CATULLUS 68 - Scuola Normale Superiore

significantly different from the present one: Theocr. 2.103f. ⁄γ∅ δϒ νιν ⊃! ⁄ν〉η!α / ρτι ψ⎛ρα! ⎢π′ρ ο⎡δ∫ν
μειβ〉μενον ποδ⇐ κο⎛φϖι, where Simaitha’s beloved Daphnis steps over the threshold and not onto it, and
Callim. Hy. Ap. 3 κα⇐ δ→ που τ ψ⎛ρετρα καλ∩ι ποδ⇐ Φο⇑βο! ρ !!ει, where Apollo does not step
onto the threshold, but kicks at the door. Catullus may have taken from Greek poetry not the motif of the foot
on the threshold, which is only attested in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (quoted above), but the tendency to
state arrival in terms of approaching or passing the threshold or the door.
71 trito ... in limine Here Catullus is probably picking up two phrases from the Odyssey, 18.33 ο⎡δο⎝ ƒπι
ϕε!το⎝ and 22.72 ο⎡δο⎝ πο ϕε!το⎝. The topos recurs in a more elaborate guise at line 115 pluribus ut caeli
tereretur ianua diuis.
fulgentem ... plantam ‘The gleaming sole’ of Lesbia, who had a shining-white (candidus) complexion, just
like Cupido who fulgebat … candidus in lines 133f. (these echo the present passage: see ad loc.). For the
connection between being candidus and fulgere compare also 8.3 fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles and
likewise 8.8, Ov. Hal. 124 fulgentes soleae candore (of sole-fish), Sen. Nat. Quaest. 1.17.2 non rubentis sed
candida luce fulgentis (also of the Sun) and Plin. N.H. 37.133 radiare fulgore candido ut solem, 37.134 and
37.181 (of various gems).
In ancient literature divine epiphany is often accompanied by a numinous glow: thus Venus shines at Verg.
Aen. 1.402 rosea ceruice refulsit and at 2.590 pura per noctem in luce refulsit, while Anchises is amazed by
Aphrodite’s shining clothes in her Homeric Hymn (84-90) and Demeter is said to glow in hers (189, quoted
above on 71f.). It may be in a similar vein that Catullus places Juppiter ‘in a radiant temple’ (64.387 pater
diuum templo in fulgente), though the building could be gleaming because of its metal parts (a gilded roof, as
on his temple on the Capitolium?) or because it is clean and well-tended. Accordingly, Lieberg (1963: 188)
and Clarke (2003: 85) attribute the radiance implied by fulgentem to Lesbia’s numinous power here. Despite
the parallels I am slightly skeptical, as the numinous power of a goddess does not tend to reside in her sole.
On the other hand, fulgeo is used regularly to describe beautiful women and youths: thus Laevius frg. 18
FPL 3 aut / nunc quaepiam alia te ilico / Asiatico ornatu affluens / aut Sardiano aut Lydio / fulgens decore et
gratia / pellicuit (a passage from Laevius’ Protesilaodamia, surely delivered by Laodamia and addressed to
the absent Protesilaus: could Catullus be echoing this poem here as well as in line 46?), Tib. 1.8.31f. iuuenis,
cui leuia fulgent / ora nec amplexus aspera barba terit, Ov. Medic. 68 fulgebit speculo leuior illa suo, Sen.
Tro. 1138f. fulgent genae / magisque solito splendet extremus decor and Phaedr. 651 quis tum ille fulsit! and
[Sen.] Herc. Oet. 385f. sic nostra longum forma percurrens iter / deperdit aliquid semper et fulget minus and
393 per ipsas fulget aerumnas decor.
72 innixa A woman resting her weight (innixa) on a sandal was a familiar image in Roman literature.
Catullus appears to be imitating or sharing the same model with the 2 nd -century B.C. comedian Turpilius’
com. 31 sandalio innixa digitulis primoribus (unfortunately we know nothing about the context of this line,
but the diminutive digitulis seems to express affection; Cavallini 1984/85 suggests that it too may describe a
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