Catullus 41 Translation
Introduction |
In the poetry of Catullus, there is one man that the poet absolutely hates: Mamurra. The poet refers to him as Mr. Penis and insults him in several poems. In this poem, Catullus takes time to attack Mamurra and his mistress, Ameana. Catullus does not appear to have much respect for her, especially since she is the lover of Mamurra.
In line one, Catullus calls her a sexually exhausted jade or prostitute. In line two, Catullus claimed that she asked him to pay her 10,000 for sex. Then, Catullus insults the way she looks by talking about her ugly snub nose.
Then, he calls her the mistress of “the bankrupt of Formiae” which is the place where Mamurra lives. Catullus knows that Mamurra has a lovely estate, but he is unable to figure out how to make money off of all of his land. Instead, Mamurra has bankrupted land that is fertile and full of animals.
In the last four lines of the poem, Catullus calls upon Ameana’s relatives. He calls upon them to get friends and doctors together to look into the problems of her mind. He thinks she has mental problems. Most likely those problems are in relation to her choice of Mamurra. But, Catullus also claims that she does not reflect on herself – both her appearance and her choices.
The poem is interesting as it is not just an attack on Ameana, but also an attack on Mamurra. This indirect attack on Mamurra is brilliant. Mamurra might try to have a beautiful woman as his consort, but she is nothing more than an over-sexed prostitute who demands that her johns pay up. Her nose is ugly and she is mentally unwell. Why on earth would Mamurra want to show off a girl like that? But, then again, why would a girl want to be with someone as awful as Mamurra? In most of Catullus’s rants about Mamurra, Catullus accuses the man of being a molester of boys.
Carmen 41 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMEANA puella defututa | Ameana, that sexually exhausted jade, |
| 2 | tota milia me decem poposcit, | asked me for a round ten thousand; |
| 3 | ista turpiculo puella naso, | that girl with the ugly snub nose, |
| 4 | decoctoris amica Formiani. | the mistress of the bankrupt of Formiae. |
| 5 | propinqui, quibus est puella curae, | You her relations, who have the charge of the girl, |
| 6 | amicos medicosque conuocate: | call together friends and doctors: |
| 7 | non est sana puella, nec rogare | she is not right in her mind, and never asks |
| 8 | qualis sit solet aes imaginosum. | the looking-glass what she is like. |
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Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/041x.html
