The in crowd (Catullus 12)
Catullus’ joking attack on a napkin thief is partly a way of defining urbanitas, argues Alexis Kuzma, and letting us feel like we are part of the “in” crowd with the poet and his friends. Catullus 12, read, translated, and discussed by Alexis Kuzma.
Marrucine Asini, manu sinistra
non belle uteris in ioco atque vino:
tollis lintea neglegentiorum.
hoc salsum esse putas? fugit te, inepte:
quamvis sordida res et invenustast. 5
non credis mihi? crede Pollioni
fratri, qui tua furta vel talento
mutari velit: est enim leporum
differtus puer ac facetiarum.
quare aut hendecasyllabos trecentos 10
exspecta, aut mihi linteum remitte;
quod me non movet aestimatione,
verumst mnemosynum mei sodalis.
nam sudaria Saetaba ex Hiberis
miserunt mihi muneri Fabullus 15
et Veranius: haec amem necessest
ut Veraniolum meum et Fabullum.
latin-poetry-podcast Said,
May 17, 2012 @ 2:06 pm
Nice, catchy introduction, Alexis. Excellent use of secondary scholarship to craft a subtle and persuasive interpretation of your own. The sound effects are very funny, and the Latin sounds fantastic. Brava!
Joan E Kuzma Said,
May 17, 2012 @ 6:27 pm
So proud of you!