C 13 - Witke
C 13 - Witke
C 13 - Witke
, 1980), pp. 325-331 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/269601 . Accessed: 05/07/2012 20:20
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NOTESANDDISCUSSIONS CATULLUS 13: A REEXAMINATION nam unguentumdabo, quod meae puellae donaruntVeneresCupidinesque
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[Catull.13. 11-121 Students of Catullus will have noticed recently a novel development in the interpretation of Catullus Carmen 13, the unguentum of which is assigned a sexual meaning.' According to this view, the poem cannot be successfully interpreted without assigning to unguentumthis significance.2This new view makes unguentum into "sexual secretions," and goes on to aver that the poet Catullus is handing over to the addressee Fabullus "my girl" or "Lesbia."3Though in Catullus' circle the bestowal of a female to another man as a sexual partner for an evening cannot be denied prima facie, elsewhere in Catullus' poems we find no such casual proffering of the puella (or of Iuventius for that matter) to old comrades such as the Fabullus of Carmen 13.4For the poet to be so offering his amoresin this poem the language would have to be unambiguous.5Even if one were to grant that the poet wanted to say that he is offering his puella to his friend, can the words he wrote be made to yield this significance? Can unguentum mean "vaginal secretions," and can accipies meos / meros amores only mean "you shall have for yourself my girl [Lesbia]"?6If so, then we will have reached a new insight into the operations of Catullus' circle and of his poetry, as well as a new level of candor and lack of prudery in our own criticism. But if not, then the line of thought that develops unguentum,hitherto innocent and charming, along these particular lines of sexual innuendo will be but further evidence of how extraneous preoccupations can distort ancient texts.7 The "revisionist" view makes the meaning of unguentum the key of the poem, and replaces clues to the writer's willed intent, namely, context, generic convention and the illocutionary force of the text, with a lexical double entendre.8It suggests that such statements as "irrumator praetor" (10. 12-13) and "pedicabo uos et irrumabo" (16. 1) condition Catullus' ancient audience and ideally his modern
1. See R. J. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus: Catullus 13," Latomus 36 (1977): 123-28; J. P. IIallett, "Divine Unction: Some Further Thoughts on Catullus 13," Latomus 37 (1978): 747-48. These are collectively called the "revisionist theory" for convenience. 2. "The meaning of unguentum is the key to the interpretation of the poem"; Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 123. No attention is paid by the revisionist theory to the philological problem of assigning unguentum this new meaning. 3. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 127. 4. Carm. 11 is bitter recognition of the rupture with the profligate puella, and of course not such a granting of her favors to moechi; Catullus has no control any more of the puella in Carm. 11. Carm. 15 is typical of his jealous regard for the puer. Examples of these attitudes for both puella and puer could easily be multiplied, e.g., Carm. 58 and 24. 5. Not only would Fabullus have to comprehend, but also the puella. "Dabo unguentum" seems hardly comprehensible as a sexual promise except in a private code; poems are written in a public language. 6. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 127. I do not attempt here a full-scale demonstration of the philological uncertainty and difficulty with making unguentum signify "bodily secretion" in Latin. I trust that disproving the equivalence in the context of Catull. Carm. 13 will suffice. 7. E.g., M. Schuster, s.v. "Valerius Catullus," RE 7A (1948): 2354, on inferences from Catullus' "Keltenblut"; and 2361, on Catullus as a "Mensch nordischen Blutes," etc. 8. For a sense of modern literary critical theory's position on these, see J. Reichert, Making Sense of Literature (Chicago, 1977), pp. 63-67 ("Intention and Authors"); E. D. Hirsch Jr., The Aims of Interpretation (Chicago, 1976), pp. 33-35 (generic expectation and cognitive theory); ibid., pp. 26-28 and especially pp. 52-53 (illocutionary force); also E. D. Hirsch Jr., Validity in Interpretation (New Haven, 1967), pp. 68-71 (genre and authorial will).
