CATULLUS 68 - Scuola Normale Superiore

All this makes it very hard to tell why exactly Cupid is wearing a saffron-coloured robe at this point. Is it an
unconscious hint that Catullus wants to marry Lesbia? Or is the god wearing this exotic and luxurious
garment simply to add glamour to this special occasion? In view of lines 135-148 (‘in fact Lesbia is not my
wife, and she also has other lovers, but I will put up with it all’) the second possibility appears much more
likely.
in tunica is sometimes used to mean ‘wearing a tunic’, especially when accompanied by an adjective, which
is not possible with tunicatus: compare Cic. Rab. Post. 27 in tunica pulla, Prop. 2.6.14 in tunica suspicor
esse uirum, 2.29b.26 ostrina cum fuit in tunica and 4.2.38 demissis institor in tunicis. Similarly in toga (Cic.
Phil. 1.18, Sen. 11 and Fam. 6.6.5, Vell. 2.29.3, Pliny N.H. 7.117, Quint. Inst. 2.16.8, Tac. Ann. 1.12, Mart.
Epigr. 6.50.2, etc.), in armis (Cic. Sen. 11 nec uero in armis praestantior quam in toga) and so on: OLD s.v.
in, 36a.
candidus Cupid has a radiant white complexion. In the view of Clarke (2003: 58) his whiteness is a sign of
his divine power, but it is surely a sign of his youthful looks, as only two male gods are ever called candidi,
namely the youthful Cupid (here and at Prop. 2.3.24 candidus … Amor) and the effeminate Bacchus (Hor.
Od. 1.18.11 candide Bassareu, Prop. 3.17.29 candida … colla, of Bacchus’ neck, and Lygdamus ap. [Tib.]
3.6.1 Candide Liber, ades, and already at Eur. Ba. 457; see on line 70 above for the application of the term to
a goddess). In fact, in the visual art of the late Republic and the Roman Empire whiteness is a special
characteristic of Bacchus and Cupid (for illustrations see LIMC s.v. ‘Dionysos/Bacchus’ and ‘Eros/Amor,
Cupido’). Bacchus’ fair skin is part of his characterization as an effeminate young man and can be attributed
to his indoor, luxurious lifestyle; Cupid on the other hand is fair-skinned because he is a child, and perhaps
also because just as Bacchus he is associated with a life of rest and of luxury (in fact, both gods are depicted
as slightly overweight). This is exactly the life that Catullus aspires to here.
135-148 “Lesbia is not satisfied with me alone, but I shall accept it, so as not to act like a boor; why, the
queen of the gods also accepts the infidelities of her husband; and anyway, Lesbia is not my wife but that of
somebody else; it is enough if she sees me on her most special days.” Catullus’ attempt to come to terms
with the promiscuity of his beloved has caused incredulity among scholars, including Sarkissian (1983
passim, e.g. p. 23). I for one have seen similar things happen, and believe that love can dull one’s common
sense to a surprising degree.
Catullus’ self-deception puts the language under strain: see on line 137.
135 tamen etsi ‘Even though’. This conjunction is also found in Plautus (Most. 1167), Ennius (Ann. 560
Skutsch), Pacuvius (trag. 46 and as a textual variant also in the epitaph that the poet supposedly wrote for
himself: Epigr. Pac. 1 ap. Gel. 1.24.4, see FPL 3 p. 75), Terence (Andr. 864), Varro (De Sermone Latino frg.
31 Semi ap. Annaeum Cornutum ap. Cassiodor. GL 7.154.2), Lucretius (3.1018) and Cicero (De Orat. 2.210
and Att. 12.1.1 as well as 5.17.2, where one should surely divide nos (tamen etsi … rather than nos tamen
(etsi … with the current editions). In the Augustan period tamen etsi disappears entirely from poetry, while in
230