Catullus 4

A poem about an aging ship.

Catullus 4 is a poem by the ancient Roman writer Catullus. The poem concerns the retirement of a well-traveled ship; 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 negatives in a list-like manner. It borrows heavily from Ancient Greek vocabulary, and also uses Greek grammar in several sections. The meter of the poem is unusual — iambic trimeter, which was perhaps chosen to convey a sense of speed over the waves.

Catullus 4 has also been interpreted as a parody of epic poetry, or the boat as a metaphor for the Ship of state.

Latin text and translation

Line	Latin text
1	phaselus ille quem videtis hospites
2	ait fuisse navium celerrimus
3	neque ullus natantis impetum trabis
4	nequisse praeterire sive palmulis
5	opus foret volare sive linteo
6	et hoc negat minacis Hadriatici
7	negare litus insulasve Cycladas
8	Rhodumque nobilem horridamque Thraciam
9	Propontida trucemve Ponticum sinum
10	ubi iste post phaselus antea fuit
11	comata silva nam Cytorio in iugo
12	loquente saepe sibilum edidit coma
13	Amastri Pontica et Cytore buxifer
14	tibi haec fuisse et esse cognitissima
15	ait phaselus ultima ex origine
16	tuo stetisse dicit in cacumine
17	tuo imbuisse palmulas in aequore
18	et inde tot per impotentia freta
19	erum tulisse laeva sive dextera
20	vocaret aura sive utrumque Iuppiter
21	simul secundus incidisset in pedem
22	neque ulla vota litoralibus deis
23	sibi esse facta cum veniret a mari
24	novissimo hunc ad usque limpidum lacum
25	sed haec prius fuere nunc recondita
26	senet quiete seque dedicat tibi
27	gemelle Castor et gemelle Castoris

Notes

1. ^ Propontis ("in front of Pontus") was the ancient name for the Sea of Marmora, and Ponticum sinum ("Pontic sea") was the name for the Black Sea.
2. ^ Mt. Cytorus was a mountain on the southern coast of the Black Sea, between the port cities of Amastris and Cytorus. Cytorus was famous as a source of boxwood.
3. ^ The gemelle Castoris ("twin of Castor") refers to Pollux, the other twin in the Castor and Pollux pair, who were also known as the Gemini ("twins"). The two twins were often referred to by only a single name, most commonly Castor, as though they were one, hence the tibi in line 26.

Bibliography

• Griffith, JG (1983). "Catullus Poem 4: A Neglected Interpretation Revived". Phoenix (Phoenix, Vol. 37, No. 2) 37 (2): 123–128. doi:10.2307/1087452. JSTOR 1087452. 

• Coleman, KM (1981). "The Persona of Catullus' Phaselus". Greece and Rome 28: 68–72. doi:10.1017/S0017383500033507. 

• Putnam, MCJ (1962). "Catullus' Journey (Carm. 4)". Classical Philology 57: 10–19. doi:10.1086/364642. 

• Copley, FO (1958). "Catullus 4: The World of the Poem". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association (Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 89) 89: 9–13. doi:10.2307/283659. JSTOR 283659. 

External links

• Catullus 4: Text, translations and notes, at the Perseus Collection.
• Catullus 4 in English and several other languages.