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of this sort in the corpus.But references elsewhere audiencefor sexualreferences boundto a simplesexual are not veiled, but ratherexplicit,and not specifically 13 is so veiled that its ulteriorand in Carmen whereasunguentum significance,9 One may observethat for two millennia.10 hasgoneunsuspected truesignificance to in these explicitpassagesmight opennessabout the sexualpracticesreferred aboutsucha meaningas the revisionisttheory lead one to expectequalopenness to sexualproclivityor practice Directnessof reference suggestsfor unguentum.11 everything resultin licenseto sexualize in someCatullantexts shouldnot however with music should engendera in a given poem, any more than preoccupation musicalpun forHamlet'slast line, "therest is silence."The specificcontextmust suggestlimits for interpretation.12 reasons. 13 fails for the following of Carmen interpretation The revisionist of a specific Omission (1) The poem is in the genreof the invitatorypoem."3 still, the generic forthinkingthe poema feignedinvitation; grounds timefurnishes that the lists them (food,wine,etc.) but by implying conventions obtain.Catullus his control and initiativein the partywill takeplace"oneof thesedays"maintains level.In the context and keepsthe poemon the general with Fabullus, relationship of an invitation,"contraaccipiesmeosamores"(line 9) means"formy part I'll That is, Catulluswill assurethe presence meosamores. provideand you'llreceive" theoryof to the dinner.The secretions of his love in someformas his contribution that Fabullusbe eagerto meet this love of Catullus,but requires interpretation nowherein the poem is there evidencethat this is so.14 Indeed, the revisionist theory must entirely ignorethe only "real"girl at this fictive party, Fabullus' role in the unwholesome candidapuellaof line 4, and relegateher to a degraded dinner Likewise,a fashionable 13 becomesin their eyes."5 ambiencethat Carmen is attenuatedinto a group of the neoteroi, party with wit and laughter,hallmarks ratherthan the witty age and its obsessions gropethat befitsmorea post-Catullan poems(e.g., 10).16 circlewe glimpsein Catullus'
9. K. Quinn, Catullus: The Poems (London, 1970), p. 143 (on Carm. 16. 1), says of these explicit expletives, "A conflict between the literal and the colloquial meanings is exploited. Usually the colloquial meaning [e.g., "Go to hell!"] is the primary one." 10. I discount Martial, e.g., 3. 12; see section 8 below. 11. Seen. 5. 12. See the useful remarks of Hirsch, Validity, pp. 88-89, e.g., "Any final, generic sense of the whole different from the speaker's would be extrinsic [i.e., "a wrong guess"] because it would be This is what has happened in the unguentum = secretion used to codetermine meanings...." equivalency. 13. On invitations see Anth. Pal. 11. 44 (Philodemus to Piso, under whom our Fabullus served in Macedonia; cf. Catull. Carm. 28). See also n. 16 and C. J. Fordyce, Catullus: A Commentary (Oxford, 1961), p. 133. 14. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 127, n. 24, bends some remarks of K. Quinn along these lines; cf. his Catullus: An Interpretation (London, 1972), p. 231, which goes much farther than his commentary, Catullus, p. 133, where Fabullus is thought to be angling for an invitation to dinner, not an introduction to a girl. 15. Hallett, "Divine Unction," p. 748, seems to recognize this objection but passes over it. 16. For Catullus' circle, heightened quality of emotion such as is seen in the elegant strategems and underlying tenderness of Carm. 13 seems a component of civilized life detachable from the direct earthiness of, say, Carm. 56. Hence it is questionable whether such sexual implications as cecidi definitely has in Carm. 56. 7 should be recuperated from neutral words like cenabis, Carm. 13. 1, which for Hallett ("Divine Unction," p. 747) along with "the whole idea of eating" has sexual implications. Cenabis in Carm. 13 prominently signals "invitation" and gives the reader a clear indication at the first word of what kind of poem is under way. Cf. Plaut. Curc. 728; Cic. De or. 2. 246; Mart. 11. 52 (with no sexual overtone).
