CATULLUS 68 - Scuola Normale Superiore

A somewhat peculiar interpretation of these lines has served as a basis for what has probably been the most
detailed analysis of Catullus 68 to date. Coppel (1973: 15-16) read these two distichs as the expression of a
vague feeling of frustration, of a dreadful boredom experienced by Catullus’ friend. He detected a contrast
between the description of the friend’s state of mind (his “seelische Situation”) in these verses and the
account of his actual suffering (his “Leidrealität”) in line 1. He argued that since line 29 echoes line 6, the
two of them must refer either to the same situation or to analogous sets of circumstances; and since line 29
could not refer to the romantic misfortunes of several people, which would be hard to conceive of, it and line
6 had to refer to “a boredom that darkens one’s life” (“eine das Leben verfinsternde Langeweile”, p. 16).
Catullus’ departure would have left his companions disconsolate, and his friend would have written to him
and begged him to come back. But if lines 6 and 29 echo each other in describing sexual frustration, that is
not to say that the cause of that frustration has to be the same in both instances; and an erotic interpretation of
line 29 is far from impossible (see ad loc.). There are also problems with Coppel’s interpretation of the rest
of the poem: oppressus in line 1 describes not how the addressee is suffering in the present (his
“Leidrealität”) but to a devastating blow that he has received in the past (note that it is not a present but a
perfect participle), while lines 5-8 do not describe explicitly his state of mind, but they specify the reasons
for which he continues to suffer in the present: he lacks sexual diversions and suitable reading-matter. There
is no indication whatsoever that the description of these could in fact be a metaphor or allegory for
something else. While sexual frustration can conceivably lead to, be accompanied by, or even be a symptom
of boredom, there is no suggestion in the text that the addressee is in that state. anxia in line 8 indicates that
he is not bored but troubled, harrowed, distressed.
5f. “Whom neither does holy Venus allow to come to rest in soft sleep, abandoned as he is in his bachelor’s
bed.” This is one of the most frustratingly obscure passages in the poem. It evidently describes Manlius’
sleepless nights as he lies all alone in his bed, deprived of a partner. But what is the cause of Manlius’
predicament? He is described as desertus, ‘abandoned’, ‘shunned’, while his bed is called by way of enallage
caelebs, ‘unmarried’ (see ad loc.). If these words are to be taken literally, it would seem that Manlius had
been left behind (desertus) by his wife, so that he became caelebs (note that the word can be used for
divorcés and widowers as well as for bachelors); in that case her departure could be identified with the
devastating event described in lines 1-4. It could appear slightly surprising that he should ask a friend to help
him to munera Veneris, that is, love-making with someone else than the partner whom he has lost – but
perhaps he was not very romantic or he took an Epicurean view of life and tried to compensate a misfortune
by alternative pleasures. However, it is not certain whether we should take this distich literally. In particular,
it is possible that caelibe should imply not ‘unmarried’ but simply ‘single’; and that would open up a much
broader range of interpretations: Manlius could have been deserted by a partner who was not his wife, or
perhaps he was shunned (desertus) by partners in general (on Manlius’ predicament see further the
Introduction, pp. 49-51).
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