Catullus 112 Translation
Introduction |
The challenge in understanding Catullus 112 is figuring out in what tone this poem should be read. Is Catullus serious or is he sarcastic? Is he mocking Naso? Or, is he criticizing him? The other challenge in this poem is deciding if it is about a man or a part of a man. With the poem being only one couplet in length, there is very little information available to make translation and analysis thorough and understandable.
If the poem is about a man named Naso, he is most likely a large man who has male lovers. When he refers to men who would split him, he is referring to men who would be interested in a sexual relationship with him. Then, Catullus calls Naso a sodomite, showing that he submits to sex – which is the English translation of pathicus, the final Latin word in the poem.
If the poem is about a body part, specifically a nose, then this would not be the first time that Catullus wrote about a man’s nose. The question is about the meaning of the Latin word multus, which appears three times in the poem. Naso could be a nose, which could also be a subtle reference to a penis. It’s a stretch, but Catullus has done this before in 13 when he talks about Fabullus becoming a nose.
Multus could mean large, intense, or tedious, so it is difficult to understand how often the nose is called large or if Catullus actually means something else. The nose or the man could be large, but he could be intense or possibly more. It would make sense to use the tedious or intense description in the line that ends with pathicus. If the poem is about a nose, the sodomy could be referring to how a bad or splitting or dividing smell could harm the nose.
Carmen 112 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
1 | MVLTVS homo es, Naso, neque tecum multus homo | You are a large man, Naso, but not a large number of men |
2 | te scindat: Naso, multus es et pathicus. | would split you: Naso, you are a large man and a sodomite. |
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Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/112x.html
