Catullus Poem 65 Notes Flashcards
Who is Hortalus?
Catullus’ older contemporary Q. Hortensius Hortalus who was Cicero’s Asianist rival in the courts and a poet whose tastes are of new school
What was Hortalus’ request?
A translation of the Callimachus poem 66
How many sentences are there?
One! 24 lines long
How many lines are in the parenthesis of his brother’s death and his sorrow?
10
How is the sombreness relieved?
Vivid and unexpected simile in the last lines
What does Catullus try to maintain?
The pentameter and syllables of Greek elegiac poets
Why is the birth of the Muses sweet?
The Muses are songs and songs are sweet in love poetry
How is ‘expromere’ a metaphor?
The idea of bringing out from a store
Which other authors used ‘mens animi’?
Plautus and Lucretius
What is the idea behind ‘ipsa’?
It has such troubles of its own, it is not free to turn elsewhere
Where is the stream of Lethe?
One of the rivers of the underworld
What does ‘gurges’ represent?
An engulfing body of water which swallows or sweeps away (applied to the sea in poem 64)
What does ‘pallidulum’ show?
The ghost is pale and has lost its natural colour
Where did Catullus’ brother die?
Troy
Where is Rhoeteum?
A headland (promontory) in Troad
What should the phrase ‘tua… morte’ go with instead of ‘maesta’?
‘Canam’
What is the story of Daulias and Iytlus?
Procne is daughter of king Pandion of Athens and wife of Thracian Tereus (king of Daulias), kills her son to avenge her husband’s violence to her sister, Philomela. When Tereus pursues the sisters, the Gods intervene and turn Philomela into a swallow and Procne into a nightingale
The story of Daulias in this poem is…
A simile
