Pyrrha's Roman
Pages

A section of Catullus' epyllion (poem 64 lines 112 - 115), deals with the story of how the hero Theseus killed the Minotaur and escaped from Crete with Ariadne, the princess who had helped him.

The Romans were obviously accustomed to listening to words presented in a variety of different ways, but even they must have found this section challenging - and you can see why Catullus wanted to use a misleading order of words!

[I have indicated a route through the translation which would make sense to English-speakers].



Then, safe, with great glory, he turned back his foot,
guiding his wandering footsteps with a slender thread,
in case
an unnoticed twist of the building should confuse
him on his way out from the labyrinthine windings.

Click here to download a Powerpoint of this page.

first page Virgil : Eclogue IV, 18 - 20 (Flowers everywhere!)
Horace : Satires II 6, 80 - 81 (Town Mouse and Country Mouse)
Horace Odes I.v. 1 - 3 (Pyrrha)
Virgil Aeneid II, 203 - 211 (Sea serpents)