Introduction: Thrillseekers in the Hocking Hills
Welcome back, classical gourmands! In Episode 180 of the Ad Navseam Podcast, hosts Dr. David Noe and Dr. Jeff Winkle are back in the booth with some fresh energy. You might notice the new intro music—a track titled “Thrillseeker” by the fabulous guitarist (and disc-dog aficionado) Jeff Scheetz. It’s the perfect soundtrack for the thrill of studying the classics.
Before diving into the heavy emotional lifting of the episode, Dr. Winkle shares a report from his recent “gocation” (go-vacation) to Hocking Hills, Ohio. With its waterfalls, geology, and rainy canopy of forests, it offered a respite similar to visiting Greece or Italy in the off-season—all the beauty, none of the tourists.
But the mood shifts from geology to elegy as the hosts turn their attention to one of the most poignant texts in the Latin language: Catullus Poem 101, a threnody (song of lamentation) for the poet’s deceased brother.
Who Was Gaius Valerius Catullus?
To understand the poem, we must understand the man. Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84–54 BC) was born in Verona (Cisalpine Gaul) to a wealthy family—wealthy enough that Julius Caesar was a frequent houseguest.
Catullus is often defined by his tumultuous relationship with “Lesbia” (widely believed to be Clodia, the sister of Cicero’s enemy Publius Clodius Pulcher). The transcript notes that modern students might playfully call Catullus a “simp” for his devotion to a woman unworthy of his fidelity. Yet, whether he was writing about “a thousand kisses” or thumbing his nose at Caesar, Catullus brought a raw, personal intensity to Roman poetry that was entirely new.
The Neoterics: The “Young Set” & Labor Limae
Catullus belonged to a group Cicero dubbed the Neoterics (from the Greek neoteroi, meaning “the newer ones” or “the young set”). Inspired by the Greek poet Callimachus, the Neoterics rejected the bombastic, long-winded epics of the past in favor of the small, the personal, and the perfectly polished.
Dr. Noe explains the two main pillars of Neoteric poetry:
- Small Scale: Rejecting the “Big Book” (Mega Biblion, Mega Kakon—Big Book, Big Evil). Instead of writing about the founding of Rome or the wars of gods, they wrote about a dead sparrow, a napkin thief, or a personal grudge.
- Labor Limae: Literally “the work of the file.” This refers to the endless revision and polishing of a poem until every syllable is perfect. Dr. Noe compares it to a ship in a bottle—the scale is small, but the detail is exhaustive and the emotional impact is compressed.
Multas per gentes: Diving into Poem 101
The centerpiece of the episode is Poem 101, written after Catullus traveled to Bithynia (modern Turkey) to visit his brother’s grave near Troy.
Unlike his witty epigrams or erotic poems, this piece is a heavy, heartbreaking elegy written in elegiac couplets (one line of hexameter followed by one of pentameter).
The Latin Text (Lines 1-4):
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus
advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias,
ut te postremo donarem munere mortis
et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem.
Translation:
“Carried through many nations and over many seas, I arrive, brother, for these wretched funeral rites, so that I might present you with the final gift of death and speak in vain to your mute ash.”
The Futility of Grief
Dr. Winkle points out the crushing reality of line 4: mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem. Catullus is speaking to “mute ash,” and he acknowledges that he does so nequiquam—in vain.
Unlike the Christian view of the resurrection, or even the vague hopes of some philosophers, Catullus presents a grief with no horizon. It is a “staring into the void,” similar to Odysseus encountering the gloomy shade of Achilles in the underworld. The poem is purely human, rooted in the biological reality of death, with no theological comfort to soften the blow.
Ave Atque Vale
The poem concludes with one of the most famous lines in literature:
atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale.
(“And forever, brother, hail and farewell.”)
The hosts discuss how the sound of the Latin itself mimics the sound of weeping, particularly in the line accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu (“receive these [gifts] dripping with a brother’s weeping”). The repetition of the ‘m’ and ‘f’ sounds creates a somber, choking effect.
Sponsors: Art, Coffee, and Classics
This episode of Ad Navseam is supported by:
- Della Chelpka Art: We are thrilled to introduce a new sponsor! Della is a Tucson-based oil painter who captures the beauty of the everyday (much like a Neoteric poet!).
- The Deal: Visit dellachelpka.art and use the code APELLES (named after the famous Greek painter) for 10% off.
- Ratio Coffee: For a brew that rivals the nectars of Olympus.
- The Deal: Visit ratiocoffee.com and use code ANRATIO2025 for $20 off your order.
- Hackett Publishing: Building your own library of Catullus and the classics?
- The Deal: Visit hackettpublishing.com and use code AN2025 for 20% off and free shipping.
Gustatory Parting Shot
The episode wraps up with a quote from L. Frank Baum’s The Scarecrow of Oz. While Dr. Noe warns against setting up a “straw man” argument, the Scarecrow offers this sound dietary advice:
“If I am going to starve, I’ll do it all at once. Not by degrees.”
Valete! (And Ave atque vale).
Resources for the Latin Learner
- LatinPerDiem: Want to read Catullus in the original Latin? Dr. Noe’s courses take you from ab initio to reading unadapted texts. Use code 10PLUS for 10% off at latinperdiem.com.
The Moss Method: Deepen your knowledge of Greek with Dr. Noe’s comprehensive program at mossmethod.com.
