CATULLUS 68 - Scuola Normale Superiore

The first table does, and it is surely of crucial importance for understanding Catullus 68b. It shows among
other things that lines 149-160 are an organic part of the poem, rather than accompanying it as a covering
note. It is important, then, to take this concatenation for what it is: for nothing less, but also for nothing more.
First of all, not all these sections correspond to neatly distinguishable units of text: sections B and D end in
mid-sentence, as does probably section A. This means that the sections are more clearly articulated in the
second half of the poem: the first half is simply characterized by a progression from theme to theme, while in
the second half the same progression continues, but each theme also corresponds to one or more sentences.
Nor are the pairs of corresponding sections of equal length, except for D and D’. This means that the
structure of the poem is based merely on a progression of themes, and not of distinct units of text each of
which is devoted to one particular theme. Why do the sections start to be articulated more clearly at the
centre of the poem? The most radical explanation would be that Catullus composed its first half before
deciding to go over the same themes once again in reverse order, so as to obtain the ‘Chinese box’ structure.
But it is implausible that he should ever have intended the first half to stand alone, as it is not complete on its
own: the poet can only have left off describing his rendez-vous with Lesbia with her still standing on the
threshold (section B, lines 70-72) if he was planning to return to the subject and describe what happened
afterwards (section B’, lines 131-134). At the very latest when he wrote line 73 Catullus must already have
had the ‘Chinese box’ structure in mind – but his treatment of the structure changed as he was writing the
poem. The second half of the text is articulated more clearly, it is more orderly, more closely argued, and
perhaps even more rational than the first half. The reason may be simply that it is easier to start a project than
to finish it off, to tuck away all the loose threads. Everyone who has gone on a long walk in the mountains
will know that starting out is a relatively easy, almost impulsive activity, but it always takes an amount of
rational planning to return.
While the thematic progression within the poem is clear, not all pairs of sections treat exactly the same
theme. There is no such problem with the mythological pairs, C and C’ as well as D and D’, as these
basically tell two halves of the same story; but there are significant differences between A and A’, and
between B and B’. In A the poet addresses the Muses to praise Allius, and he describes how Allius has
helped him; in A’, which constitutes a sort of epilogue or envoi, the poet turns directly to Allius, wishes him
well and greets him, his partner, the very house that Allius has arranged for him and its châtelaine, and he
closes the poem with the poem with Lesbia. Not only are the contents of the two sections quite different, but
at the end of the second one, and of the entire poem, there stands a reference to Lesbia (a very effective one,
to be sure), which would be more at home in the sections B and B’. Likewise, the parallelism between B and
B’ is limited: B consists of a short but memorable description of Lesbia’s arrival at the house procured for
the lovers by Allius, while the first part of B’ (lines 131-136) completes this description, much as C’
completes C and D’ completes D, but the second part consists of a long account of Catullus’ relationship
with Lesbia (lines 137-148). In the biographic pairs of sections the thematic structure of the poem turns out
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