Catullus 77

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Catullus 77 is a poem by the Roman poet Catullus.

The meter of this poem is elegiac couplets, a common form in Catullus' poetry.

Contents 1 General comments 2 Poetic devices 3 Latin text and translation 4 Bibliography 5 External links

[edit] General comments

Catullus 77 was most likely addressed to Caecilius Rufus (from Cicero's Pro Caecilio), Clodia's new lover. The hostile sentiments that this poem seems to express towards Rufus most likely originated when Caecilius replaced Catullus in Lesbia's (Clodia's) affection.

[edit] Poetic devices

Conduplicatio and Parallelism

lines 1-2 "frustra" is repeated
lines 4-5 "eripuisti" is repeated
lines 5-6 parallel syntax created with repetition of "heu heu" and "nostrae" the poetic plural, followed by a noun

Onomatopoeia

lines 5-6 "heu heu"

Irony

line 1 "mihi...amice"

Chiasmus

lines 5-6 "nostrae crudele venenum vitae"

[edit] Latin text and translation

Line	Latin text	English translation
1	Rufe, mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice,	Rufus, believed a friend to me for nothing and in vain,
2	(frustra? immo magno cum pretio atque malo),	(In vain? No, at great cost and suffering),
3	sicine subrepsti mi atque intestina perurens	Is that how you crept up on me, burning [my] inner organs
4	ei misero eripuisti nostra bona?	you ripped away all our good things from wretched [me]?
5	Eripuisti, heu heu, nostrae crudele venenum	You ripped it away, alas alas, you cruel venom of our
6	vitae, heu heu, nostrae pestis amicitiae.	life, alas alas, you plague of our friendship.

[edit] Bibliography

• Pedrick, V (1993). "The abusive address and the audience in Catullan poems". Helios 20: 173–196. 

• Arkins, B (1983). "Caelius and Rufus in Catullus". Philologus 127: 306–311. 

[edit] External links

Catullus 77 Original Latin
Catullus 77 English translation
Catullus 77 Scanned

Poems (Carmina) of The Roman poet Catullus
Lesbia poems	2, 2b, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 36, 37, 51, 58, 68, 70, 72, 75, 76, 79, 83, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 104, 107, 109
Invective poems	10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 33, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 60, 69, 71, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 84, 88, 89, 90, 93, 95, 97, 98, 103, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116
Unusual poetic meters	4, 8, 11, 17, 22, 25, 29, 30, 31, 34, 37, 39, 44, 51, 52, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64
Hendecasyllabic verse	1, 2, 2b, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 14b, 15, 16, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 58b
Elegiac couplets	65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116
See also the list of poems by Catullus.