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(2) The revisionist theory adduces Veneres Cupidinesque, donors of the unguentum,as evidence of its erotic quality; this is valid. But an erotic connotation for unguentum does not automatically precipitate a physiological meaning for that word. Further, the revisionist theory holds that Veneres Cupidinesque as donors rule out that a dinner unguent is meant.'7 Why? In a truly sophisticated and aesthetically responsive society, a dinner party is readily enhanced by the charm of its female participants, just as it would be shattered by reference to bodily functions, odors, or secretions. Venus elsewhere in ancient literature is associated with or supplies a commodity or unguentum itself with subsequent enhancement of its recipient. In the Metamorphosesof Apuleius Venus sends Psyche to the underworld to bring back some of Proserpina's formonsitas in a pyxis; the parallel with unguent is evident, and so is the intangibility of the commodity.'8 Further, Lucian adopted the idea.'9 Finally, and significantly closer in time to Catullus, Sextus Turpilius, the last writer of palliata, presented in his Leucadia a boatman who transports Venus, who is disguised as an old woman, from Lesbos to the mainland for no payment. He is rewarded unguenti alabastro; "cum se inde totum ungueret, feminas in sui amorem trahebat.... "20 This is interesting for Carmen 13 because it shows a man handling an unguentum given from Venus, an intangible and compelling scent (real or imagined) that evokes a loving response. It is very likely to this kind of unguentum Veneris that Catullus refers. (3) To support unguentum as sexual secretion of the female, numerous references are made to ancient literature, in connection with bodily odors. Exploration of these citations, however, reveals that they are uniformly unpleasant and offputting in connotation; nowhere is an agreeable natural scent unambiguously referred to. An unguentum, as in Lysistrata 940-46, is associated with sexual activity, to be sure, but would surely replace or submerge a natural body scent." Such masking is the general purpose of unguenta, as their association with the laying out of a corpse indicates. The literature nowhere suggests that a bodily
17. "When Catullus says that this unguent is one given by Venus and the Cupids to his mistress, immediately we see that it is not the dinner unguent"; Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 124. His argument is hard to accept. Venus figures on quite a number of ointment and perfume vessels. The receptacle for unguent (cf. Hug, s.v. "Salben," RE 2A [1920]: 1861) did not exhibit a specific shape for use at dinner tables. Unguents there, as well as for use at baths, athletic events, and cosmetic tables, were aryballoi (for perfumed oils) or pyxides (for nard, etc., also commonly called alabastra) with wide variants possible in form and decoration for each type. The lekythos was associated with marriage and burial in the Greek world; the ampulla with burial in the Roman world. For an alabastron with,uv'pov at a dinner party, see Matt. 26:7 (cf. Mark 14:3, Luke 7:37, John 12 :3). It is spoken of as being broken in order to be used. Should this perhaps throw light on Mart. 3. 12. 2, "sed nil scidisti"? This is made obscene by Hallett, "Divine Unction," p. 747, with scidisti meaning "sodomized." Another line of thought on Mart. 3. 12. 1-2, "Unguentum fateor bonum dedisti / convivis here sed nihil scidisti," is that scindere has the meaning of to cut up or to carve, as in Sen. De vita beata 17 (obsonium), Dc brevitate vitae 12 ("aves in frusta"); scindere is cited with this meaning for the Martial passage by Lewis and Short. 18. Apul. Met. 6. 16. 19. Lucian Dial. 9. 2. 20. 0. Ribbeck, Comicorum Romanorum Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1898), p. 113. Cf. Serv. Dan. on Virg. Aen. 3. 279. 21. See Hallett, "Divine Unction," p. 748, and J. Henderson, The Maculate Muse (New Haven, 1975), p. 135. Here the woman's "rose scent" is indeed what it is by virtue of the adjective pjobov. Nowhere does .'vpov by itself mean secretion, and it does not figure in Henderson's index. For a Roman parallel to the Lysistrata ointment, should one turn to Catull. Carm. 6. 8?
