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A jesting epigram addressed to Lesbia, and written while the amour with her was as yet undisturbed. The precise date cannot be more accurately determined. It is unnecessary to suppose that Metellus was actually dead and Lesbia considering a new marriage as a practical problem.

mulier mea: cf. Hor. Epod. 12.23magis quem diligeret mulier sua quam te” (of lovers); and mea puella of Lesbia in Catul. 2.1 and often.

[2] non si: see Catul. 69.3n.

[2] Iuppiter ipse petat: cf. Catul. 72.2; Pl. Cas. 323negavi enim ipsi me [Casinam uxorem] concessurum Iovi” ; Ov. Met. 7.801nec Iovis illa meo thalamos praeferret amori” .

[3-4] Cf. Soph. Frag. 741ὅρκους ἐγὼ γυναικὸς εἰς ὕδωρ γράφω” ; Plat. Phaedrus 276οὐκ ἄρα σπουδῇ αὐτὰ ἐν ὕδατι γράψει” , and frequent examples in the Greek; Aug. Civ. Dei 19.23magis poteris in aqua impressis litteris scriberequam pollutae revoces impiae uxoris sensum” ; also Catul. 30.10n., and the epitaph of Keats, “Here lies one whose name was writ in water”.


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  • Commentary references from this page (5):
    • Plato, Phaedrus, 276
    • Catullus, Poems, 2
    • Catullus, Poems, 72
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 7.801
    • Plautus, Casina, 2.5
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