Catullus 17: Sur le Pont d'Avignon / L'on y danse, l'on y danse.

 

Verona, Catullus’ hometown, has an ancient bridge at which ceremonies are held – there is in Roman religion a connection between bridges and religion, and hence pontifex `bridge-builder’. The city fears that the bridge is too old for frivolous dancing and jumping and will collapse. Catullus has a solution: throw an old man off the bridge as a kind of atonement. There are indeed some allusions to throwing a sexagenarian off a bridge at some stage of Roman religion – a less attractive side of this religion for people of my age. The poet has a candidate in mind too: an old man who doesn’t take care for his young wife and allows her to have extramarital liaisons. Note that the old man is reproached for that, not his young wife.

 Catullus XVII.

Meter: priapean – ˘ – ˘ ˘ – ˘ – // – ˘ – ˘ ˘ – × (= glyconic plus pherecratean, I have the division marked with a double spacing)                                                     

O Colonia, quae cupis ponte ludere longo,
et salire paratum habes, sed vereris inepta
crura ponticuli axulis stantis in redivivis,
ne supinus eat cavaque in palude recumbat:
sic tibi bonus ex tua pons libidine fiat,
in quo vel Salisubsali sacra suscipiantur,
munus hoc mihi maximi da, Colonia, risus.
quendam municipem meum de tuo volo ponte
ire praecipitem in lutum per caputque pedesque,
verum totius ut lacus putidaeque paludis
lividissima maximeque est profunda vorago.
insulsissimus est homo, nec sapit pueri instar
bimuli tremula patris dormientis in ulna.
cui cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puella
et puella tenellulo delicatior haedo,
adservanda nigerrimis diligentius uvis,
ludere hanc sinit ut lubet, nec pili facit uni,
nec se subleuat ex sua parte, sed velut alnus
in fossa Liguri iacet suppernata securi,
tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit usquam;
talis iste meus stupor nil videt, nihil audit,
ipse qui sit, utrum sit an non sit, id quoque nescit.
nunc eum volo de tuo ponte mittere pronum,
si pote stolidum repente excitare veternum,
et supinum animum in gravi derelinquere caeno,
ferream ut soleam tenaci in voragine mula.


Colonia: Verona, though some argue for modern Cologna, a town nearby Verona  

ludere and salire refer to merriment and jumping around at a religious festival

salire paratum habes: you have jumping in readiness

inepta crura ponticuli axulis stantis in redivivis:  the inadequate pillars (`legs’) of the bridge (note the diminutive to denote its shaky construction) standing on reused (redivivis) timber (axulis from axis is a diminutive too and occurs only here)

supinus eat: `falls flat’

cavus: deep

palus paludis (f.): marsh, pool

recumbo recubui (-ere): to fall down

sic: in this way, on this condition

ex tua libidine: for your requirement

salisubsali: this word occurs only here and is probably a genitive (the rites of Salisubsalus)  and the name of a god, probably a cult-name  of Mars, as this word is undoubtedly connected with the Salii, the dancing priests of Mars.

suscipio suscepi susceptum (-ere): to take up, begin

munus maximi risus: a spectacle of hilarious laughter

municeps municipis (m. and f.): fellow citizen

praeceps preacipitis: headlong

lutum: mud

per caputque pedesque: `over head and ears’

verum totius ut lacus = verum ut (but where) etc..

lacus –us (m.): lake (lacus is streaming water while palus is stagnant)

putidus: stinking

lividus: dark blue, dirty

vorago voraginis: abyss

insulsus: insipid, silly

homo has a pejorative connotation in such a context

nec sapit pueri instar: he has not as much sense as a child            

bimulus: of two years old (this too is a diminutive)

tremula in ulna: in the rocking elbows (pars pro toto for arms)

patris: a Dutch commentary published in 1950 - written by a female teacher - notes that in Southern countries fathers are far more involved in caring for their young children.

