Catullus 69 Translation
Introduction
In 69, Catullus takes aim at Rufus, who had an affair with Lesbia after the death of her husband. Catullus also had an affair with her and wrote about her in several of his verses. But in 69, he does not reference her at all. Instead, he looks at what keeps women from wanting to be with Rufus (Marcus Caelius Rufus).
In the first two lines, Catullus tells Rufus that he does not need to worry why women do not want “put her tender thigh under you.” This is a round-a-bout way of saying that no woman wants to sleep with him. In lines three and four, Catullus tells Rufus that he cannot tempt women with pretty dresses or fine jewels.
Women are not interested in him because someone is spreading slanderous rumors about him (line 5). The rumors involve him smelling like a “rank goat”. Catullus refers to the goat as living under Rufus’s armpits. As Rufus smells like a horrid beast, no woman would want to have sex with him, as stated in lines 7 and 8.
Catullus advises that Rufus kills the smell under his armpits, then women might stop running away. Catullus does not tell Rufus who is spreading the rumors about the smelly armpits, but as he wrote about them in his poem, Catullus could be the slanderer. This could be his attempt to squelch any possible reunion of Rufus and Lesbia. A man with smelly armpits certainly could not please the woman that Catullus loves.
Looking at the placement of Catullus 69 between 68 and 70, the poem seems like a lighthearted break between two heavier topics. In 68, Catullus speaks of important topics like love, death, and loyalty. Then, in 70, Catullus writes briefly of the fleeting nature of a woman’s love. He separates the two with a mockery of a man’s smelly armpits. Catullus 69 may be an attempt at inject humor to provide comic relief through insults.
By using the word “rumor” in line 5, it is clear that Catullus is attempting to portray Rufus in a bad light. Despite offering advice to fix the problem, Catullus does not appear to like the man he is advising. After taking a break from insulting Rufus in 70, Catullus refers to him again in 71 when he talks about the goat smell. In 71, he also references that the man who smells like goats has gout. It appears that the slanderer really could be Catullus, who is clearly not impressed with this man.
Carmen 69
Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
1 | NOLI admirari, quare tibi femina nulla, | You need not wonder why no dainty woman |
2 | Rufe, uelit tenerum supposuisse femur, | cares to put her tender thigh under you, Rufus, |
3 | non si illam rarae labefactes munere uestis | not though you may shake her by the gift of a dress of fine texture, |
4 | aut perluciduli deliciis lapidis. | or some delightful transparent jewel. |
5 | laedit te quaedam mala fabula, qua tibi fertur | What hurts you is a slander that says |
6 | ualle sub alarum trux habitare caper. | you have the rank goat under your armpits: |
7 | hunc metuunt omnes, neque mirum: nam mala ualde est | this is what they all fear, and no wonder; 'tis a horrid beast, |
8 | bestia, nec quicum bella puella cubet. | and no bedfellow for a pretty girl. |
9 | quare aut crudelem nasorum interfice pestem, | Then kill that which so cruelly outrages our noses , |
10 | aut admirari desine cur fugiunt. | or wonder no more why they run away. |
