Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus and Quintus Horatius Flaccus, anglicized as Catullus and Horace, are ostensibly quite similar men. Both poets notably composed lyrical poems, known for beautifully-crafted utilization of classical meters that form an important part of the canon of classical literature. Yet though both are near contemporaries the differences in their writings form a sort of “case study” of how the changes associated with the rapid transformation of Rome from Republic to Empire were reflected in the arts. The writings of Catullus appeal particularly to the modern reader. He has been called the last ancient and first modern lyrical poet because the spirit of his writing reflects modern values, focusing on subjective human experiences of…

numerous number of people on a certain basis. Catullus writes poems that deal with promiscuity in a numerous number of them. I have examined these two of Catullus poems that he addresses to Lesbia. I was able to translate the wording as some I couldn’t comprehend well into modern day language. There is a sexual relationship between the two even though Lesbia is married to another man. I began to identify of the negative effects of promiscuity in these certain poems. As Catullus and Lesbia…

Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources: 1. Catullus, Gaius Valerius. "Catullus." Catullus. Tibullus. Pervigilium Veneris. Trans. Francis Warre Cornish, J. P. Postgate, J. W. Mackail, and G. P. Goold. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP, 1988. 2-184. Loeb Classical Library. Web. 16 Feb. 2017. This is a collection of Catullus poems including his love poetry to Lesbia, who is widely believed to be an elite woman named Clodia. Catullus’ poems tell of his affair with Lesbia including his epic love and…

reign of Julius Caesar, a Roman lyrical poet rose to fame, known as Catullus. Catullus, unlike many other writers of his time, did not write of political issues, but of love and heartbreak. Although some viewed, love as a frivolous notion, Catullus was able to channel his emotions into writing, creating not only moving lyrics, but also using literary techniques, and creating new formations for poems. Wretched Catullus, Leave off Playing the Fool The first poem we will be analyzing is, “Wretched…

In contrast to these ideals and the moral systems in place, elite women were able to find some power in their sexuality. The easiest way to see this is through love poetry. The poetry of Catullus and Properitus are good examples. These men were contemporaries who wrote about their love affairs, from inception to the break up and aftermath, during the late Republic. Catullus, writing about a woman he calls Lesbia, has a much more intense but almost naïve point of view, with his writing showing…

In this article, Roger Rees addresses the senses in Poem 64 and Catullus’ use of the senses in an occasionally nonsensical fashion. Sight and the eye motif are woven throughout the poem in the arrival of the wedding guests, the song of the Parcae, the ekphrasis describing Ariadne and Theseus, and in the conclusion of the poem. Vision is often juxtaposed with hearing in the ekphrasis and in the song of the Parcae. Smell is also involved, and linked to both sight and sound. Rees argues the…

Catullus is a famous Roman neoteric poet during the Hellenistic Period. Neoteric poetry is about one’s life other than the popular poetry on history. Catullus influenced many other famous poets such as Ovid, Horace, and Virgil. What is most interesting about Catullus is his love life and his ways of expressing his love for his love interest. Catullus started writing poetry as young as 16. Love is his main topic and also poems of hatred for Caesar and other high authorities. His lover was Clodia…

Images of such have been discovered in Latin poetry of the theme of the dead. One of the most well-known poems about the dead, Catullus expresses his sadness that he after his extensive journey to pay his respects to his brother, who died abroad, he can only do so to the ashes (Catullus, specific date unknwon). It was only much later that inhumation or burial became an accepted process, as the attitude towards continuous care for the dead became popular. The place cremation or burial was…

2014). He relied on previous New Comedy playwrights, but he improvised into the current time period. Another playwright, Terence, was a slave but he was educated and eventually set free (Matthews et al, 2014). Unlike Plautus, he only created six plays. Plautus and Terence did not have any success, but two poets with different personalities and greatly influenced by Greek literature did: Lucretius and Catullus (Matthews et al, 2014). Lucretius and Catullus introduced new pieces of literature to…

The passage from Catullus’ Poem 64 begins with the song of the Parcae; where through anaphora the pair is highlighted as being the ideal of love and happiness: ‘No house has ever given shelter to such loves, / No love has ever joined lovers in such treaty’ (c64.334-335). While their marriage is divinely sanctioned by the fates themselves, the remainder of the passage concentrates on their future son Achilles and his increasingly gruesome deeds. The juxtaposition between their present bliss and…