Prayers of Catullus

[Horatius Piscinus]

G. Valerius Catullus (87-54 B. C. E.)

1.9-10 Catullus to his Muse
Virgin patrona, let (my poems) survive a century or more.

Jupiter

67.2 Greetings, and may Jupiter bless you

64.171 Jupiter Almighty, if only in an earlier time Attic prows had never touched Cretan shores.

70.2 Not even if Jupiter Himself were to pray for it!

66.30 How often Jupiter have You dabbed Your sorrowful eyes (at the death of a lover)?

66.48 O Jupiter, may the whole race of Chalybes, the first to mine ore underground, the first to work raw metal into bars (and weapons), may they all be cursed.

Nemesis:

50.20-1 No punishment does Nemesis ever claim, but retribution. She is a strict goddess, and vehement, do not to be taken lightly and never one to cross.

64.192-7 Ariadne's prayer to the Eumenides (Furies) for revenge
Come Eumenides, vindicate me as you do for other women on cruel men; castrate him who harmed me as you visit punishment on other such faithless men. Eumenides, whose brows are wreathed with hair of snakes, display the hiss of an inner wrath resounding from deep within your hearts. Come hither, hither come, at once, at once to hear my complaint, drawn as it is, my misery wrung from the very marrow of my bones, as I am driven destitute now, burning with a woman?s hate and with the fury of a love-blind fool done wrong.

68.77-8 O Nemesis, Ramnusian virgin, never, if ever I should have some rash desire, never allow me to act upon it, what by chance is rashly ill conceived and without divine approval.

Diana:

34.5 Diana, in faith, we are pure girls and boys, allow us to sing to You. Diana, magnificent child of still greater Jove, whose mother Latona gave You birth in an olive grove on Delos. Lady of the Mountains who runs over hills and through dark forests, over the wild rough hill country and through the tall grass of hidden valleys, in mountain pastures cut by roaring streams. Women in the pain of childbirth call you Lucina. You are Trivia, goddess of witches. You are Luna, the luminous moon. Monthly is measured the progress of Your journey through the year while You fill the rustic homes of good farmers with the fruits of the earth. By whatsoever holy name it pleases You, from antiquity have You accepted our customary offerings, preserve in good faith the children of Romulus as ever You graced our ancestors.

Marriage:

62.5 Come hither, O Hymen, to our marriage song, Hymen come!
Hymen o Hymenae, Hymen adeso Hymenae!

109.3 Great Gods, make it so that she is capable of promising sincerely

Magna Mater :

63.91 O Goddess, Great Goddess Cybele, keep far away from me Divine Mistress of Dindymus, and all Your furies, too, (who cause men to castrate themselves in Your worship); may they all fall far away from my house. Go, incite others if You must, just go, and stay far away from me and my house.

For death

76.17-22 O Gods, if ever You deal in pity, if ever You lean over the dying to ease their last breath, look with pity then on my troubles, and if a pure life I have led, rid me of this plague, this creeping death that courses through my limbs, numbs me all over and drives all joy out from me.

76.26 O Gods, if I have piously served, return in kind and grant me my prayer.
O Di, reddite mi hoc pro pietate mea.

Castor and Pollux

4.26-7 She dedicates (this) to You Castor and to You Pollux, twin of Castor.