A Binding Song: The Similes of Catullus 61

Ready, Jonathan L.

doi:10.1086/423861

Cited by 3 publications

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References 18 publications

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“…87Well observed by Ready (2004) 156: ‘the similes that appear in between [these framing similes] all argue the same point: Junia is like some vegetal entity.’…”

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Catullus 61: Epithalamium and Comparison

Feeney

2013

Camb. class. j.

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Similes are a prominent feature of epithalamia, with poets comparing the bride and groom to characters from myth or to elements of the natural world. Catullus wrote two epithalamia (61 and 62), together with two other poems with marked epithalamian characteristics (64 and 68). This paper examines the question of why similes are so important to the genre of epithalamium, concentrating on Catullus 61, which is particularly rich in its deployment of comparison. The paper argues that comparison is crucial to the themes of Roman marriage: similes locate the human institution of marriage between the poles of myth and nature, and they afford a vehicle for considering the way marriage links together the disparate terms of male and female.It has long been recognised that Catullus is an aficionado of the simile form: as Richard Hunter puts it, 'Catullus, more perhaps than any other Roman poet, seems to have seized the opportunities for self-conscious experimentation which the simile form offered.'1 The important study of Svennung (1945) charted the corpus, pointing out in the process interesting patterns of clustering and absence. There are only three similes in the polymetrics (2b, 7.3-8, 17.18-21), and only two in the epigrams (72.3-4 and 97.7-8); 2 developed similes clump in the longer poems, specifically in 61, 62, 64, 65 and 68. 3 It is significant that all these simile-rich poems share an intense interest in the theme of marriage as focused through the moment of the wedding. 4 Svennung already remarked *

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“…87Well observed by Ready (2004) 156: ‘the similes that appear in between [these framing similes] all argue the same point: Junia is like some vegetal entity.’…”

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confidence: 99%

“…59Ready (2004) 155; cf. Heyworth (2001) 120: ‘an alarmingly ominous allusion in this context, for who in myth poses a greater threat to the institution of marriage than Venus and Paris on this occasion?’…”

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confidence: 99%

Catullus 61: Epithalamium and Comparison

Feeney

2013

Camb. class. j.

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Sexuality and Ritual: Catullus' Wedding Poems

Panoussi¹

2007

A Companion to Catullus

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The Comparative Spectrum in Homer

Ready¹

2008

ajp

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This article posits three categories of Homeric figures-similes, comparisons, and likenesses-in exploring the various implications of and goals behind saying "A (is) like B" in the Homeric poems. Attention to modern research in the field of psycholinguistics on the differences between simile and metaphor, as well as to Aristotle's discussions of metaphor, brings into focus the spectrum of degree of likeness between tenor and vehicle in the epics. The Odyssey poet in particular exploits the existence and nature of this comparative spectrum for thematic and rhetorical effects. The spectrum emerges most clearly when one focuses on the words that introduce Homeric figures.

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A Binding Song: The Similes of Catullus 61

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Catullus 61: Epithalamium and Comparison

Catullus 61: Epithalamium and Comparison

Sexuality and Ritual: Catullus' Wedding Poems

The Comparative Spectrum in Homer

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