Catullus Poems-61-68

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Poem 64

Translation

Is this the way carrying me away from my fatherland, treacherous one, from the altar, lying one, you have left me on this deserted shore, Theseus? In this way deserting me you neglect the divine power of the gods, heedless one! Do you carry home accursed false oaths? Can nothing avert the resolution of a cruel mind? Was there no mercy available to you so your pitiless heart could have compassion for me? And yet did you not deliver to me these promises with a sweet voice, and did you not bid this wretch to hope these things,

and happy wedding, and wished for marriage, which the airy winds tears to pieces, all vain. Even now let no woman believe sworn oaths from a man, nor hope for the speech of man to be faithful; While for whom the desiring mind is eager to obtain someone, they do not fear to swear oaths, nor do they show restraint to promise: but as soon as the lust of the desirous mind is satisfied, they fear to say nothing, nor do they care for their lies.

' sicine me patriis auectam, perfide, ab aris

sicine is an indignant form of sic (Garrison)

• Here Ariadne expresses her despondency and disillusionment as she gazes statuesquely to see, contemplating her abandonment (Fitzgerald)

sicine discedens neglecto numine divum,

neglecto numine divum : that is, neglecting the power the Gods wield (Quinn)

immemor a! devota domum periuria portas?

“With fallax, immemor, perfidus, the promise blown to the empty breezes, and other verbal echoes as well, the reader cannot help but remember poem 30." (Wiseman)

• devota : accursed, hateful (Quinn)

immite ut nostri vellet miserescere pectus?

nostri : poetic plural genetive (Garrison)

at non haec quondam blanda promissa dedisti

blanda : sweet, with voce (Garrison)

• blanda... voce : Ariadne learns the pain of empty promises, and goes on to indict the whole male sex (Fitzgerald)

voce mihi, non haec miserae sperare iubebas,

miserae : dative indirect object of iubebas (Garrison)

• miserae : an accusative would be expected, but perhaps the dative is a carry over from mihi (Quinn)

sed conubia laeta, sed optatos hymenaeos,

Unusual rhythm, without a strong caesura in foot 3 or 4, and no allignment of stress and initial syllable in foot 5 (Quinn)

• hymenaeus originates from the Greek wedding cry, which then was identified with the marriage God. Eventually in Latin and Greek the term came to be used as a term for marriage itself, often synonymous with conubium and nuptiae, and commonly in the plural. (Quinn)

quae cuncta aereii discerpunt irrita uenti.

venti : words and abstract ideas being carried off by the wind is very common in Greek poetry (Quinn)

quis dum aliquid cupiens animus praegestit apisci,

quis is quibus : dative of reference (Garrison)

• cupiens is an adjective with animus (Garrison)

sed simul ac cupidae mentis satiata libido est,

libido : need could also mean wish or desire (Quinn), in addition to sexual craving (Garrison)

dicta nihil metuere, nihil periuria curant.

periuria connects Ariadne's rant back to the periuria of 135 (Quinn)

Introduction Lines 251-254

In Catullus’ poem 64, A Little Wedding Epic, lines 251-264 describe the discovery of Ariadne by Bacchus. Previous to these lines Catullus describes how Ariadne was deserted at the island of Dia by her love Theseus. While this section of the poem is often thought to be Ariadne’s rescue from the island, the text can make the rescue seem unpleasant as though Ariadne is being forced to go with Bacchus. This section can be broken into three parts, the chaotic and loud discovery of Ariadne by Bacchus, the description of all of the orgiastic rituals the Bacchants are participating in, and the description of the music they are making with their various instruments. This activities in this section can be described as pandemonium. The painting below by Sebastiano Ricci similarly interprets this section of the poem showing many Bacchants following Dionysus playing instruments. Catullus wrote the poem in dactylic hexameter. Works by Garrison, Fordyce, Thomson, and Green were helpful in dissecting the Latin to create a literal English translation. The modern text of Catullus is not necessarily what Catullus initially wrote. Our modern text relies on manuscripts from the fourteenth century with were very flawed (Thomson).

Translation Lines 251-264

Nevertheless vigorous Bacchus was flying about from the other side with a dancing band of Satyrs and Nysa-born Sileni, seeking you, Ariadne, inflamed with love for you. Then the lively Bacchants, with their heads thrown back, were raving euhoe, euhoe all over the place with maddened mind, some of these were shaking spears wreathed with vine leaves, some were throwing the limbs from a torn apart young bullock, some were surrounding themselves with writhing serpents, some thronged about sacred objects, hidden in deep wickerwork baskets, the ritual objects which the uninitiated desire to hear about in vain; others were striking small drums with hands held high, or were producing thin ringings with polished bronze; for many the horns were blowing out noisy booming sounds and a strange reed pipe with was making a rough song.

at parte ex alia florens volitabat Iacchus

• parte ex alia: the other side (Thomson)
• Bacchus is often seen as lively; florens: fresh and vigorous (Fordyce)
• Iacchus is one of Dionysus’ cult titles (Garrison)

cum thiaso Satyrorum et Nysigenis Silenis,

• A thiasus is an orgiastic dance and the group that performs it (Garrison); literally translated a dancing band
• Nysigenis: Nysa-born

te quaerens, Ariadna, tuoque incensus amore.

• tuo... amore: love for you (Fordyce)

quae tum alacres passim lymphata mente furebant

• lymphata mente: with maddened mind (Fordyce)
• alacres agrees with bacchantes on line 255

euhoe bacchantes, euhoe capita inflectentes.

• capita inflectentes: their heads thrown back (Garrison)
• euhoe is an exclamatory cry of the Bacchants (Garrison) and it can remain in Latin the same way a proper name does.

harum pars tecta quatiebant cuspide thyrsos,

• tecta... cuspide: wreathed with vine-leaves (Frodyce) also ablative of material (Garrison)
• the point of the thyrsus was hidden in the vines and a pine cone (Thomson)
• The repetition of pars from lines 256-259 is anaphora and puts emphasis on the acts of the Bacchants.

pars e divolso iactabant membra iuvenco,

• divolso... iuvenco: torn apart young bullock (Garrison)
• The Bacchants were believed to participate in violent acts when under the Bacchic frenzy (Thomson)

pars sese tortis serpentibus incingebant,

• tortis serpentibus: writhing serpents (Green)

pars obscura cavis celebrabant orgia cistis,

• orgia: sacred objects (Thomson)
• obscura: hidden in; here it is treated as a participle (Thomson)
• celebrabant: thronged about (Thomson)

orgia quae frustra cupiunt audire profani;

• profani: the uninitiated (Frodyce)
• audire: hear about (Garrison)

plangebant aliae proceris tympana palmis,

• proceris… palmis: with hands held high (Thomson)
• The alliteration of the p sound in this line and the t sound in line 262 can represent the noise drums (tympana) being struck or the cymbals (tereti aere) ringing (Garrison) and is therefore also onomatopoeia.

aut tereti tenvis tinnitus aere ciebant;

• tereti… aere: polished bronze (Garrison)

multis raucisonos efflabant cornua bombos

• multis: for many; it functions as a dative of reference (Garrison)
• raucisonos... bombos: noisy booming sounds (Garrison)

barbaraque horribili stridebat tibia cantu.

• Catullus shows off his skills in this golden line.