I had genuinely hoped that I would have more time before I hit one of those poems that I knew Catullus had written but personally hadn’t read. One of those poems with invective and pejorative vocabulary and sexual violence. Not a lepidus versus, no matter what Catullus might claim. So, I knew I was in trouble when I read the VROMA content warning and I hadn’t gotten any further than poem #6 in this undertaking.
I clicked ahead saying that I still wanted to read the poem. There went nothing.
I read the poem. I read a few translations of the poem. I sat with the descriptions. I read a couple of articles arguing the poem’s nefarious, rather than playful, intent; the cruelty seems obvious. And I thought about this unknown woman who had so upset Catullus that he wrote this poem about her. It’s not really a poem about Flavius unless it’s about Flavius’ lack of judgement—and why does that exist? Because of this nameless woman. She is literally between Flavius and Catullus in the opening line: Flaviī, delīciās tuās Catullō. It’s a cruel, misogynistic poem with playful trappings.
Still, this poem looks like it was maybe on the old AP Latin syllabus before it changed in 2012 to focus on Vergil and (the problematic) Caesar. I have no idea why it would have been chosen if it was (I’m not familiar enough to say). The vocabulary is immensely technical and quite rare in Latin (argūtātiō inambulātiōque). Then there’s the the heavy shame-laden vocabulary (pudet, febrīculōsī scortī, stupra). If that weren’t enough, there’s the word ecfutūta itself (also rare).
I thought about not writing the short story for this poem and just skipping it. This woman was very likely just as real a person as Flāvius, with real feelings, and she was worthy of being remembered for much more than being a nescio quid febrīculōsī scortī. At least we know that Flavius esteemed and valued (dīligit) her, and I hope she too valued herself. I hope she never read this poem, or if she did, she was able to laugh it off and not let it wound. Maybe that’s the value of this poem: to discuss the painful conversations that have haunted women for so long a time and that some men feel emboldened to have.
If you want to go back to Catullus 5, vivāmus, mea Lesbia, you can do so at this link. Hopefully, Catullus 7 is kinder…
Catullus 6: An Easier Prose Story
“Vah!” Catullus exclāmat.
“Vah!” Mārcus, amīcus Catullī, quoque exclāmat.
“Ista fēmina Flāviī[1] horribilis est! Nōn mē dēlectat. Mē vexat!” Catullus exclāmat.
Mārcus rīdēns respondet, “Sed certē illa fēmina Flāvium dēlectat.”
“Fēmina eum certē dēlectat, sed certissimē illepida atque inēlēgāns[2] est!” Catullus īrātus exclāmat.
Mārcus nōn iam rīdet, sed respondet, “Est. Sed Flāvius nihil[3] dē dēliciīs[4] suīs dīcit! Et nōs omnēs scīmus eum dēliciās habēre.”
Catullus exclamans dīcit, “Vah, ista fēmina est dēliciae?! Nōn est! Fēmina bona et amābile nōn est! Fēmina horribilis—horribilior quam horribilis! Nī[5] ista fēmina sit febrīculōsum scortum,[6] Flāvius omnia dē eā mihi dīcere vellet.[7] Sed febrīculōsum scortum[8] est; itaque, tacet.”[9]
Mārcus respondet, “Nec tacēre posset[10] Flāvius sī fēmina bona esset! Nārrāre omnia Flāvium dēlectat. Scortum[11] certē est, vērum nesciō quid febrīculōsī scortī[12] est.”
Catullus, paulō īrātior, rogat, “Sed nōs vērō scīmus quid febrīculōsī scortī[13] est! Pessimum scortum![14] Marcē, dī immortālēs, putāsne eum istam dīligere?”[15]
Mārcus nōn respondet, sed dē hōc cōgitat. Catullus exspectat. Mārcus tandem dīcit, “Ut putō, sīc, eam dīligit.”[16]
“Vah! Nōs agere aliquid dēbēmus! Scortum nōn dīligendum[17] est. Fatērī hoc pudet[18] Flāvium, et amoris Flāviī etiam mē pudet![19] Quālis vir scortum dīligat?”[20] Catullus iterum exclāmat.
“Sed tū cum Flāviō nōn habitās! Nōn necesse est tibi omnia audīre. Flāvius nēquīquam tacitus[21] est quia cubīle[22] suum dē omnibus clāmat.[23] Sēcrētum nōn est,” Mārcus dīcit.
