A Log Cabin Out of Stone: - Dartmouth College

and places the “vos” the object, right between these two acts of subordination. The way it
has transformed “I’ll fuck you in the ass” the first part “pedicabo ego vos” is faithful to
the Latin in that it is forceful. The second part “and make you suck my dick” which
translates “irrumabo” is equally strong. The translation indicates what “irrumabo” means
and because the speaker says “I’ll make you” the translation comes close to illustrating
how a Roman would have received a demand for fellatio. The opening is angry, violent
and subordinating, like the original.
However, the rest of the translation does not take the same linear approach.
Rather the translator attempts to include the essence of the poem in each line. The
translator has identified masculinity as the central issue of the poem. He is fighting for
his masculine reputation after he has presented softer, more effeminate poetry. But there
is a problem in bringing this over into our modern cultural context. Modern concepts of
homosexual behavior may not be the same as ancient ones- the modern reader may not
understand it as a threat of masculine aggression. Craig Williams explains that a Roman
man was only expected to “play the insertive role in penetrative acts, and not the
receptive role.” 7 So, Catullus is not necessarily trying to comment on any sexual
orientation, rather this is about domination and emasculating the object, since to penetrate
the object and put him in the receptive position was to violate a certain sexual protocol
that existed in Rome. However, we don’t have these exact same conceptions today. Thus,
the translator compensates for the potential confusion by adding the mention of Hennessy,
a typically high end masculine drink. Also, the translator inserts two mentions of the
sister, and how he wants to also dominate her. These compensations are particularly
impressive since they fit so well within the genre of American rap. By placing the poem
7 Williams, Craig Roman Homosexuality (Oxford: Oxford University Press: 1999), 18.
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