Catullus 76 Flashcards
Structure of the poem
l1-12 describe the poet’s predicament, 13-26 show him agonising over a solution.
How could the poem be seen as ironic?
Poet asks to be cured of love and then lists a very vague plethora of achievements, none of which actually relate to the relationship. he described HOW he feels in minute detail, but cannot really JUSTIFY these thoughts.
What poetic sentiment in the poem can be read more as futile and only a symptom of the malaise that is being described, rather than a serious attempt to cure it?
The gods are said to bring help to the dying, not to lovers to help them recover their health. As the poet seems to want to recover, and he could really arrange a swift death for himself, the references to deathbed assistance are really just a sign of the melodramatic tone of the poem.
How does the poem leave us?
Poem doesnt end with any religious faith/piety. no sense that the poet emerges morally victorious. Left with an ironic text that attempts to offset the humiliation of rejection with moral rectitude and religious piety. Hes sad.
si qua recordanti benefacta priora voluptas
if there is for a man any pleasure in remembering his previous good deeds
si qua makes it questioning- even this pleasure may not exist.
priora voluptas- emphatic placement at end of line. Emphasises his former goodness, current sadness
est homini, cum se cogitat esse pium
for a man, when he thinks that he has been dutiful
homini is a gender neutral term- situ applies to everyone.
pium is a highly charged term. Catullus substantiates the claim that he is dutiful in next lines.
nec sanctam violasses fidem, nec foedere in ullo
divum ad fallendos numine abudum homines
nec…nec.. strong rhetoric/persuasive device, hyped up by strong adjective sanctam and sexual metaphor of violasse.
sanctam/divum/numine- lexical field of religious syntax, confirms his ‘fidem’.
divum…homines frame the line, showing the contrast betwixt the two.
Quinn: These lines use lost of overstatement and rhetoric devices. This is necessary since all he can say in his favour is what he hasnt done… what is he hiding that he has done?
multa parata manent in longa aetate, Catulle,
ex hoc ingrato gaudia amore tibi
then many joys remain to wait for you in this log lifetime Catullus
from this thankless love
parata manent in longa aetate- pleonastic phrase. Builds anticipation for ‘gaudia’, and also suggests that the joys have already arrived.
gaudia should go next to multa, but uses hyperbaton to place it next to amore. There should be joy in love, but here the only way the two go together is through a verbal juxtaposition. Sad :’(
multa picks up siqua in first line- rounds off longest sentence of the poem.
nam quaecumque homines bene cuiquam aut dicerepossunt
aut facere, haec a te dictaque factaque sunt
for whatever good things people are able to either say or do for anyone
these things have been said and done by you
quaecumque homines bene cuiquam - massive generalisation
dicere and facere- bland words, then picked up chiastically by dicta and facta. Blandness might point to the fact the speaker is in a pathetic state and has a weak grip on language.
omnia quae ingratae perierunt credita menti
all of this gone for nothing, entrusted to a thankless mind.
ingratae picks up ingrato in line 6.
credita- used as a metaphor for a bad investment
menti- not heart. she is calculating and analytical, the antithesis of the passionate poet.
atque. ..teque…
and. .. and you…
Quinn: clumsy word placement. Poet struggling with his emotions?
et dis invitis desinis esse miser?
and stop being lovesick when the gods are against you
miser placed wmphatically at end of first section of the poem- encapsulates everything said so far.
difficule est longum subito deponere amorem:
difficile est,…
it is difficult to lay aside a long love affair suddenly:
it is difficult, …
uses juxtaposition (longum subito) and repetition to emphasise the difficulty of his predicament.
haec…hoc…hoc
anaphora
o di
oh gods
begins the direct plea to the gods
