Catullus 68 - Structure

Structure

Although most editors treat Poem 68 as one poem, its rambling qualities have sparked debate whether it is better to split it into two poems. Some editors have chosen to divide the poem in 68a and 68b at line 41. Other reasons some editors have divided the poem are the references to potentially two different friends, Manius and Allius, although these are potentially two different names for the same person. Additionally, Elena Theodorakopoulos argues that 68a and b could be viewed as a letter and accompanying poem similar to the relation between Catullus 65 and 66.

The poem begins as a letter addressed to a friend and quickly delves into topics such as friendship and his tortured romantic life. He uses the myth of Laodamia and Protesilaus to transition from themes of love and loyalty to grief over his brother’s death. Arthur Wheeler describes Catullus’ thematic progression in the poem: “He works through the friendship to the love and so to the sorrow and then back again in reverse order: sorrow, love, friendship. The structure may be represented by the letters A B C B A, and the parts also of each main theme are arranged with equal symmetry…To me it appears to be an extreme development of the old Homeric digression of the tale within the tale….”