cui cum sit viridissimo nupta flore puella : though he has married a girl in her prime blossom

tenellulus: a double diminutive of tener `soft’

haedus: young goat

adservo: to watch over

uva: grape (when grapes are black they are ripe and so  a prey for thieves)

ludere hanc sinit ut lubet: he allows her to play as it pleases her (ludere has here erotic connotations)

pilus: hair, a trifle (nec pili facit uni is an idiomatic expression `he doesn’t  give a damn’, cf. non flocci facere/pendere  with the same meaning; uni = unius)

se sublevo (are): to come into motion, rise up (someone lying in bed)

alnus (f.): alder (a kind of tree with reddish wood, both words have a common PIE root  *el-, ol- `red’)

fossa: ditch

Liguri: ablative from Liguris –is (= from Liguria, a coastal province in North-West Italy) can qualify both fossa and securi (securis –is (f.): axe), according to the commentary of Kroll, but others take it with securi only (Fordyce, Quinn)

suppernatus: lamed in the hip, hamstrung, cut down

tantundem omnia sentiens quam si nulla sit usquam : as much aware of everything as though she didn’t exist (Guy Lee)

talis isti meus stupor: stupor (dullness) is here abstractum pro concreto  `that’s what he is like, this slow-wit I have picked for you ’ (Quinn)

pronus: head foremost

si pote: in case he can

stolidus: slow, stupid

repente: suddenly

veternus: lethargy

supinum animum: indolent mind

derelinquo –licui -lictum (-ere): to leave behind

caenum: mud

ferream soleam: leather horseshoe with iron sole, attached with leather slippers to the hoof and so more likely to get stuck and lost in the mud. The Celts invented the horseshoe attached with nails.

mula: mule

  

Translation by Leonard C. Smithers (London, 1894)

 O Colonia, you who long to play on a long bridge and have it readied to dance on, but fear the shaky legs of the little bridge standing on second-hand sticks, lest it tumble flat in the deep swamp; let the bridge be as good as you desire, on which even the Salian dances may be undertaken: for which give to me, Colonia, the gift of greatest laughter. I want a certain townsman of mine to go head over heels from your bridge into the mud, in truth where the brimming, stinking swamp is darkest and an especially deep-sunk mire. He's the biggest ass of a man, lacking the sense of a two-year-old dozing in his father's cradling arm. Although a girl is wedded to him flushed with springtide's bloom (and a girl more dainty than a tender kid needs to be watched with keener diligence than the lush-black grape-bunch), he leaves her to play as she wants, cares not a single hair, nor troubles himself with marital office, but lies like an alder tree felled by a Ligurian hatchet in a ditch, as aware of everything as though no woman were anywhere. Such is my thick-headed friend! he sees not, he hears not. He also knows not who he is himself, or whether he is or is not. Now I want to chuck him head first from your bridge, if it is possible to suddenly rouse this sleepy dullard and to leave behind in the heavy mud his sluggish spirit, as does a mule its iron shoe in the sticky mire.

Catullus 46: home, sweet home!

It is now the equinox of lent and by chance I saw this poem, written almost exactly 2072 years ago by Catullus. During 57-56 Catullus stayed at the province of Bithynia (at the north-west coastal area of modern Turkey) and was about to go home at the beginning of spring. Climate is though there, with during wintertime cold winds from Russia and a scorching sun during summer. Not the place to be for a poet used to the more temperate climate of Northern Italy and as we know from this and some of his other poems (4 and 31), Catullus hated it to be there. Not only he will go back, but some of his friends (comites) with whom he departed together will too, be it along various routes (diversae variae viae).

Catullus XLVI (Meter: hendecasyllabics)

Iam ver egelidos refert tepores,

iam caeli furor aequinoctialis

iucundis Zephyri silescit auris.

linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi

Nicaeaeque ager uber aestuosae:

ad claras Asiae volemus urbes.

iam mens praetrepidans avet vagari,

iam laeti studio pedes vigescunt.

o dulces comitum valete coetus,

longe quos simul a domo profectos

diversae variae viae reportant.

