Catullus 60 in Latin & English: Num te leaena montibus Libystinis
Channel: David Amster
Date: 2023-03-18

#catullus
#latinpoetry
#latinpronunciation

Carmen 60 is the last in the “polymetric” part of Catullus’ work, addressed to a cruel friend or lover, possibly Lesbia/Clodia. The imagery alludes to Homer, Aeschylus, and Euripides, and is used again in Catullus 64 (154-57), where the abandoned Ariadne rails against Theseus. 

Note the clever acrostic formed by the first letter of each line going down and the last going up: NATU CEU AES, “by nature like bronze”.  

Num: introducing a question expecting a negative answer. 

Leaena: lioness

Montibus Libystinis: from the mountains of Libya. 

Scylla: a treacherous sea monster with vicious dogs girding her loins. She and Charybdis would attack sailors in the Strait of Messina, between Calabria and Sicily. 

Latrans: barking

Infimā parte: from the lowest part

Inguinum: of her groin/sexual organs, gen. pl. 

Taetrā: disgusting, revolting, loathsome

Procreavit: gave birth

Supplicis: of a suppliant, person begging

In novissimo casu: in the latest/final fall, misfortune, disaster. 

Ut contemptam haberes: that you would hold in contempt, despise; imperfect subjunctive. 

A: Ah! An interjection 

Nimis: too, excessively

Fero corde: with a wild/savage/cruel heart 


Pronunciation: 

NuN tē leaena montibus libystīnīs
aut scyLLa lātRāñs īñfim(ā) iñguinum paRte
tam mente dūrā pRōcReāvit ac taetRā,
ut suPPlicis vōc(em) in noviSSimō cāsū
contempt(am) habērēs, ā nimis ferō coRde?

Nu(m)N tē: M before T = N

lātRāñs īñfim(ā) iñguinum paRte: N before S, F, G are nasalized, suggests growling!

tam mente, iñguinum parte: M before M or P = M 

ā nimis ferō coRde: note short words and the long 2nd syllables in fero corde for emphasis. 


Meter: Choliambic (limping iambics)

x — u — x — u — u — — x 

nūm tē lĕaēnă mōntĭbūs Lĭbŷstīnīs
aūt Scŷllă lātrāns īnfĭma īnguĭnūm pārtĕ
tām mēntĕ dūrā prōcrĕāvĭt āc taētrā
ūt sūpplĭcīs vōcem īn nŏvīssĭmō cāsū
cōntēmptam hăbērēs ā nĭmīs fĕrō cōrdĕ?

x = long or short; note that in this poem all the first syllables are long; the Y in Libystinis and Scylla is long. 


Artwork:

Terracotta relief sculpture of Scylla with glass inlays, 4th century BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, public domain. 

Bronze Scylla figurine, late 4th century BC, National Archeological Museum, Athens, public domain. 

Scylla, Paestan Red Figure Calyx Krater, signed by Asteas, ca. 340 BC, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, public domain. 

Translation: David Amster, Fes, 3/18/23