ and this is not surprising given how he is depicted.

  • in vase paintings → shown as a child or teenager, alongside attributes of anbow and arrow, a hare, a sash and flower.

catullus’ religious beliefs

• lines ‘si tibi di favent’ is the equivalent is the english ‘fingers crossed’. Cultural belief in the gods rather than a personal belief.

• referring to venus and cupid is a personifcation of love.

  • big part of roman religion → concepts such as justice or revenge.

metre

lengths of the syllables.

• hendecasyllabic- each poem has eleven syllables.

• a stresseed syllable followed by an unstressed (DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM)

  • musical rhythm

• allows poet to express feelings in a structured and rhythmicnway.

feet

basic unit of measurement in a poem.

• traditionally measured the time it takes to raise and lower a foot when dancing or marching

• two equal parts- raising of the foot (arsis) and the lowering (thesis)

  • long syllable: arsis, two short or second long: thesis

  • two long syllables is called spondee

  • one long two short called a dactyl

  • a long and only one short is a trochee, end of line.

lines

poetry designed to be sung.

written with points for a singer to breathe. Missing syllable in a trochee is a place where the breath is taken.

• many lines also have an extra place with a cut between two sections: caesura

• dactylic hexameter gives the rhythm and phrasing.

• no rhyme

chiasmus

a poetic device which has two or more clauses balanced by reversing their structures.

lines 1-3 are repeated in reverse order in lines 6-7

• 1) cenabis bene, mi Fabulle, apud me

• 2) paucis, si tibi di favent, diebus

• 3) si tecum attuleris bonam atque magnam

6-7:

• 6) haec si, inquam, attuleris, venuste noster,

• 7) cenabis bene: nam tui Catulli

Mock invitational poetry

common type of genre in roman poetry- allowed poet to show off what a good host he could be without actually having to host a party, while talking about the love he had for his friends.