Catullus Study Guide 08

CATULLUS STUDY GUIDE 08

· Using the American Heritage dictionary, look up “poem.” How does – or doesn’t – 51 fit the definition?

· Why does he use the Sapphic stanza?

· What case is mi in line 1 and why?

· What meter is poem LI in and give some background to how this poem is connected to the name Lesbia?

· What type of dative is mihi in line 6?

· What does misero in line 5 agree with?

· What does lumina mean in poem 51?

· What are three of the feelings Catullus gets when he sees Lesbia?

· Who is Catullus comparing to the gods in line one?

· What is significant about the many thousands of kisses?

· What is the total amount of kisses that Catullus lists? What does he say after realizing that it’s a specific number?

· How many syllables are in the Hendecasyllabic (meter) line?

· What is the tone of poem V, and how does Catullus feel about Clodia at this time?

· What degree of comparison is “severiorum” (line 2)? Translate.

· Why does he want he want to throw all the kisses into confusion? Catullus 5

· Give examples of two types of subjunctive verbs in this poem.

· How many kisses does Catullus want?

· What kind of subjunctive is used in the opening?

· Translate line 4.

· Translate lines 7-10.

· In lines 7-10, name three different poetic devices.

· Why does he want to “conturbabimus illa?”

· What is the gender, number, and case of illa? To what does it refer?

· What kind of subjunctive is “possit,” in line 13?

VII

· What is the significance of “lasarpiciferis”?

· What kind of subjunctive is “sint,” in line 2?

· What kind of words are “basiationes,” and “lasarpiciferis?”

· How are both Poem 5 and Poem VII examples of hyperbole?

· What is hyperbole? Give 2 examples.

· Show an example of an indirect question?

LXXV

· What is going on in poem 75? Who is at fault?

· Translate lines 1-2.

· What kind of subjunctive is “queat?”

· What does Catullus mean by having “tua” and “mea” next to each other?

LXX

· What does “dicit mulier mea” in line 1 introduce?

· Why are there elisons in only the last line of poem LXX.

· How does the tone change in this poem?

· What case is se in line 1 and why?

· What does he mean by ‘in vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua’ Catullus 70

· What does Catullus try to show when he keeps using dicit?

· What case is “Nulli,” and why?

· What case is “se,” and why?

· Why is “petat” subjunctive?

· How would this be written as a direct statement?

· What is Catullus trying to say with the last two lines?

LXXII

· What is different between “amo” and “diligo”?

· What is the tone of this poem, how does it show the “circle of love”?

· What is Catullus saying in the last line of this poem? How has he changed?

· Find two comparatives in poem LXXII and translate them.

· What is the subject of the indirect statement in line 1?

· In line 5, is impensius an adjective or adverb? Of what degree of comparison?

· What case is “multo,” in line 6, and why? How would you translate it with “vilior?”

· Translate the end of the poem, form “Quod amantem … bene velle minus.”

· What does poem 51 have in common with poem 72?

LXXXV

· Describe the power of this poem, and how its emotion is different than in his previous poems to Clodia.

· Why is “faciam” subjunctive?

VIII

· How are the three sections different?

· What is significant about the question lines?

· What does fulsere in line 3 stand for?

· Name three sections of the poem, and how they change.

· Who is Catullus really talking to in this poem?

· At what point in this poem does Catullus switch to imperatives?

· Who is he speaking to in the first half of the poem? In the second?

· How many tenses does Catullus use in the whole poem? Give 1 example of each

· How does Catullus divide this poem into three sections?

· What case is “Catulle?” Why?

· Why are “desinas” and “ducas” in the subjunctive?

· Translate the first two lines.

· What is “fulsere?”

· Translate “quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat.”

· What form of the verb does the poet repeat in lines 9-11, and again at the very end?

· What case is “obstinata mente,” (line 11) and why?

· Translate lines 16-18.

· What is the meter? Why is it appropriate here?

· Why does he use the Sapphic stanza?

· What echoes does XI have with past poems?

· Name 5 similarities between previous poems and poem XI. Why would Catullus put these in here?

· What is the simile in the last stanza? How is it – or is it not – appropriate?

· In the last stanza, what case is “culpa,” and why?

XLIX

· Who is this poem addressed to?

· What are some examples of Catullus mimicking Cicero in this poem?

· What case is disertissime?

· Why does he repeat the omnium in poem 49?

· What is Marce Tulli’s other name?

· What style does he adapt from Cicero?

· Do you think Catullus is making fun of Cicero, or thanking? Use evidence.

· Is “Disertissime” and adjective or an adverb? Of what degree of comparison?

· Translate poem.

· Comment on the structure of the poem.

· Is Catullus serious here, or sarcastic?

Latin Study Questions

Which two poems are in the Sapphic meter?

What message is poem 70 trying to get across to Clodia?

Why does Catullus call Clodia Lesbia in his poems to her?

What meter is poem 5 in?

Which two poems describe places in foreign countries?

What is elision?

In which poems is elision used?

In which poems does Catullus use words with a form of fero added onto them to say “…bearing”?

What is one way that Catullus is mimicking Cicero’s poetic style in poem 49?

What impression is elision supposed to give?

In what poem does Catullus first state hatred for Clodia?

What are the last three lines of poem 5 referring to?

Indirect Statement:

Within indirect statement most subordinate clauses, including what would be indicative relative clauses in direct discourse, are in the subjunctive. Main structure remains: intro verb, subject/accusative, verb/infinitive.

AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE: Mulier mea dicit se nulli quam mihi nubere malle, non si se Iupiter ipse petat. (My woman says that she prefers to marry no one other than me, even if Jupiter himself seeks her)

DIRECT STATEMENT WOULD BE: Nulli quam tibi nubere malo, non si me Iupiter ipse petit. (I prefer to marry no one other than you, not (even) if Jupiter himself seeks me.)