Catullus, C. 37, and the Theme of Magna Bella
1999; Texas Tech University Press; Volume: 26; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1935-0228
Autores Tópico(s)Classical Antiquity Studies
ResumoSalax taberna uosque contubernales, a pilleatis nona fratribus pila, soils putatis esse mentulas uobis, solis licere, quidquid cst puellarum. confutuere et putare ceteros hircos? 5 an, continenter quod sedetis insulsi centum an ducenti, non putatis ausurum me una ducentos irrumare sessores? atqui putate: namque totius uobis frontem tabernae sopionibus scribam. 10 puella nam mi, quac meo sinu fugit, amata tantum quantum amabitur nulla, pro qua mihi sunt magna bella pugnata, consedit istic. hanc boni beatique omnes amatis, et quidem, quod indignum est, 15 omnes pusilli et semitarii mocchi; lu praeter omnes une dc capillatis, cuniculosae Celtiberiac fili, Egnati, opaca quem bonum facit barba et dens Hibera defricatus urina. 20 Raunchy pub and you the regular tent-sharers, ninth pillar from the felt-capped twins, do you really think you're the only ones with pricks, that you alone can fuck your way through the supply of girls. and that the rest of us are he-goats? Or, because you morons perch in a row one or two hundred strong, do you think I'm not man enough to mouth-fuck two hundred of you bums in one hit? Well, think again because I'm going to smear filth about you all over the pub walls. For the girl who has fled from my arms, loved by me as no girl will ever be loved, for whom great wars have been fought by me, has taken her scat there. Her all you and well-favored men love, an well as, which is shameful, all you petty, alley-lounging adulterers. You above all, Mr. Elect of the hairy brigade, son of Celtiberia, land of fluffy bunnies, Egnatius, whom a woolly beard has made a good man, and teeth rubbed raw with Spanish piss. (1) Scholars have tended to focus on the obscenity of Catullus' C. 37 for obvious reasons. This infamous indictment of Lesbia and her sexual partners was, not surprisingly, placed among C. J. Fordyce's collection of scurrilous verse unfit for classicists' consumption. In more recent times it has received attention of a more enlightened and productive kind. (2) Despite the insights offered in these later treatments, I aim here to explore further the interpretative possibilities of C. 37. Amid the rude words and vivid imagery, Catullus has produced a poem with a distinctly Roman flavor, a poem that demonstrates his talent for creating scenes that simultaneously evoke the wider environment of late Republican Rome and his private life. (3) Such themes can be found in the attacks on the taberna and the contubernales who inhabit it, since Lesbia frequents the venue and mixes with the regulars. Catullan imitatio of Ciceronian rhetoric and allusions to the Trojan War constitute additional interpretative possibilities; they are part of the overt Roman tone, continuing and augmenting the ostensibly military theme, even while being equally applicable to the presentation of Lesbia and the poet's relationship with her. I. Roman Reality: The Military Environment C. 37 opens with the addressees: taberna and contubernales. The words are etymologically linked: contubernales (tent-sharers, comrades-in-arms) plays on its common origin with taberna, which was a temporary military dwelling. (4) Likewise, both words have dual meanings: taberna = military tent/tavern, and contubernales = tent-sharers/drinking-partners. (5) Catullus makes the most of his linguistic selections for, as the poem progresses, we discover that the contubernales fit only one of the two definitions of their collective title and, in fact, are the antithesis of military trainees. As we shall see, the very use of the word contubernales facilitates from the outset one of Catullus' main preoccupations in the poem, namely, the effective communication of the image of the barflies as grotesque parodies of the great men who have performed deeds on behalf of Rome. The noun contubernales not only heralds this satiric attack; it sets the scene for the blurring of the military theme with Catullus' personal life. …
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