Catullus 105 Translation
Introduction |
In poem 105, Catullus addresses Mamurra again. Catullus refers to him as Mr. Penis again. In line one, Mamurra wants to climb “the Piplean mount.” Because mount is not capitalized, the reader can understand that Piplean is not the name of a real mountain. However, in other translations, the poet is referencing Mount Parnassus.
Whatever the mountain is that Mamurra is trying to climb, the muses did not want to have anything to do with him. They had pitchforks and drove him off of the mountain. Whether Mamurra is trying to climb a mountain or climb a human, the muses do not want him to succeed.
This poem is like an ancient limerick. It is sexual in nature and offers a hilarious ending for the character that Catullus is mocking. In the poems that Catullus writes about Mamurra, he shows that Mr. Penis constantly strives for greatness, but he consistently fails. Whether he has land that he cannot care for or mountains he cannot climb, Mamurra cannot succeed.
Mamurra was a real person who was in Catullus’s social circle. So, there is little chance that Catullus is writing about himself in a self-deprecating way. He does not like Mamurra, who served under leaders that Catullus did not respect.
In other translations, there are several possible sexual innuendos. Some think the pitchforks come from the muses’ genitalia. With Mamurra landing head first or head long, could he have landed on his penis after he falls? Considering that his nickname is Mr. Penis, could anywhere he land be head first?
The muses were the goddesses of arts and sciences. They served as inspiration for artists of all types. It seems fitting that Mamurra, who was a failure in Catullus’s eyes, would not be accepted by the muses as his failure would not be an inspiration at all. There is also a slight possibility that Catullus was referring to the verb muse, where one would ponder a thought. Mamurra seems unable to think about himself and his situation, which could be why he regularly fails when others succeed.
Carmen 105 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
1 | MENTVLA conatur Pipleium scandere montem: | Mr. Penis strives to climb the Piplean mount: |
2 | Musae furcillis praecipitem eiciunt. | the Muses with pitchforks drive him out headlong. |
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Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/105x.html
