Journal Article

Hidden Kisses in Catullus: Poems 5,6,7 and 8

Tesoriero, †Charles

2006

Overview

Poems 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Catullus form an interconnected series. Catullus draws them together by referring to notions of display and concealment in a love affair. In particular, Catullus explores a paradox inherent in the competing needs to keep a relationship a secret and to announce it to the wider public. In the tongue-wagging world of Rome, hiding the existence of an affair, as Flavius attempts to do in poem 6, can never be successful and will attract the suspicious minds and cruel tongues of observers; hence Catullus advocates that Flavius confess, in order to control the gossip, in the case of poem 6, from Catullus himself. On the other hand, ostentatious display of felicity in love has the power to evoke the inuidia of the observer which can manifest itself in a hex upon the affair: to counter this, in poems 5 and 7, Catullus recommends that the affair, or at least its precise details, be hidden from those who would watch in an envious spirit (5.11-13, 7.11-12). There is something fundamentally perplexing about 5 and 7, since Catullus proclaims what he would conceal, leaving himself, his girl and his affair exposed to the inuidia he wishes to avoid.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Catullus, Gaius Valerius / Gossip / Intratextuality / Irony / Love / Love poetry / Poetry