The Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus/106
Text & Translation edit
Line | Latin Text | English Translation |
---|---|---|
1 | Cum puero bello praeconem qui videt esse, | What should one who sees an auctioneer with a fair boy, |
2 | quid credat, nisi se vendere discupere? | believe, but that he is intending to sell himself? |
Connotations of The Text edit
Line 1 edit
praeconem - auctioneer
The joke here is that Juventius is selling himself to an auctioneer. i.e. at the best price he can get for his services.
Line 2 edit
vendere - to sell [himself]
Catullus suspects that his friend Juventius has been eloping with other men, as is mentioned in Poem 24 and Poem 81. Young boys were permitted to satisfy older men but a boy who sold himself was nothing more than a whore.
External Links edit
- Catullus 106 A Translation of Catullus 106
- Catullus 106 Another Translation of Catullus 106