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50

in deserto Alli nomine opus faciat.

55

60

nam mihi quam dederit duplex Amathusia curam
scitis, et in quo me corruerit genere,

cum tantum arderem quantum Trinacria rupes
lymphaque in Oetaeis Malia Thermopylis,
maesta neque adsiduo tabescere lumina fletu
cessarent tristique imbre madere genae,
qualis in aerii perlucens vertice montis
rivus muscoso prosilit e lapide,

qui cum de prona praeceps est valle volutus,
per medium densi transit iter populi,
dulce viatori lasso in sudore levamen,

50. Alli O ali GR alii M.

The subj., of course, is Allius. magis. atque magis: Catullus employs also the shorter magis magis in 38, 3 and 64, 274.

50. deserto. nomine: the picture is that of an inscription neglected and forgotten. Ellis cites Shakespeare, Sonnets, 55, 4: "unswept stone, besmear'd with sluttish time."

51. duplex Amathusia: 'the two-phased goddess of Amathus'; cf. v. 18. At Amathus was one of the celebrated Cyprian temples of Aphrodite. The supposed reference here to a Hermaphroditic statue of the goddess is probably due to the learned imagination of the commentators.

52. genere: 'manner.'

53. Trinacria rupes: Aetna, the ever-active volcano.

54. lympha: the hot springs at Thermopylae, on one side of

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which is Mt. Oeta, and on the other, the Malian gulf.

56. imbre: flood' of tears. 57. qualis: points of likeness in the simile are the high, clear, and beautiful source of the stream, its crystal purity, and its sudden burst into full flow. To these we may possibly add the relief afforded by it to the wayfarer through the weary wastes of burning passion; but vv. 59-62 seem rather the mere natural rounding out of a beautiful description of natural scenery without special significance, the poet being himself carried on by the force of his own rhetoric, like his mountain brooklet. Cf. also Howe, p. 12.

58. muscoso : this descriptive word goes further to paint the picture than any other. Cf. Verg. Ec. 7, 45: muscosi fontes.

59. prona praeceps: cf. 65, 23, n.

65

70

cum gravis exustos aestus hiulcat agros.
hic, velut in nigro iactatis turbine nautis
lenius adspirans aura secunda venit
iam prece Pollucis, iam Castoris inplorata,
tale fuit nobis Allius auxilium.

is clausum lato patefecit limite campum,
isque domum nobis, isque dedit dominam,
ad quam communes exerceremus amores.
quo mea se molli candida diva pede

intulit et trito fulgentem in limine plantam

innixa arguta constituit solea,

66. Allius (in the margin Manllius) O Manlius GRM Mallius altered from Manlius D Manius Lachmann. 67. clausum O classum GM claussum w. 68. dominam VM dominae Froelich.

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75

80

85

coniugis ut quondam flagrans advenit amore

Protesilaeam Laodamia domum

inceptam frustra, nondum cum sanguine sacro
hostia caelestis pacificasset eros.

nil mihi tam valde placeat, Rhamnusia virgo,
quod temere invitis suscipiatur eris.

quam ieiuna pium desideret ara cruorem,
docta est amisso Laodamia viro,
coniugis ante coacta novi dimittere collum,

quam veniens una atque altera rursus hiems
noctibus in longis avidum saturasset amorem,
posset ut abrupto vivere coniugio,

quod scibant Parcae non longo tempore abisse,

85. scibant VM sceibant D scibat Lachmann scirant Lucian Mueller.

74. Laodamia: in extent and detail this episode is worthy of the poet's Alexandrian models, and is paralleled in Catullus only by the Ariadne episode in No. 64. Laodamia is a type of intense and constant conjugal affection. When her newly wedded spouse, Protesilaus, the first of the Greeks to perish on the plain of Troy, was permitted to return for three brief hours to earth, she committed suicide that she might accompany him on his final journey to the lower world. For various forms and details of the myth cf. Hom. Il. 2, 695-710; Eurip. Protesilaus; Hygin. Fab. 103; Ovid, Her. 13.

