Catullus 86 Translation
Introduction |
In Catullus 86, the poet reflects on the beauty of a woman named Quintia. While she is thought to be beautiful by many, Catullus believes she does not have grace. Catullus thinks she is “fair, tall; and straight.” He does not consider her beautiful because she lacks grace. Then, he says she might be tall, but there isn’t a grain of salt in her body. The salt could be humor or charm, which would be a quality that could give her grace.
Catullus then turns the last two lines to Lesbia. In those lines, he simple states “Lesbia is beautiful.” Then, he shares that she has stolen all of the graces for herself. By doing this, she has not left anything for Quintia.
Quintia might have all of the qualities that most people consider beautiful. But without inner beauty, she is nothing to Catullus. Quintia might be the talk of Rome, but she isn’t much more than a pretty face.
Throughout his poetry, Catullus has shown readers that he finds inner beauty more important than physical beauty. Keep in mind that there is no way that Lesbia could have taken all of the graces for herself, but in Catullus’s eyes, she is the ideal woman. In the Latin text, he uses the word “una” which means “together” when talking about Lesbia’s inner qualities. This word choice might mean that she doesn’t really have all of the graces, but has several of them together.
It is clear that Catullus has strong feelings for Lesbia. But, could his denial of Quintia be a form of rebellion against the patricians of Rome. Poets often use their words to find fault in society. His rebellion against those who look at physical beauty over inner beauty could show how the people of Rome are shallow. This is often the case with ruling classes who try to look better than everyone else, but have very little substance. There’s nothing quite like a beautiful woman who has nothing to talk about, because she is only concerned with herself and her appearance. This must be how Catullus sees Quintia.
Carmen 86 |
| Line | Latin text | English translation |
|---|---|---|
1 | QVINTIA formosa est multis. mihi candida, longa, | QUINTIA is thought beautiful by many; I think her fair, tall, |
2 | recta est: haec ego sic singula confiteor. | and straight. I so far allow each of these points, |
3 | totum illud formosa nego: nam nulla uenustas, | but I demur to ” beautiful,” for she has no grace; |
4 | nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis. | there is not in the whole compass of her tall person one grain of salt. |
5 | Lesbia formosa est, quae cum pulcerrima tota est, | Lesbia is beautiful: for she possesses all the beauties, |
6 | tum omnibus una omnis surripuit Veneres | and has stolen all the graces from all the women alone for herself. |
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Resources |
VRoma Project: http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/086.html
