Eine Konjekur zu Catull. 64.260

Authors

  • Heiko Ullrich

Abstract

An emendation is offered on the text of Catull. 64.260, where audire seems inappropriate to describe the sensation of sacred objects hidden in a cista: pars obscura cauis celebrabant orgia cistis, / orgia quae frustra cupiunt †audire† profani (259-60). Despite the efforts of Friedrich, Schuddeboom and Trimble (following Kroll) defending audire seems impossible. The text can be improved dramatically by either McKie’s aperire or Oakley’s spectare which provide an (albeit not too) smooth transition from orgia meaning ‘sacred objects’ to orgia meaning ‘sacred rites’ (performed by using the sacred objects). Nevertheless, both conjectures can – and need to be – improved themselves: aperire goes beyond the requested meaning hinting at the divulgation of the mysteries rather than just their recognition; spectare seems to go better with ‘sacred rites’ than with ‘sacred objects’. This note therefore proposes tractare, comparing Petron. 83.1 and 140.13 besides Theocr. 26.7-14 and Clem. Alex. protrept. 21.2.

Downloads

Published

2026-04-14

How to Cite

Ullrich, H. (2026). Eine Konjekur zu Catull. 64.260. Classica Et Mediaevalia, 75, 37–51. Retrieved from https://tidsskrift.dk/classicaetmediaevalia/article/view/167199

Issue

Vol. 75 (2026): Classica et Mediaevalia

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access).