iam: the repeated iam expresses excitement

egilidos tepores: lukewarm, not cold (ex + gelidus) tepidity  

furor aequinoctialis: the belief was that around the equinox there were more storms than usual

silesco: to fall silent

Phrygia is south of Bithynia

Nicea: city in Bithynia (later famous for the synod where the Creed was formulated (325), though one can call it infamous as well, as from then dissenting groups like the Arians were suppressed)

uber uberis:  abundant, fruitful

aestuosus: burning hot

Asia: the west-coast of modern Turkey, from where ships went to Italy

volo (volare!): to fly, sail

praetrepidans: excited beforehand

aveo: to crave

vagor vagatus sum: to wander

studium: zeal (the original meaning of this word escapes many modern students)

vigesco: to become vigorous

coetus coetus (m.): company, gathering

longe quos simul a domo profectos diversae variae viae reportant = diversae variae viae reportant (eos), quos simul a domo longe profectos.

reporto: to carry back

simul: at the same time

proficio profeci profectum: to go forward, depart

Translation by Leonard C. Smithers (1894):

Now spring brings back mild breezes without cold, now heaven's equinoctial fury falls silent at Zephyr's pleasant breezes. Let the Phrygian meadows be left behind, Catullus, and the teeming fields of sun-scorched Nicaea: let us fly to the glorious cities of Asia. Now my palpitating soul longs to wander, now happy in their zeal my feet grow strong. O sweet band of comrades, fare you well, whom various roads in different directions carry back all at once setting out far from home.

And by A.S. Kline (2001):

46. Spring Parting

Now Spring returns mild and temperate,

now the wild equinoctial skies

are calmed by Zephyr’s happier breezes.

The fields of Phrygia will be forsaken,

Catullus, rich farms of hot Nicaea:

we’ll flee to Asia’s bright cities.

Now restless minds long for travel,

now the glad feet stir with pleasure.

O sweet crowd of friends farewell,

who came together from far places,

whom divergent roads must carry.

Catullus 4: the best ship the seas have ever seen.

A sailor talks about his ship as a she, a woman more revered and trusted than his own wife, let alone the harlots waiting in every harbour. This has nothing to do with the gender of the noun `ship’. Of course English has ceased long ago to make a distinction, but in the Germanic languages which have preserved this classification, `ship’ is neuter.  It is simply out of deep affection and sentiment that a ship is considered a woman.

Did Roman sailors have such feelings too? Difficult to say, but as K. Quinn remarks `they were not insensible to the aesthetic appeal of a well-built ship.’ It reminds me of the love of Italians for beautiful cars. Catullus has made a poem on such aesthetic ship.  It starts like an epigram on a burial monument and gradually it tells the complete story: how it was once made of wood, how well it served his master and where it is now. It has been speculated that Catullus dedicated this poem to the ship he used traveling back from Asia Minor or that it was for a model of a ship, but either speculation is problematic. But maybe this multiple interpretation is the real strength of this poem. What to think of a ship not needing vows to protecting gods while in service and now in rest dedicated to the Dioscuri? Final gratefulness?

A parody on this poem is poem 10 in the Appendix Vergiliana.

Structure:            1 – 9: the ship is boasting about its former qualities

                              10 – 16: it tells where and from what it was made

                              17 - 22: its luck at sea

                              23 – 27: reflection and final destination

Catullus 4

Meter: iambic senarius (suggesting the quiet beat of an oar)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosody_%28Latin%29#Iambic_trimeter_and_Senarius

Phaselus ille, quem videtis, hospites,                       

ait fuisse navium celerrimus,

neque ullius natantis impetum trabis

nequisse praeterire, sive palmulis

opus foret volare sive linteo.                                      5

et hoc negat minacis Hadriatici

negare litus insulasve Cycladas

Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam

Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum,

ubi iste post phaselus antea fuit                                 10

comata silva; nam Cytorio in iugo

loquente saepe sibilum edidit coma.

Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer,

tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima

ait phaselus: ultima ex origine                                    15

tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine,

tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore,

et inde tot per impotentia freta

erum tulisse, laeva sive dextera

vocaret aura, sive utrumque Iuppiter                        20

simul secundus incidisset in pedem;

neque ulla vota litoralibus deis

sibi esse facta, cum veniret a mari

novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum.

sed haec prius fuere: nunc recondita                        25

senet quiete seque dedicat tibi,

gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris.

phaselus: a kind of long and fast ship. Phaselos is Greek for a long kind of bean,, so the ship is called after the shape of this bean.

hospites: the way passers-by of monuments are addressed

ait: the ship is speaking

neque…praeterire: and not to be able not to surpass the speed of any other floating ship. i.e. it easily could beat any other ship concerning speed. (note that the i in ullius is here short.)

trabs trabis (f.): beam and pars pro toto `ship’

palmula: oar

foret = esset

volare: to move fast

linteum: sail

negat: phasalus. Again the double negation:  denies that the shore of the threatening Adriatic denies this. i.e. the Adriatic shore and the places further mentioned know very well the virtues of this ship.

Rhodum nobilem: in Roman times Rhodes was already favoured destination for tourists.

Thraciam Propontida: Thracian Propontis (at the sea of Marmora)

trucem Ponticum sinum: the savage Pontic bay (or rather line of bays making an inhospitable coast)

iste post phaselus: that phaselus to be (namely a wood with leafs silva comata. coma `hair, leaf’)

Cytorio iugo: the Cytorus is a mountain in Paphlagonia (a rugged (iugum `rug’ mountainous country at the Black Sea)

loquente coma: with whispering leaf

edidit: phasalus

Amastris: city near Cytorus

buxifer: bearing box trees

tibi: though strictly referring to both vocatives

haec fuisse et esse cognitissima: this was and still is very well known (W, Kroll remarks in his commentary `fuisse et esse underscore the idleness of this self-eulogy’.)

ultima ex origine: from its first day (as trees)

cacumen cacumins (n.): top, summit

imbuo imbui imbutum: to make wet

impotentia freta: the wild seas

erus: master (not necessarily Catullus)

laeva sive dextera aura: i.e. the ship had to tack (adapting the sails to the wind and so setting not a straight course but zigzagging, which was quite difficult with the sails they had then.)

Juppiter secundus: a favourable wind

utrumque pedem: both sheets  (which were attached to the sail, so when the wind fell on both sheets, it was from behind and the ship had a straight course.)

litoralibus deis: for the gods of the sea (litus, litoris (m.): coast)

a mari novissimo: from its final voyage

limpidus:  limpid, bright, quiet

fuere = fuerunt

recondita: stored away (note that feminine navis is now the subject, not phaselus)

seneo: to be old

tibi: the twin (gemellus) Castor and Pollux  are addressed as one. They were the protectors of sailors.

Translation by Leonard C. Smithers (1894)

That pinnace which you see, my friends, says that it was the speediest of boats, that it could gain the lead of any craft skimming the surface, whether the task were to fly with oarblades or sail. And she denies that the shore of the menacing Adriatic denies this, or the Cyclades awkward [to navigate], or noble Rhodes and bristling Thracian Propontis, or the frim Pontic gulf, where she afterwards was a pinnace, beforehand was bearded forest; and often on Cytorus' ridge she gave out a rustling with speaking foliage. And you, Pontic Amastris, and to boxwood bearing Cytorus, the pinnace declares that this was and is most well-known to you; she says that from its origin it stood upon your topmost peak, dipped its oars in your waters, and bore its master from there through so many seas lacking self-control, whether the wind called from port or starboard or whether favorable Jove fell on both the sheets at once; and nor were any vows [from stress of storm] made be her to shore-gods, when she came from the most distant sea to this glassy lake. But these things were of before: now laid away, she grows old in peace and dedicates herself to you, twin Castor, and to Castor's twin.

Catullus 9: welcome home!

Nowadays there are mobiles and skype to communicate with family and friends when one is abroad.  When some 25 – 35 years ago I was on holiday in France, Spain, India or wherever, there was just the public phone, operating on coins, lots of coins, so mostly I didn’t make a call. No news is good news.

In Roman times means of communication were even more limited, just letters, as we all know from Cicero and Pliny. Writing was not always or may be mostly not an option, as there was no regular postal service and one was dependent of people going back to one’s hometown.

