Carminas 11 and 58 Reading Comprehension Test

[13 marks]

Nomen:_____________________________________________ Hora:____________________ Carmen 58 Caeli, Lesbia nostra, Lesbia illa. illa Lesbia, quam Catullus unam plus quam se atque suos amavit omnes, nunc in quadriviis et angiportis glubit magnanimi Remi nepotes Carmen 11 Furi et Aureli comites Catulli, sive in extremos penetrabit Indos, litus ut longe resonante Eoa tunditur unda, sive in Hyrcanos Arabesue molles, seu Sagas sagittiferosue Parthos, sive quae septemgeminus colorat aequora Nilus, sive trans altas gradietur Alpes, Caesaris visens monimenta magni, Gallicum Rhenum horribile aequor ultimosque Britannos, omnia haec, quaecumque feret voluntas caelitum, temptare simul parati pauca nuntiate meae puellae non bona dicta. cum suis vivat valeatque moechis, quos simul complexa tenet trecentos, nullum amans vere, sed identidem omnium ilia rumpens; nec meum respectet, ut ante, amorem, qui illius culpa cecidit uelut prati ultimi flos, praetereunte postquam tactus aratro est.

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a) Translate lines poem 58 lines 1-3 (Caeli...omnes). [3 marks] b) Scan lines 2 and 3 in Carmen 58. [2 marks] c) What is the irony of calling Furius and Aurelius comites in line 1 [2 marks] of Carmen 11. Give an example from the text. d) What is tone of Carmen 58? How does the repetition of Lesbias name contribute to this tone? [2 marks] e) How do both these poems mark a change in Catullus relationship and feelings

toward Lesbia? Give one example from each poem.

[4 marks]

Answer Key: a) caelius, our lesbia, the famous lesbia, that lesbia, whom alone catullus loved more than himself and all his family b) ll Lsb qum Ctlls nm pls qum se tqu ss mut mns

c) Comites meaning comrades implies Catullus is addressing his good friends, but we see that he is not sincere and they are not his good friends. He lists the farthest corners of the world implying that he wants Furius and Aurelius to travel far away as possible.

d) He appears to be angry at Lesbia by calling her a prostitute, but the repetition of Lesbias name indicates that he is in a state of obsessive grief. e) He changes from being completely in love with Lesbia to being done with her lack of reciprocation of love and her promiscuous ways. in poem 11, lines 21-24 say that Catullus does not love her like he did before. He compares his love for her now to a flower that has been crushed by a plow. In poem 58, he emphasizes the fact that he used to love her more than himself and more than his family, but now she has changed into a promiscuous woman that he doesnt love anymore.