The first Modern Greek translation of Catullus’ poems by Gustave Laffon

Abstract

The reception of Catullus has a long history in Western Europe. A lot of critical editions, translations and commentaries were composed for his work. In 19th century Greece there are a few translations of some of Catullus’ poems. Gustave Laffon (1835-1906) was a Franco-Cypriot poet who wrote in Modern Greek and translated a number of French authors in Greek, as well as a few poems of Roman lyric poets and elegists. In this paper I study Laffon’s five Modern Greek translations in verse of Catullus’ poems for Lesbia (published after his death, in his Apanta in 1915). Firstly, I reveal the identity of these poems. Furthermore, I analyze some of his translation techniques, his language and style. Finally, I try to detect the readership of these translations.

Keywords

• Catullus
• Lesbia
• Laffon
• Latin
• reception
• translation