Catullus 85 and 7 - Style Points Flashcards
quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
5 oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum; [4]
1 basiationes – a colloquial term, possibly made up by Catullus. In the emphatic position at the end of the line. Sets the tone as light-hearted.
2 sint satis superque – sibilance (alliteration of ‘s’ sounds) gives the effect of Catullus whispering his flattery to Lesbia.
3 numerus … harenae – the number of grains of sands is used to suggest an infinite number. This is exaggerated by the precise geographical locations (they are about 400 miles / 650 kilometres apart).
Libyssae harenae – the first of a series of noun adjective pairs (epithets) that add poetic detail to the description.
4 lasarpiciferis … Cyrenis – the second noun/adjective pair. Silphium-producing is a made-up adjective by Catullus. He is being clever with words. Cyrene is the name of the city and the Roman province of which it is the capital. Silphium was a plant which was grown in Cyrene and essential to its economy. It had medicinal properties and was also used for seasoning, perfume and as an aphrodisiac. It was also used as an ancient abortifacient (can induce a miscarriage in a pregnant woman – used like modern “emergency contraception”). It is a learned and exotic reference, but hardly romantic…
Cyrenis – Cyrene was the birthplace of Callimachus, an Alexandrian poet, librarian at the great library of Alexandria, and hugely influential on Roman poets like Catullus, Virgil and Ovid. He is known for writing short, carefully and cleverly constructed poems with many learned references in them.
5 oraclum – this oracle was famous in the ancient world (most famously visited by Alexander the Great before his conquest of Persia). An oracle is a place where a special priest/priestess prophesies the future for people who visit. They are holy places. This oracle was located around 400 miles from the city of Cyrene showing the region where the grains of sand he is referring to is a vast region so emphasising how much sand there would be.
Iovis … aestuosi – the third noun adjective pair. This is a transferred epithet as it is not Jupiter who is sultry but the desert location of the oracle (although Jupiter would be aestuosus if he visited his temple in the desert). aetuosi is in the emphatic position highlighting the heat. Creates a vivid sense of the desert; and in this context, it also has connatations of the heat of sexual passion (Jupiter was known for his love-affairs…).
6 Batti veteris – the 4th noun adjective pair. Battus was the legendary founder of Cyrene. His tomb was in the capital and he was worshipped as a god there. This is also another reference to Callimachus, who refers to himself as “Battiades”, a “son of Battus”.
sacrum sepulcrum – the final noun adjective pair. Sibilance suggestive of prayer. Do the religious references in these lines give a suggestion that Catullus worships Lesbia?
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
furtivos hominum vident amores:
tam te basia multa basiare
10 vesano satis et super Catullo est,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.
7 quam sidera multa – another synonym for an infinite number, but now Catullus moves to nighttime which is better suited to his love for Lesbia. nox is in the emphatic position.
cum tacet nox – “a conspiracy of silence”.
8 furtivos … amores – like his affair with Lesbia. furtivos suggests that theirs is an illicit love. There is a sense of naughtiness here. Note how both words are in emphatic positions.
Note also the plural, amores – their love-affair is not unique, but one among an indefinite number of furtivos amores.
9 tam te – alliteration perhaps suggestive of kissing noises?
basia … basiare – this is a technique called polyptoton. The word is repeated but in different forms (here as a noun and a verb). Catullus emphasise how many kisses he wants by repeating words for “kiss”. It also echoes the first line (basiationes), giving the answer to the original question.
10 vesano – refers to the mad passion of love. Note how Catullus speaks of himself in the third person. He acknowledges his own love-crazed state.
satis et super – echoes the beginning of the poem (satis superque) too.
11 pernumerare – a strengthened form of numerare (to count) – i.e. it is so big a number that you can’t count them.
curiosi – busybodies or gossips who would spread rumours of their affair.
12 mala fascinare lingua – Daniel H. Garrison writes, “fascinare is to put a fascinum or spell on somebody; one was thought especially vulnerable to a fascinum during moments of great happiness (i.e. here, Catullus getting as many kisses as he desires). A common rule of magic is that if you have exact information about a person you can inflict a curse.” So if the number of kisses is unknown (superstitious Romans believed numbers held power), it can’t be used to cast a spell. Catullus ends the poem with a fake sense of drama that adds to the numerous tone.
1 odi et amo. quare id faciam, fortasse requiris.
5 nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
1 odi et amo (I hate and I love): a very short and simple sentence expressing a paradox and describing the poet’s conflicting emotions. No direct object is given. What is important here is the pair of conflicting emotions, both of which Catullus feels.
* The brevity of the sentence and deliberate inversion of the normal sequence of emotions (in which love precedes hate) conveys his confused emotions powerfully.
* Note too the elision of odi – od(i) et amo. Does this mean that, despite emphatically starting the poem with (his feelings of) hate, he can’t quite bring himself to say the word in full, and (his feelings of) love are in fact stronger / overpower the hatred?
quare id faciam, fortasse requiris (Perhaps you ask why I do this?): addressed to someone Catullus imagines is surprised by the paradoxical opening sentence; this may be Lesbia or it maybe some anonymous other person. faciam here refers to the action of hating and loving.
* The dialogue draws us (the reader) into the dilemma. Note the chiasmus (ABBA word order) in alliteration of harsh sounds: quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?, perhaps expressing his frustration.
* His asking of this question sets up line 2. Note that faciam (line 1) is grammatically close to fieri in line 2 (“to happen”; but can also act as the passive of facere – i.e. “to be done”).
2 nescio, sed fieri sentio (I don’t know, but I feel it happen): there is a double or triple paradox. First the poet says he feels both hatred and love. Then he says he can’t explain his feelings despite their strength. Then the poem as a whole stands as evidence that he expresses the turmoil of his feelings very clearly.
* nescio – the first-word position shows his blank incomprehension.
* fieri sentio – this is not now the ‘doing’ of love and hate, but ‘an acknowledgement of his feelings’ – ‘I feel it happening’.
et excrucior (and I am tormented): the final verb excrucior is both very emphatic and ambiguous: is Catullus tortured by his love, by his hatred, or both?
* excrucior is a common enough word for the pangs of love but, in Quinn’s words, “the well-worn dramatic word (is) revitalised by the prominent place given to it.”
