Catullus 4 is a poem by the ancient Roman writer
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes.
Life
...
. The poem concerns the retirement of a well-traveled ship (referred to as a "''phaselus''", also sometimes cited as "''
phasellus''", a variant spelling). Catullus draws a strong analogy with human aging, rendering the boat as a person that flies and speaks, with palms (the oars) and purpose.
The poem is complex, with numerous geographic references and elaborate
litotic double negative
A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence ("You're not unattractive" vs "You ...
s in a list-like manner. It borrows heavily from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
vocabulary, and also uses Greek grammar in several sections. The
meter
The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
of the poem is unusual —
iambic trimeter
The Iambic trimeter, in classical Greek and Latin poetry, is a meter of poetry consisting of three iambic metra (each of two feet) per line. In English poetry, it refers to a meter with three iambic feet.
In ancient Greek poetry and Latin po ...
, which was perhaps chosen to convey a sense of speed over the waves.
Scholars remain uncertain whether the story of the construction and voyages of this ''phasellus'' (ship, yacht, or pinnace), as described or implied in the poem, can be taken literally.
Professor A. D. Hope in his posthumous book of translations from Catullus is one translator who takes it so. His introduction calls the phasellus “his yacht, in which he
atullus must have made the return voyage
rom Bithynia
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* R ...
and the translation ends
''Until she made landfall in this limpid lake.'' /
''But that was aforetime and she is laid up now . . .''
However Hope also left, in his final collection of poetry ''Aubade'', a much freer translation, adaptation, or erotic parody,
[The drafting of this version is discussed in Hope’s Notebooks, since transcribed and edited by Ann McCulloch as ''Dance of the Nomad: a study of the selected notebooks of A.D. Hope'', Canberra, ANU Press, 2005 p. 323.] in which the phasellus seems to be, in effect, a phallus. This version says that the phasellus
''claims that in his hey-day with mainsail and spanker'' / ''He outsailed all vessels'';
and the ending becomes:
''At his last landfall now, beyond all resurgence,'' /
''View him careened upon a final lee-shore;'' /
''. . . Sing for the captain who will put to sea no more!''
Among a number of other interpretations, Catullus 4 has also been interpreted as a
parody
A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
of
epic poetry
In poetry, an epic is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. With regard t ...
, or the boat as a metaphor for the
Ship of State
The Ship of State is an ancient and oft-cited metaphor, famously expounded by Plato in the '' Republic'' (Book 6, 488a–489d), which likens the governance of a city-state to the command of a vessel. Plato expands the established metaphor an ...
.
Text
Notes
Bibliography
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References
External links
Catullus 4: Text, translations and notes, at the Perseus Collection.
{{Catullus
C004
Works about ships
Articles containing video clips
Castor and Pollux