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secretion is enticing: quite the contrary. It is highly unlikely that unguentumor A'hpov would be the word chosen to signify the liquid of the campus muliebris. (4) Propertius 2. 29 is twice cited by the revisionary thesis. First, Cynthia's protest: "ut in toto nullus mihi corpore surgat / spiritus admisso notus adulterio," lines 38-39. This is made out to refer to a "mixture of scents" proceeding from Cynthia's intimate parts and owing to a mixture of her secretions and a male residue. But as "in toto corpore" shows, Cynthia here denies the lingering scent of another man on any part of her person; she is surely making reference to another's scent which the jealous lover could detect, such as hair dressing, perfume, pomade, body oil, etc., which could through lovemaking be transferred to Cynthia and linger. Second, Propertius 2. 29. 15-18 is cited: "afflabunt tibi non Arabum de gramine odores / sed quos ipse suis fecit Amor manibus." This is assigned the expected obscene meaning.22 But mere observation of the tenses (perfumes will waft which Love has made) and the plural manibus (digito would fit the meter) show that sexual secretions can hardly be the primary level of significance. This same sequence of tenses, future-present perfect, can be seen in Catullus 13: "dabo quod donarunt," also Carmen 12. 14-17, miserunt mihi, a similar sentiment in a different situation. The bestowal to the girl precedes in time the proffering to or by the poet in each case. Unless we are prepared to think that Catullus 13 is evidence for the puella being a nymphomaniac, whose bodily secretions can be thought of as a reliable feature of this or any dinner party she attends, the perfect tense donarunt here means a gift like that of Venus in Turpilius' Leucadia. (5) If sexual secretions were meant, and if Catullus is handing over his girl for Fabullus' tactile enjoyment, it seems ungenerous and hardly characteristic of the host who thinks of everything for his guests' delectation to assert that Fabullus will wish himself all nose. An additional organ or organs might more logically be employed if unguentummeans something besides the alluring scent of the puella's person in a general way. Or should we further pursue the sexual metaphor and say that Catullus is implying that Fabullus is impotent?23Obviously, there is no end to fantasy once the constraints of context are removed. (6) If the poem is, as A. Baehrens long ago asserted,24addressed to the puella of Catullus as much as to Fabullus, the girl's reaction (whether she is Lesbia or not), even in a "concrete, earthy and sensual" atmosphere of Catullus' world,25 would very likely be negative. If in part addressed covertly to "mea puella" it is demeaning of her if the revisionist theory is true, and ill accords with the delicate compliment paid to her by means of comment on her unguentumas traditionally and correctly interpreted.
22. Regarding Prop. 2. 29. 17-18, the revisionist theory does not seem to bear in mind that the words are addressed by a cupid to Propertius, with no woman present at their interview. Further, the perfumes in question will be ones emanating from Cynthia, the cupid says, when she awakens. Surely the cupid is not suggesting that she awakens from sleeping with another man to be discovered by Propertius; Cynthia also denies this, 37-38. On 2. 29. 37--38, the word nullus is read by Littman ("The Unguent of Venus," p. 125) as nullius in order to gain evidence for "another man"; there is no MS evidence for this, or for making the scent "sperm"; is semen meant? 23. Could Mart. 3. 12 imply the same thing about his Fabullus? 24. Catulli Veronensis Liber (Leipzig, 1885), pp. 130-3 1. 25. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 124.
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The dinner (7) The poemobviouslyhas as one of its aims to frustrateFabullus. is to be "oneof these days," the guest is to be obligedto providethe food, wine, wit, laughter,and a, or the, girl; nowhereis it explicit,as the revisionists require, that the girlof the poet be present:only herunguentum,be it herlingering perfume cited. Thus Catulluscan mean, or the auraof herpersonitself, is incontrovertibly that he will talk about his love and makeher presentin as Baehrenssupposed,26 that way: "sedcontraaccipiesmeos/ merosamores." The feast for Catullusmay is of substance will be provided be completelyBarmecidal. Whatever by the guest in an inversion of a dinnerparty.His contribution to the Fabullus of the structure scentwith its abundant partywill be offset(andset off)by the superb implications, betweenperfumeand an auraof beauty including sexual.The generalconnection or generalsexualattractiveness (Fabullus, too, has his share:venuste noster,line 6) in ancientclassicaland otherculturesis too well knownto be thrownout in favor of anatomicalfunctionsnever elsewhere referred to withoutdistaste,affectedor real. If the girl of the poet is present,she will but tantalize Fabullus;if she is absent, recalledthroughCatullus'conversation, she will be even morealluring. One cannotdecidewith surenessif she is or is not going to be there:part of the pleasant toying with Fabullus'reactionsand expectations,and hence with our own. By turningthe girl into a secretion,most of the wit generatedby foiling expectationis dissipatedin favor of a grossnessof whichit is difficultto speak. (8) That Martialin 3. 12 mayhavewrittena parodyof Catullus Carmen 13with the idea of unguentum as sexuallubricant in mind27 doesnot allowone to inferthat Catullus'significance for unguentum was similarany morethan a sexualtravesty by, say, Allen Ginsberg on Thackeraymakesthe Victorianlubricious. Further, the Martialtext as adducedby the revisionisttheoryis homosexual in its general appeal,whereinvaginalsecretions wouldhardlyseem appropriate; unguentum in this Martial poem is "ointment,"dinner party quality or possibly bedroom quality,nothingelse, and cannotbe usedin supportof unguentum meaning female bodilysecretion.
