Catullus has brought out a method of translation question for me that I have struggled with in Latin for all ten years. 37: Loeb translates "Salax taberna vosque contubernales" as "you regulars of the whore-house tavern." Clearly, 'salax taberna' is either vocative or nominative (not genitive or even ablative of place where), but neither grammatically gives us 'of the whore-house tavern.' Possible Solution #1: There is no grammatical explanation, but, rather, a semantic one: these words fit the context of the meaning, to heck with the grammar. Possible Solution #2: Both nouns are vocative, and we are meant to see the whore-house tavern as addressed along with contubernales, but the whore-house tavern is never addressed again in the poem and doesn't really seem to be what the poem is about.
Since I think Possible Solution #1 is best (although please point me to any other possible solutions or relevant threads, if I'm wrong), is this just a fact of life (fit the context to the meaning, to heck with the grammar) or is there a method to it (i.e. any Textkit threads, books, or articles that would help work through such difficulties where no grammar explains a translation?). I'm not sure this is only a poetry problem, is it, although perhaps it is primarily so?
