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The ‘Attis’ of Catullus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

K. M. W. Shipton
K. M. W. Shipton
Affiliation:
University of Leicester
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Extract

Considerable attention has been paid in recent years to Catullus 63. A number of salient features have been discussed: the psychological study of emotions; the use of animal imagery; the theme of marriage and love. There have also been some helpful studies on smaller, though important, aspects of the poem such as its use of ring composition or Catullus′ inventive treatment of the challenging Galliambic metre. But little work has been done on the literary background of poem 63 apart from the question of whether or not Catullus was following an Alexandrian model. I shall suggest that the basic narrative of the poem, and the way in which Catullus has handled it, have literary antecedents which have influenced the poet. The final product, however, still remains a very original piece of work.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , December 1987 , pp. 444 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1987

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References

1 See Schäfer, E., Das Verhältnis von Erlebnis und Kunstgestalt bei Catull(Wiesbaden, 1966), 95–107.Google Scholar

2 See Sandy, G. N., "The Imagery of Catullus 63", TAP A 99(1968), 389ff.Google Scholar

3 See Forsyth, Ph. Y., ‘The Marriage Theme in Catullus 63», CJ 66(1970–1), 6ff.Google Scholar, and Glenn, J., ‘The Yoke of Attis», CP 68(1973), 59ff.Google Scholar

4 See Traill, D. A., ‘Catullus LXIII: Rings around the Sun», CP 76(1981), 21 If.Google Scholar

5 See R. C. Ross, ‘Catullus 63 and the Galliambic Meter», CJ64 (1968–9), 145ff.

6 Mulroy, D. in ‘Hephaestion and Catullus 63», Phoenix 30(1976), 6Iff. strengthens the case for the originality of poem 63. Others, like Fordyce, simply assume with little or no argument that an Alexandrian model existed. Wilamowitz suggests Callimachus as a model for Catullus, a view given some approval by Gow (in JHS80 (1960), 88ff.).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 The epigrams are: Dioscorides 16, Alcaeus 21, ‘Simonides» 2 and Antipater 64 (in Gow and Page, The Greek Anthology, Hellenistic Epigrams).Gow and Page discuss the relative order of the epigrams in their preface to Dioscorides 16. The epigrams are also discussed by Gow in JHS80 (1960), 88ff. Gow‘s main concern is with the meanings of the words referring to cult objects. But he does note the similarity between Alcaeus» lion and that of Catullus.Google Scholar

8 Dioscorides′ epigram is probably the earliest. However we do not know the real author of the epigram ascribed to Simonides.

9 ‘Simonides» and Antipater repeat Dioscorides′ notion of a Gallus sheltering in a cave from a storm. Both epigrams are very alike and must either share a common source or echo each other. If the latter, Antipater could be seen as embellishing the basic story of ‘Simonides» by adding details of the eunuch's feminine appearance.

10 The form Atys, as Gow suggests ad loc., seems to show an attempt to link the Attis of the Cybele cult to the Atys of the Lydian royal family who was killed by a boar.

11 Dioscorides, like Catullus, emphasises the frenzy of his Atys. Dioscorides sets his story against the dark of evening. Catullus sets the first half of his poem against the dark woods of Cybele. Catullus‘ description of the noise of the tympanon (21 and 29) is a virtual translation of Dioscorides» account in line 11.

12 Pausanias also mentions the local legend in Achaia where Attis is not impotent at birth but is caused to castrate himself by the anger of Agdistis at his marriage with the daughter of the king of Phrygia.

13 The pathos is further increased when the lion's flight is compared with that of a lion's typical victim - a deer.

14 Both Alcaeus and Catullus may be compared in their description of the lion's behaviour to Hellenistic accounts of Cybele-inspired head-tossing. There are obvious parallels with, for example, Antipater (who echoes Alcaeus) 64.1–2 (Gow and Page, op. cit.) or Leonidas 44.5–6 (Gow and Page, op. cit.) or Philip 14.3–4 (Gow and Page, The Garland of Philip).For another reference to this activity in Catullus 63, again applied to an animal, see my observations in ‘The Iuvenca Image in Catullus 63», CQn.s. 36 (1986), 268ff.

