Abstract
Gaius Valerius Catullus (87-84 and 57-54 b.C.) is the main representative of the aesthetic trend in which his poetry is inserted, the so-called “neoterismo”. Also, he is considered one of the most translated Latin poets of antiquity (Vasconcellos, 1991, p. 11). Paradoxically, the transmission of his libellus has undergone several interpolations, especially in relation to the poems that contain certain sexual lexicon. In this study, we present a brief overview of how editors and Portuguese translators have dealt with the Latin text of Catullus, specifically with regard to the carmen 16. In this poem, Catullus uses, in the first and last verses, terms of a sexual nature, namely the verbs pedicabo and irrumabo, which denominate the anal and oral penetration act, respectively. The presence of these words led the Latin text editors to censure its disclosure. Thus, our goal is twofold: i) to observe how editors of the Latin text have dealt with this poem, and ii) to analyse the translation choices in Portuguese versions, in order to reflect on how suppression or attenuation of obscene vocabulary have been reconsidered, especially in Brazilian translations.
Keywords
Classical letters; Catullus; Obscenity; Translation; Censorship