Episode
Catullus Nose Poetry: Three Neoteric Gems (Ad Navseam, Episode 214)
- Podcast
- Ad Navseam
- Published
- Mar 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3908
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ad-navseam-1368151/episodes/catullus-nose-poetry-three-neoteric-gems-ad-navseam-episode-214/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/ad-navseam-1368151/catullus-nose-poetry-three-neoteric-gems-ad-navseam-episode-214.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
This week Jeff and Dave zero in on the neoteric poetry of the Roman Republic's waning days. Relying on the efforts of the late great Peter Green (of "brackish tang" fame) and his 2005 translation and commentary on the Catullan canon, the guys look at poems 1 (to Cornelius Nepos), 13 (to Fabullus), and 14 (to Calvus). What is it that drives a poet of apparently trivial interests? Is it love? Revenge? Boredom? And are these interests really so trivial, or do they hide deeper and more significant themes? Along the way you can learn about the labor limae (endless work of revision), cow-eyed Clodia (Catullus' Lesbia), that Dave can't count, and how to make the feet in your line of poetry go all the way to 11 (hendecasyllabics). Finally, once you olfactory learners get a whiff of this particular episode, you'll beg the gods to make you one giant nose!