15 While Catullus, Dioscorides and Alcaeus all depart from Leonidas where the lion meets a shepherd, it is interesting to note how Catullus stresses the shepherd-like qualities of his Attis. See in particular G. N. Sandy, loc. cit. n. 2 above. Rose, H. J. in ‘ Anchises and Aphrodite’, CQ 18(1924), 1 Iff. cites many parallels for a goddess who is a TTOTVKL drjpwvhaving a shepherd-lover. Roman art in particular concentrates on the role of Attis as a shepherd loved by CybeleGoogle Scholar - cf. Vermaseren, M. J., The Legend of Attis in Greek and Roman Art(Leiden, 1966).Google Scholar

16 Professor Nisbet draws my attention to Hor. Odes1.22.15 where the love-sick poet is spared by a wolf. See Nisbet and Hubbard ad loc.

17 See in particular Rubino, C. A., ‘Myth and Mediation in Catullus 63», Ramus 3(1974), 152ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

18 Moschus′ idyll appears to have inspired Meleager 37 (Gow and Page, op. cit.) where Love tries to hide from Meleager in Zenophila's eyes. Meleager 38 may again use the slave motif where it describes Love as someone to be sold. Love as a runaway slave may also be alluded to in Asclepiades 22 (Gow and Page, op. cit.) where Love is described as

19 It is however also possible that no detailed description would be necessary since Cybele's lion could be assumed to recognise one of her worshippers. Cf. Cairns n. 20 below on P. Oxy. 1643 where a fugitivariusis appointed who already knows the runaway and can thus track him down more readily.

20 Useful references for this practice are to be found in Cairns, F. J., ‘Propertius 2.29A», CQ 21(1971), 456–7. To Moschus 1 and Xen. Mem.2.20, Cairns adds some interesting late material from P. Oxy. 1423 and P. Oxy. 1643. For advertisements for lost slaves see Petron. 97.2.Google Scholar

21 Cf. Cairns, loc. cit. 458.

22 The slave atching role is an easy development from the lion's function as the herder of Cybele's flock to which Attis belongs. Cf. Sandy n. 2 above and Watson in Mnemosyne36 (1983), 156ff.

23 See (as well as Forsyth n. 2 above) Sandy, G. N., ‘Catullus 63 and the Theme of Marriage», AJP 92(1971), 181ffGoogle Scholar. Granarolo, L'Oeuvre de Catulle(Paris, 1967), sees poem 63 as ‘(une) sorte d'anti-epithalame». D. Ross describes the Attisas ‘erotic psychology at its most unnatural» [Background to Augustan Poetry,p. 17]. Several studies of poem 63 have suggested links between the Attis/Cybele story and the love affair of Catullus and Lesbia: see Harkins, P. W., ‘Autoallegory in Catullus 63 and 64», TAP A 90(1959), 102ff.Google Scholar; and Sienkewicz, T. J, ‘Catullus another Attis?», CB 67(1981), 37ff.Google Scholar

24 See Basto, J., ‘Caecilius, Attis and Catullus 35», LCM1(1982), 30ff.Google Scholar, Guillemin, A. M., ‘Le Poeme 63 de Catulle», REL 27(1949), 149ff. and G. N. Sandy, loc. cit. n. 23 above. In the Phrygian version of the Attis myth Cybele loves Attis (Pausanias 7.17) and even has a child by him (Diodorus 3.58 where Cybele is the daughter of a king). In Hdt. 1.30 Attis is described as When he forgets his love for Cybele she causes his self-castration (Ovid, Met.4.221ff.).Google Scholar

25 See Callimachus 4 (Gow and Page, op. cit.), Meleager 67 (em), F. O. Copley,‘ Servitium Amoris in the Roman Elegists», TAPA78 (1947), 285ff. and R. O. A. M. Lyne in CQ29 n.s. (1979), 117ff.Google Scholar

26 Meleager 17 (Gow and Page, op. cit.).

27 If Attis is indeed an unwilling lover-slave his situation is then a pathetic reversal of his happy komastic past (65–7) where he was free to admit, or exclude, his own lover-slaves (cf. Plato, Sym.)183a where komastic behaviour is described as a form of

* I am grateful to Professor R. G. M. Nisbet for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.