(9) Reference to Catullus' usage of the phrases meos amoresand adjectiveamores
is instructive. The revisionist theoryprefersto readmeosamores becauseit fancies it means "my girl."28 So let us begin with the pronomial adjective.In Catullus
6. 16, 10. 1, 45. 1, and 64. 27 the phrase tuos/suos amores is used to signify girl
friendor femalelover.In 15. 1, 21. 4, 40. 7, and 38. 6 we see meosamores, all surely or very probablyreferring to males,and spokenin propria personaby Catullus.29
Thus the phrase meos amores could mean in Carmen 13 a male lover; the unusual meaning sought by the revisionists for unguentum cannot rely on meos amores
being a female, though context suggeststhat it probablyis, just as it likewise suggeststhat unguentum cannotmeanwhat the revisionists want it to mean.
26. Baehrens, Calulli Veronensis Liber, p. 131. 27. Hallett, "Divine Unction," p. 747. See also n. 17. Cf. Mart. 11. 6. 16, in malam partem (passer = membrum virile.) 28. Most modern editors and commentators with great plausibility read meros, e.g., Kroll, Mynors, Thomson, Fordyce, Quinn. Note also that Mart. 14. 206 uses meros amores of the cestos, Venus' scented girdle. The context is homosexual, the influence Catullan. 29. On Catull. 38. 6, cf. F. 0. Copley, "Catullus, c. 38," TAPA 87 (1956): 128-29: "my affection: for you, Cornificius"; meos amores does not probably refer to a beloved person here but to Catullus' feelings: plausibly the appropriate sense for c. 13 if we read meos.
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NOTESAND DISCUSSIONS
Meros amores occursnowhere else in Catullus; amores is elsewhere qualified with an adjectiveand coversa widerangeof meaning.30 If meosamores can mean boy friend, we could in an excess of fantasy see a picture presentedto Fabullus of the lad attending the fictive party wearing Catullus'girl's perfume:surely a social event somewhatless bizarrethan the picture presentedby the revisionistsof the dinnerhost who "offersFabullus Lesbia'sgenitals";the Romanetiquetteon this wouldmeritstudy. (10) The revisionists take dabo,line 11, to mean "I will give" my girl'ssexual Contextobligesone to questionthis interpretation. organsto Fabullus.3' Fabullus is enjoinedto bring food, girl, wine, wit, and laughter:ingredients for a social structure calleda party, to be sharedby all its participants. Fabullusis to bring themto the event,not to the hostperse. Catullus on hispartis to makea contribution to the partyas a whole:but not the one usuallyassignedby socialcodeto the host,and obliginghim to providefood, wine, guests,and entertainment; Catullus will contributethe almostobligatoryunguent:not a real unguent,to be handed roundfor the guests,but ratherthe girl'sperfume's scent, intangible,and hence said to be a gift of heaven.Hence Catullus' exaggerated proclamation of poverty is not violated;his verb dabomeans in the setting of an invitationand in the context of this structure's expectations,"I will providefor the company;I will set out for my guests."Sinceit is not Catullus' to give, for it belongsto the puella who receivedit, he contravenes the principalexpectation one has about the verb dare:he who gives must be capableof giving. Second,he contravenesanother expectation is intangible. aroused by the structure of a party:the unguent Catullus really "gives"nothingin the conventionalsense of the word. By assumingthe it as the poemprogresses, roleof the invitinghost,and by subsequently abdicating in Carmen Catullus of 13 wittily leadsFabullus on, pays the puellathe compliment her company(or her perfume's)alone to a party, and composesan preferring elegant poem frustratingthe conventionsof its generic form. "Dinner party I'll bringout a scent-the invitation;but no time set, you bringthe necessaries, savor of my love." (11) The revisioniststake Catullus'hyperbolicstatementabout his poverty literallyand do not see it as part of the strategemto outwitFabullus.Seekingto the theoryassertsthat Catullus narrow to meanfemalesexualsecretion, unguentum "cannotsupply an actual unguentwhich would be very expensive,but he can that but is so remarkable supplyan actual unguentthat not only is inexpensive, it will make Fabulluswant to becomeall nose ... What sort of unguent does ointmentin a jar...."32 First of all, this line Venusgive?It is not someimagined ointmentin a jar"(onethinks is flawedbecauseto ruleout "imagined of reasoning doesnot resultin having of Marianne Moore's"realtoadsin imaginary gardens") ruledout otherintangible aspectsof what unguentum reallymeans:scent. Second, the choiceis not between(a) imaginedointments,(b) real and expensivedinner unguent,or (c) the revisionists' favorite,but ratherbetweenrealunguentand the own sweet scent, presentor recalled.Finally,the assertionthat unguent woman's