Of course travelling was dangerous and the home front was eagerly awaiting the return of a beloved one or friend.  When talented, one could even make a welcome poem. Catullus was talented and he made a poem for his friend Veranius on his return from a campaign in Spain. The date is uncertain, but 60 BC has been proposed.

Catullus IX. ad Veranium

Meter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendecasyllable

Verani, omnibus e meis amicis

antistans mihi milibus trecentis,

venistine domum ad tuos penates

fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?

venisti. o mihi nuntii beati!

visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum

narrantem loca, facta nationes,

ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum

iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.

o quantum est hominum beatiorum,

quid me laetius est beatiusve?

antisto antisteti antistatum (+ dat.): to surpass

milibus trecentis (amicis):  both numbers are used as an expression for a large number, so combined  to 300.000 they express Catullus’ great endearment for his friend.

venistine: have you truly come?

penates: household gods, guarding one’s home

unanimus: of one mind

anus, anus: old women, but here adjective `old’

nuntii beati:  exclamatory, but either a gen. sg. or nom. plur.  An exclamatory genitive is common in Greek, but rare in Latin. The use of a plural for a singular is rare too and commentators differ. When genitive, it could either be from nuntius or nuntium.

beatus is here active `bringing joy’

viso visi visum: to see, visit (a frequentative, i.e. a verb denoting  a repeated action, of video)

incolumis incolumis: unharmed, safe

Hiberum: genitive!

applicansque collum: turning the neck (for embracing)

suavior: to kiss (An 100 years old Dutch school commentary explains that men kissing each other was usual in Roman times - as it still is around the Mediterranean – as it was something not done in Western Europe.)

o quantum…quid: how many… who (the use of the neuter is not uncommon  in exclamations.)

Translation by Richard Burton (1894)

TO VERANIUS RETURNED FROM TRAVEL

Veranius! over every friend of me

Forestanding, owned I hundred thousands three,

Home to Penates and to single-soul'd

Brethren, returned art thou and mother old?

Yes, thou art come. Oh, winsome news come well!

Now shall I see thee, safely hear thee tell

Of sites Iberian, deeds and nations 'spied,

(As be thy wont) and neck-a-neck applied

I'll greet with kisses thy glad lips and eyne.

Oh! Of all mortal men beatified

Whose joy and gladness greater be than mine?

Catullus 102: Catullus can keep a secret!

Some people think that classical scholars have read everything that exists in Latin and Greek and can quote every poem from memory. Of course classical scholars are eager to keep up appearances, so I only speak for myself when I say that I have not and learning poems by heart is not exactly my strength.

It was by chance that I noticed this epigram, when my commentary on Catullus by Quinn fell on the ground with the page containing this poem open. The text is easy enough: Catullus ensures his friend Cornelius that he can keep a secret. Some editors identify this Cornelius with Cornelius Nepos, but others, under whom Quinn, are less sure. What kind of secret must be kept is unknown, but that is often the essence of secrets. The only problem for me was Arpocrates: who is Arpocrates? Well he the Egyptian god for keeping secrets and is depicted as a boy having his finger to his mouth. He was identified with Hermes Trismegistos, the god with secret knowledge.

Catullus 102

Si quicquam tacito commissum est fido ab amico,

     cuius sit penitus nota fides animi,

meque esse invenies illorum iure sacratum,

     Corneli, et factum me esse puta Arpocratem.

tacito commissum est: is committed to one who knows to be silent

cuius….animi: of the friend who knows to be silent (Though some translators take it with amico, but it is more logical that the person to whom a secret is entrusted must have fides.)

penitus: through and through

meque = me quoque

illorum (tacitorum) iure sacratum: consecrated by the oath of those

Statue of Harpocrates found in Britain.

  

Egyptian statue of Harpocrates.

Translation by Richard Burton (1894):

If by confiding friend aught e'er be trusted in silence,

Unto a man whose mind known is for worthiest trust,

Me shalt thou find no less than such to secrecy oath-bound,

(Cornelius!) and now hold me an Harpocrates.