Catullus īrātē respondet, “Cubīle[24] certē clāmat![25] Nam[26] illud cubīle clāmat[27] Flāvium nōn iacere viduās noctēs.[28] Ego ipse ēvidentiam etiam vīdī!”
Mārcus respondet, “Vah, ego ipse ēvidentiam quoque olefaciō! Cubīle[29] Flāviī fragāns Syriō olīvō ac sertīs[30] est. Sī ego ipse Syrium olīvum[31] numquam iterum in vītā meā olefēcerō, gaudēbō et taurum deae Venerī sacrificābō.”
Catullus vult dīcere vōtum esse rīdiculum, sed rogat, “Vīdistīne illōs pulvīnōs[32] in cubīlī[33] Flāviī?”
Mārcus respondet, “Illōs pulvīnōs[34] nōn vīdī. Quid tū dīcis?”
Catullus respondet, “Ego dīcō pulvīnōs esse attrītōs.[35] Nesciō quid febrīculōsī scortī[36] domum veniat! Et istud scortum[37] vēnit tam frequenter ut illōs pulvīnōs peraequē attereret.[38] Hic pulvīnus et ille pulvīnus peraequē attrītus[39] est! Dormitne apud domum Flāviī?”
Mārcus respondet, “Sīc! Et, ut iam dīxī, tū omnia nōn audīs! Ego ipse quassam tremulī lectī[40] audiō! Ego ipse argūtātiōnem lectī tremulī[41] audiō! Et tū? Tū inambulātiōnem lectī tremulī[42] nōn audīs.”
Catullus īrātē respondet, “Sed istud scortum[43] nōtum mihi est, et Flāvius nōtus mihi est. Ego omnia sciō! Etiamsī ego quassam, argūtātiōnem, et inambulātiōnem lectī[44] nōn audiō, dē hōc clāmōre sciō. Nam[45] nōn ūtile est Flāviō tacēre[46] dum cubīle[47] ipsum clāmat.[48] Nīl valet[49]—nihil,[50] dīcō—tacēre stupra.[51] Nōs omnēs scīmus.”
Mārcus respondet, “Quis nōn possit scīre? Flāvius iterum iterumque pandat latera ecfutūta.”[52]
Catullus assentit, “Latera Flāviō tam ecfutūta[53] sunt ā istō scortō ut ambulāre paene nōn possit.”
Mārcus respondet, “Nī Flāvius faciat aliquid ineptiārum lateribus ecfutūtīs, ea nōn pandet.”[54]
Catullus respondet, “Sine dubiō, Flāvius quid ineptiārum facit.[55] Vah, nōs omnēs putāmus eum esse rīdiculum.”
Mārcus rogat, “Quid Flāviō dicēmus? Egone dē dēliciīs[56] rogābō? Rogābō, cūr tacēs,[57] idiōta? Nōs omnēs scīmus! Scortum[58] sēcrētum nōn est!”
Catullus cōgitat et cōgitat et cōgitat. Mārcus exspectat. Catullus tandem respondet, “Minime. Dīcam hoc: Volō vocāre tē ac tuōs amōrēs ad caelum lepidō versū. Quārē, dīc mihi quidquid bonī malīque habēs!”[59]
Mārcus rīdet, “Putāsne eum nārrātūrum esse omnia tibi?”
Catullus rīdet, “Pudēbit fatērī[60] omnia… sed sī omnia dē istō scortō[61] nōn nārrāverit, ego ipse scrībam versum certē lepidum,[62] et nōn erit homō quī dē eā nesciat. Vocābō ad caelum istōs amōrēs!”[63]
Catullus rīdet et incipere scrībere statim vult. Rogat, “Ubī charta mea et calamus meus sunt? Incipiāmus.”
[1] Flavius, likely a real person, and the person the speaker of the poem is addressing.
[2] Uncharming and unelegant
[3] Nothing
[4] Sweetheart
[5] If not, unless
[6] A diseased whore
[7] He would want to tell
[8] Diseased whore
[9] He is silent
[10] Nor would he be able to be silent
[11] Whore
[12] But I don’t know what kind of diseased whore
[13] What (kind) of diseased whore
[14] Whore
[15] Esteems, loves, values; a word with a deeper emotional connotation based on value and worth
[16] Esteems, values, loves
[17] A whore must not be valued
[18] To acknowledge this shames; the accusative is the person affected while the gentive is the cause of the shame.
