Catullus, c. 16: his pilosis, a new interpretation

Abstract

In Catullus 16.10 the expression his pilosis has been rightly interpreted by scholars with an obscene meaning. This paper intends to add to that reading the consideration of his pilosis as a metapoetic expression, that is, with the sense that the pilosi alluded to are those “hairy”, i.e. clumsy, rustic, incapable of understanding a poetry like that of Catullus, which stands out for a refined polishing of words. To this end, four elements will be analyzed: 1) the general interpretation of the carmen, 2) a section from Seneca’s Epistulae very useful to our interpretation, 3) the question of the Latin terminology linked to pilosity, and 4) the use that Catullus himself makes in other carmina of this terminology