30. Conjugal love: ueteres amores 96. 3, tales amores 64. 334, optatos amores 64. 372, communes amores 68. 69; human passion: furtiuos amores 7. 8; bisexual activity: dulces amores 78. 3. 31. Littman, "The Unguent of Venus," p. 124. 32. Ibid. How do we know that the unguent which Catullus will supply is "actual"?
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pare Festus apud Paulum Diaconum, p. 329 Mueller: "schoeniculae appellantur meretrices propter usum unguenti schoeni quod est pessimi generis." Thus not far from the time of Catullus it was possible to speak of "cheap perfume." But the unguentumof Carmen 13 is heaven-sent: the opposite of cheap and, it should be evident, in no way to be connected with a natural human secretion: unless qualified by an adjective, unguentum would appear to have a positive connotation. How could Fabullus understand the point advanced by the revisionists if he had recourse only to Carmen 13 and the Latin language? (12) A calculus of values contradicting unguentumas secretion is available in Carmen 13 itself. Of this vexed ointment it is said: "seu [i.e., uel si] quid suauius elegantiusue est," in reference to meos / meros amores. The words suauis and elegans are well-known touchstones of aesthetic value in Catullus' polymetrics.33 Reference to their connotation alone should have forestalled this gynecological detour. But once put into circulation, unguentumas female secretion will doubtless be hard to eradicate from the minds of even those who do not give assent to the dubious line of argument herein called into question. For a final example of the fact that authorially willed intent and context are superordinate in exegesis to critical ingenuity, let us look briefly at a statement made in a later Latin drama by a prostitute to a customer who wants something special: Prostitute:ecce cubile bene stratumet delectabilead inhabitandum. Customer: estne hic aliud penitius,in quo possimuscolloquisecretius? Prostitute: est etenim aliud occultum, tam secretumut eius penetralnulli praeter me ... est cognitum. Lest the unwary critic begin to weave interpretations about the significance of cubile, colloqui, and penetral more appropriate to Martial or the Priapea, let us state at once that the writer is the nun Hrotsvith of Gandersheim, and the prostitute Thais, her customer being the desert saint Pafnutius, bent on making Thais a proclaimed saint too.3' Erotic connotations can be read into the quotation, but the frontiers of responsible interpretation, respecting author and context, cannot be broached with impunity. MadameBovarycould be about Eskimos; but it is not. Neither is unguentumsexual secretion. In light of these observations (and more could be adduced) it may be prudent to conclude that asserting that unguentumin Catullus Carmen 13 means female sexual secretion is not the same as demonstrating that it does, and that to give an unguent is not the same thing as to hand over the girl whose it is. Non liquet.
CHARLES WITKE
University of Michigan
33. On Catullan sophistication in form and in emotion, see C. Witke, Enarratio Catulliana, Mnemosyne Suppl. 10 (1968), pp. 27-28. For suanis and its programmatic significance, see D. 0. Ross, Style and Tradition in Catullus (Cambridge, 1969), p. 79: "Catullus' use of suanis can be seen as a turning point in its history...." Though not discussed by Ross, elegans, found only in the polymetrics (like inelegans), has a similar value. For suanis and sanuins in connection with food, see Hor. Sat. 3. 8. 89, 92. 34. Hrotsvith Pafnutins (ed. Homeyer) 3. 4. 337.