The Graces of Eucharis: analysis and poetical translation of the epigram CLE 55

Abstract

We present an unprecedented, in Portuguese language, analysis and translation of the funerary epigram CLE 55, CIL 06, 10096, dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries BC and found in Rome. Dedicated to the freedwoman Eucharis Licina, the epigram CLE 55 stands out for the length of its verses and, mainly, for its reflections and metalinguistic games. Furthermore, it is very present the intertextuality that the poem traces with some mythological figures, such as, for instance, Charites, which resonates in the name of the young diseased Eucharis. For making our translation work possible, we used the text established by Bücheler-Lommatzsch, in the Carmina Latina Epigraphica (1895), as well as representations of the inscribed text and photographs offered by the museums responsible for the preservation of these supports. These informations allow us to rethink our translation, seeking to reconstruct the individual style and to recreate poeticity in the verbal and visual materiality of this text.