[19] Shames
[20] Loves a whore
[21] Is silent in vain
[22] Bed; the word lectus appears later.
[23] Shouts
[24] The bed
[25] Shouts
[26] For (as in, let me explain further)
[27] The bed shouts
[28] Does not lie neglected through lonely nights
[29] The bed
[30] Fragrant with Syrian oil and garlands; olivo stands in here for, not olives.
[31] Syrian oil
[32] Pillows
[33] Bed
[34] Pillows
[35] Pillows are worn down
[36] I don’t know what kind of diseased whore
[37] Whore
[38] She completely/thoroughly wore down those pillows
[39] This pillow and that pillow are thoroughly worn down; singular by attraction.
[40] The repeated shakings of the quivering bed; the bed is imbued with the feelings and actions of a lover in the poem; other translations for tremulī could be trembling or shaking or quaking. Given the clear sexual overtones, quivering seems a solid choice for defining tremuli.
[41] The creaking of the quivering bed
[42] Jumping about of the quivering bed, more literally, shaking to and fro of the bed; inambulatio is a term used for orators walking about the rostra.
[43] Whore
[44] Shaking, creaking, and jumping about of the bed
[45] For, as in, I’m about to explain further.
[46] To be silent
[47] The bed
[48] Shouts
[49] For it’s for nothing; In the poem itself, there seems to be a textual problem with this line. Some versions use nīl while others use nōn. The jist is that you’re not doing yourself any good by being quiet about your lewd defilement—we all know.
[50] Nothing!
[51] To be silent about your stupra. Stuprum is a very loaded word indicating a deep dishonor, disgrace, lewdness. It’s hard to find a rich enough word with sufficient shame attached to it in English. I think here using lewd defilement starts to approach the sexual impropriety of the meaning.
[52] Reveals oversexed sides; latera means flanks or sides, though it can sometimes mean lungs when referencing orators—a description that would fit with the use of inambulatio earlier. Ecfutūta is a profane word. I chose oversexed as a definition with the use of ex- in the prefix and the implication that our nameless woman has unusual appetites.
[53] The sides of Flavius are so oversexed that…
[54] If Flavius were not doing something of foolishness with those oversexed sides, he would not expose them.
[55] He is doing somethinf of foolishness
[56] Sweetheart
[57] Are you silent
[58] The whore
[59] I want to call you and your loves to the heavens with a charming verse. Therefore, tell me whatever of good and bad you have!
[60] It will shame to acknowledge
[61] Whore
[62] Charming verse
[63] I will call to the heaven such loves!
Catullus 6: In English Word Order
Flāvī, vellēs dīcere dēliciās tuās Catullō—nec possēs tacēre—nī sint (dēliciae) illepidae atque inēlegantēs. Vērum nescio quid febrīculōsī scortī dīligis: pudet fatērī hoc. Nam cubīle fragrāns sertīs ac Syriō olīvō clāmat tē, nēquīquam tacitum, nōn iacēre viduās noctēs, -que hic pulvīnus et ille (pulvīnus) peraequē attrītus, -que quassa, argūtātiō, -que inambulātiō tremulī lectī. Nam nīl valet—nihil—tacēre stupra. Cūr? Nōn pandās tam ecfutūta latera, nī tu faciās (ali)quid ineptiārum. Quārē, quidquid habēs bonī -que malī, dīc nōbīs. Volō vocāre tē ac tuōs amōres ad caleum lepidō versū.
Catullus 6: The Original Poem
Flāvī, dēliciās tuās Catullō, nī sint illepidae atque inēlegantēs, vellēs dīcere nec tacēre possēs. Vērum nescio quid febrīculōsī scortī dīligis: hoc pudet fatērī. Nam tē nōn viduās iacēre noctēs nēquīquam tacitum cubīle clāmat sertīs ac Syriō fragrāns olīvō, pulvīnusque peraequē et hic et ille attrītus, tremulīque quassa lectī argūtātiō inambulātiōque. Nam nīl stupra valet nihil tacēre. Cūr? nōn tam latera ecfutūta pandās, nī tū quid faciās ineptiārum. Quārē, quidquid habēs bonī malīque, dīc nōbīs. Volo tē ac tuōs amōrēs ad caelum lepidō vocāre versū.
The image for this title page comes from the British Library’s catalogue of illuminated manuscripts. I am grateful that the image is dedicated to the public domain. I have done minor photoshop editing to clarify the image, crop it, and add a heading for the poem.
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