Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC-ca. 55 BC) was one of the most influential Roman poets of the 1st century BC.

Related Topics:
84 BC - 55 BC - Poet - 1st century BC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of Catullus's life, little is known for sure. Most sources, including Suetonius, agree that he was born in or near Verona, though the Palatine Hill of Rome has been mentioned as an alternative nati loci. Although his was a leading equestrian family from Verona, he lived in Rome most of his life. In 57 BC, he accompanied his friend Memmius to Bithynia, where Memmius had received a propraetor's post. Catullus's only political office was one year on the staff of the governor of Bithynia.

Related Topics:
Suetonius - Verona - Palatine Hill - Rome - Equestrian - 57 BC - Memmius - Bithynia - Propraetor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His poetry was greatly influenced by the Greek neoteroi, especially Callimachus, who propagated a new style of poetry, deliberately turning away from the classical epic poetry in the tradition of Homer. Their poems no longer described the feats of ancient heroes and gods but concentrated on small-scale personal themes. Although these poems sometimes seem quite superficial and their subjects often are mere everyday concerns, they are accomplished works of art.

Related Topics:
Poetry - Greek - Neoteroi - Callimachus - Epic poetry - Homer - Hero - God

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The work of Catullus was handed down as an anthology of 116 carmina (presumably not arranged by the author), which can be divided into three formal parts: sixty short poems in varying metres, called polymetra, eight longer poems and forty-eight epigrams.

Related Topics:
Anthology - Polymetra - Epigram

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The longer poems differ from the polymetra and the epigrams not only in length but also in their subjects: There are seven hymns and one mini-epic.

Related Topics:
Hymn - Epic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The polymetra and the epigrams can be divided into three major thematic groups (ignoring a rather large number of poems eluding such categorization):

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• poems to and about his friends (e.g., an invitation like poem 13).
• erotic poems: some of them indicate homosexual penchants (50 and 98), but most are about women, especially about one he calls "Lesbia" (in honor of the poetess Sappho of Lesbos, source and inspiration of many of his poems); philologists have taken considerable efforts to discover her real identity, and many concluded that Lesbia was Clodia, sister of the infamous Publius Clodius Pulcher and a woman known for her generous sexuality, but this identification rests on some rather fragile assumptions. In the 116 poems found of Catullus, the poet displays a wide range of highly emotional and seemingly contradictory responses to Lesbia, ranging from tender love poems, to sadness and disappointment, and bitter sarcasm.
• invectives: some of these often quite rude or downrightly obscene poems are targeted at friends-turned-traitors (e.g., poem 30) and other lovers of Lesbia, but many well known poets, politicians (e.g., Julius Caesar) and rhetors, including Cicero, are thrashed as well. However, many of these poems are humorous and craftily veil the sting of the attack. For example, Catullus writes a poem mocking a pretentious descendent of a freedman who emphasizes the letter "h" in his speech because it makes him sound more like a learned Greek by adding unnecessary Hs to words like insidias (ambushes).
• condolences: some poems of Catullus are, in fact, serious in nature. One poem, 96, comforts a friend in the death of a loved one (presumably his wife or mistress), while several others, most famously 101, lament the death of his dear brother.

All these poems describe the Epicurean lifestyle of Catullus and his friends, who lived withdrawn from (though not oblivious to) politics. They were mainly interested in poetry and love, and the ancient Roman concept of virtus (i.e. of virtue that had to be proved either by a political career or by military valor), which Cicero propagated as the solution to the societal problems of the late Republic, meant nothing to them.

Related Topics:
Epicurean - Politics - Poetry - Love - Virtue - Cicero - Republic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

But it is not actually the traditional notions Catullus rejects, but merely their monopolized application to the vita activa of politics and war. Indeed, he tries to reinvent these notions from a personal point of view and to introduce them into human relationships. For example, he applies the word fides, which traditionally meant faithfulness towards one's political allies, to his relationship with Lesbia and reinterprets it as unconditional faithfulness in love. So, despite his seemingly frivolous lifestyle Catullus measured himself and his friends by quite ambitious standards.

Related Topics:
Vita activa - War

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Catullus was an admirer of Sappho, and is the source for much of what we know or infer about that almost legendary poetess of the 7th century BC. Catullus 51 is a direct verse translation of Sappho 31, and 61 and 62 are certainly inspired by and perhaps translated directly from lost works of Sappho. Catullus 61 and Catullus 62 are epithalamia, a form of laudatory or erotic wedding-poem that Sappho had been famous for but that had gone out of fashion in the intervening centuries. In fact, Catullus may have brought about a substantial revival of the form in Rome.

Related Topics:
Sappho - 7th century BC - Catullus 51 - Sappho 31 - 61 - 62 - Epithalamia - Laudatory

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is uncertain when Catullus died; some ancient sources tell he died from exhaustion at the age of thirty. He is traditionally said to have lived from 84 BC until 54 BC; these dates are based on the allusions he makes in his poetry. Subsequently, his poems were appreciated by other poets and intellectuals, but politicians like Cicero despised them because of their amorality, and Catullus was not considered one of the canonical school authors. Nevertheless, he greatly influenced later poets like Ovid, Horace, and even Virgil and after his rediscovery in the Middle Ages, he again found admirers. Still his sometimes quite explicit writing style was shocking to many readers, both ancient and modern, and until recently it was not easy to find an equally explicit translation of some of his poems. Jacob Rabinowitz has since remedied this.

Related Topics:
84 BC - 54 BC - Allusion - Ovid - Horace - Virgil - Middle Ages - Jacob Rabinowitz

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Catullus: Works ►