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Catullus 72

Lesbia and Her Sparrow
Lesbia and Her Sparrow (1907) Sir Edward Poynter. This painting was inspired by Poem 2 of Catullus.

Dicebas quondam solum Catullum,

Lesbia, nec prae me velle Iovem.

dilexi tum te non tantum ut vulgus amicam,

sed

nunc te cognovi: quare etsi uror,

tamen es vilior et levior.

est, inquis? quod iniuria talis

cogit amare magis, sed bene velle minus.

What gender is te here?

What form is nosse
Contracted form of novisse
What form is made of the perfect stem plus –isse?
perfect infinitive active. Here we have the perfect infinitive active of nosco, noscere, novi, notus.
What construction pairs accusative and infinitive? You know this one!
Indirect statement

What kind of infinitive is tenere?
Complementary. The complementary infinitive is used after a verb whose meaning is not complete by itself, e.g. “I want to ride a horse.” The complementary infinitive is usually used with posse, velle, nōlle, and malle.

This simile initially seems bizarre. Can Catullus really liken his passionate love for Lesbia to a father’s love for his sons and sons-in-law? Perhaps we should remember that Aeneas’s devotion to Ascanius was so great that he abandoned Dido… Aeneas and Ascanius Aeneas and Ascanius find the Laurentian Sow, an omen that tells them where to found their city. Marble Relief, c. 140-150CE..
What form of adjective or adverb regularly ends in –ius?
Comparative

What are the possible cases of this word?
Dative or ablative singular
What kind of ablative often accompanies a comparative adjective?
Ablative of measure/degree of difference

What case is this contracted form?
Dative
What kind of dative is it?
Dative of Judging
This form looks like a nominative singular or plural masculine BUT it is an old ablative form (instrumental)
Here equal to pote. Rare to see this form in classical poetry.
What part of speech ends in -ns, -ntis added to a verb stem?
Present participle active