75. inceptam frustra: because never finished, either literally or figuratively; cf. Il. 2, 701: Kai δόμος ἡμιτελής.

76. hostia... pacificasset: just what sacrifice was omitted is not clear; but it seems to have been one that should have preceded the beginning of a new house by Protesilaus, an important undertaking which should not have lacked preliminary divine approval. eros this unusual designation for the gods is repeated in v. 78.

77. Rhamnusia virgo: cf. 66, 71, n.

78. quod = ut id. -invitis . . . eris cf. 76, 12.

79. ieiuna: cf. Prop. 3, 15, 18: ieiunae saepe negavit

vilem
aquam.

82. Cf. Intr. § 42, I (5) (a). 84. vivere: bear to live.'

85. quod coniugio. — scibant: the regular early form in this conjugation, but later supplanted by

90

si miles muros isset ad Iliacos:

nam tum Helenae raptu primores Argivorum

coeperat ad sese Troia ciere viros,

Troia (nefas) commune sepulcrum Asiae Europaeque,

Troia virum et virtutum omnium acerba cinis.

quaene etiam nostro letum miserabile fratri

attulit? hei misero frater adempte mihi,

hei misero fratri iucundum lumen ademptum,

91. quaene etiam Heinsius que vetet id VM qualiter et Ellis quandoquidem et F. W. Shipley PAPA. 35, vii quae vae, vae, et Scaliger quae taetre id Munro.

the forms in -iebam, etc., after the analogy of the 3d conjugation. Cf. LSHLG, p. 94. Cf. 84, 8. tempore: the abl. of time within which is accurately used with abisse; within a comparatively short time this wedlock would be a thing of the past. abisse: the use of this perfect for the fut. perf. idea enforces the certainty of fulfillment of the decree. For the syntax cf. Livy, 21, 8, 8: Poeno cepisse iam se urbem, si paulum adnitatur, credente.

87. Cf. Intr. § 42, I (3); also vv. 89, 109; 76, 15; etc.

89. The mention of the hateful name of Troy distracts the poet for a time into a passionate outburst of fresh grief over his brother's death, from which he does not return to Laodamia until V. IOI. nefas unspeakable,' an ejaculation of concentrated hatred. Cf. Verg. Aen. 8,688: sequiturque (nefas) Aegyptia coniunx. -commune sepulcrum: e.g. of the unnumbered victims of the

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of the place of reduction to ashes, 'pyre': 'Troy, the pyre where heroes and heroism all met an untimely death.'

91. quaene = nonne ea enim; originally rhetorically interrogative, such forms acquired sometimes asseverative or causal force. Here, however, the exclamatory question is in harmony with the tone of the passage.

92-96. Cf. 20-24. The repetition argues for the unity of the poem. The phrase frater adempte mihi recurs in 101, 6.

93. Cf. Verg. Aen. 3, 658, for a reminiscence of form.

95

100

tecum una tota est nostra sepulta domus,
omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra,

quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor.
quem nunc tam longe non inter nota sepulcra
nec prope cognatos conpositum cineres,

sed Troia obscena, Troia infelice sepultum
detinet extremo terra aliena solo.

ad quam tum properans fertur simul undique pubes
Graeca penetralis deseruisse focos,
ne Paris abducta gavisus libera moecha
otia pacato degeret in thalamo.

105 quo tibi tum casu, pulcherrima Laodamia,
ereptum est vita dulcius atque anima
coniugium tanto te absorbens vertice amoris
aestus in abruptum detulerat barathrum,

98. conpositum: 'laid to rest'; cf. Tib. 3, 2, 26.

the

99. obscena and infelice here are synonyms. infelice: form is metrically more convenient to this verse than the orthodox abl. in 7, which Catullus elsewhere employs. Cf. 62, 30.

100. extremo: 'far away'; cf. Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 45: extremos curris mercator ad Indos.

102. penetralis: where were the shrines of the household gods, the most sacred, and so the dearest spot of home.

103. moecha: Catullus refers to Helen with characteristic bluntness, the more remarkable when we consider Lesbia's own character and vv. 135-148. But only a Catullus, love-blinded, could write

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