Lesbia's Controversial Bird: Testing the Cases for and againstPasseras Sparrow

Abstract The identity of thepasserin Catullus 2 and 3 has been a subject of controversy for hundreds of years.1Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, the great authority on birds in the ancient world, sums it up best with his own musings: ‘Whatever Lesbia's “sparrow” may have been, I am pretty sure in my own mind […] that it was notPasser domesticus, the most intractable and least amiable of cage-birds.’2Some scholars opt for an obscene interpretation ofpasser, while others argue thatpassermust refer to a bird like a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). To test the validity of these arguments, this paper examines four key components of thepasserpoems, and thepasserdebates. Firstly, it determines the Roman cultural view of sparrows and whether they regarded the birds as pets, pests, or something else entirely. Secondly, it analyses Roman trends in bird-keeping and looks for other examples of petpasseresin art and literature. Thirdly, it considers actual bird behaviour to reveal whether a sparrow could act the way Catullus describes. Finally, it analyses the different potential meanings of the wordpasserto determine which birds fell under its descriptive umbrella. In this way we can judge whether thepasserwas indeed a sparrow while also determining the place of sparrows in Roman thought and pet-keeping culture.