Catullus Project

Catullus : 

Catullus His Life and Poetry Powerpoint created by Hannah Wang

Gaius Valerius Catullus : 

Gaius Valerius Catullus Born c. 84 BCE Most sources agree that he came from a family of equestrians in Verona Moved to Rome in 61 BCE Died at an unknown date—possibly 54 BCE Is seen by many as the greatest lyric poet of Rome Greatly influenced writers from Ovid and Virgil to modern poets Artistic rendering of Catullus

Style : 

Style Catullus is known for his economy of words His poems were mostly very short, emulating the style of Callimachus and Sappho He was part of the “Neoteric” movement, which was characterized by a move to personal, instead of epic, themes in poetry This movement was a rejection of the established poetic conventions in Greece and Rome

Meter : 

Meter Catullus used a variety of meters in his poetry Much of it was hendecasyllabic 11 syllables per line Spondee|dactyl|trochee|trochee|trochee (LL|Lss|Ls|Ls|Ls) “Quaerīs, | quōt mĭhĭ |bāsĭ|ātĭ|ōnĕs” (Catullus 7) Some of his later poetry was written in elegiac couplet First line of each couplet in dactylic hexameter Second line is first half dactylic hexameter, short pause, second half repeated “Ētsĭ mĕ | āssĭdŭ|ō cōn|fēctūm | cūră dŏ|lōrē sēvō|cāt ā | dōctīs, |Hōrtălĕ, |vīrgĭnĭ|būs” (Catullus 65)

Themes : 

Themes His poetry can be divided into four thematic categories: Invectives Poems about friends Condolences Poems about love

Invectives : 

Invectives Catullus’s invective poems were often rude or satirical, commenting on social or political behavior He was a reluctant participant in politics, serving on the staff of a provincial governor for only a year In his Epicurean lifestyle, he saw himself as above politics He was also known as a biting literary and social critic

Invective Against Caesar : 

Invective Against Caesar Catullus wrote a couple of scathing poems against Julius Caesar, including 57 He criticized Caesar and his chief-of-staff, Mamurra He seemed to have a distaste for politicians in general Catullus was forgiven by Caesar after he apologized to him formally for his poetry The following poem is obviously hyperbolic, or exaggerating Bust of Julius Caesar

Invective Against Caesar : 

Invective Against Caesar Pulcre convenit improbis cinaedis Mamurrae pathicoque Caesarique nec mirum: maculae pares utrisque, urbana altera et illa Formiana, impressae resident nec eluentur: morbosi pariter, gemelli utrique, uno in lecticulo erudituli ambo, non hic quam ille magis vorax adulter, riuales socii puellularum. Pulcre conuenit improbis cinaedis. -Catullus 57 Well agreed are the abominable profligates1, Mamurra the effeminate, and Caesar; No wonder either. Like stains, One from the city and one from Formiae, Are deeply impressed on each, and will never be washed out. Diseased alike, very twins, Both on one sofa, dilettante2 writers both, One as greedy in adultery as the other, Rivals and partners in love. Well agreed are the abominable profligates. -Cornish, 65-67 1 euphemism for sodomites 2 amateur

Poems About Friends : 

Poems About Friends Catullus put great weight on the value of friendship He was unrestrained in his poetry when expressing his feelings for his friends In the following poem, Catullus rejoices at a friend’s homecoming Artistic rendering of Catullus

Poems About Friends : 

Poems About Friends Verani, omnibus e meis amicis antistans mihi millibus trecentis, venistine domum ad tuos penates fratresque unanimos anumque matrem? Venisti. O mihi nuntii beati! Visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum narrantem loca, facta, nationes, ut mos est tuus applicansque collum iucundum os oculosque suaviabor. O quantum est hominum beatiorum, quid me laetius est beatiusve? -Catullus 9 Veranius, of all my friends You are worth to me three hundred thousand, Have you come home to your household And your loving brothers and your aged mother? You have come. Oh joyful news to me! I will see you safe and hear You telling of the country, the history, the people of Iberia, As is your way, and embracing your pleasant neck I will kiss your face and eyes. Oh however many happy people there are, Who is more glad or more blessed than I? (My translation)

Condolences : 

Condolences Some of Catullus’s later poetry dealt with the loss of his friends and family The following poem was written after his brother’s death A Roman Funeral

Condolences : 

Condolences Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias, ut te postremo donarem munere mortis et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem. Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum. Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi. nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias, accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu, atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale. -Catullus 101 Wandering through many countries and over many seas I come, my brother, to these sorrowful obsequies1, To present you with the last guerdon2 of death, And speak, though in vain, to your silent ashes, Since fortune has taken your own self away from me. Alas, my brother, so cruelly town from me! Yet now meanwhile take these offerings, which by the custom of our fathers Have been handed down—a sorrowful tribute—for a funeral sacrifice; Take them, wet with many tears of a brother, And for ever, O my brother, hail and farewell! -Cornish, 173 1 funeral rites 2 reward

Poems About Love : 

Poems About Love Catullus is perhaps best known for his poems about love He has been said to not have any equal in the love and passion expressed in his poems He poured out his heart directly to the reader, not guarding any of his emotions Two Roman lovers

Lesbia : 

Lesbia Many of his love poems are written to a women named “Lesbia” This is obviously a fictitious name, referring to the Greek island of Lesbos, where the female poet Sappho lived It is likely that the real “Lesbia” was Clodia, wife of Metellus Celer, a consul Clodia was an educated woman, 10 years Catullus’s senior Catullus fell madly in love with Clodia when he moved to Rome His poems to her oscillate between expressions of rapturous love and enraged betrayal These poems also function as a psychological examination of the poet, who exposes his weaknesses and desires to the reader

Poems About Love : 

Poems About Love Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus, Rumoresque senum severiorum Omnes unius aestimemus assis! Soles occidere et redire possunt: Nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux, Nox est perpetua una dormienda. Da mi basia mille, deinde centum, Dein mille altera, dein secunda centum, Deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum. Dein, cum milia multa fecerimus, Conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus, Aut ne quis malus inuidere possit Cum tantum sciat esse basiorum. -Catullus 5 Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, And value at one as All the talk of strict old men! The suns can set and rise: For us, when the short light has set once, The night we must sleep is eternal. Give me one thousand kisses, then a hundred, Then another thousand, then a second hundred, The continually another thousand, the a hundred. Then, when we have made many thousand kisses, Mix them up, so that we will not know, And so that no evil person will be able to begrudge us, When he knows that our kisses are so many. (My translation) Press Play!

Influence of Catullus : 

Influence of Catullus Catullus was a well-known poet during his time His popularity resurfaced in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance Petrarch and other Humanists greatly admired him Resurgence of personal themes and self-examination Continues to be praised as a great poet with an enduring oeuvre

Works Cited : 

Works Cited Cornish, F.W., et al., eds. Catullus, Tibullus, and Pervigilium Veneri. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA. 1966. Hamilton, Edith. The Roman Way. Norton: New York. 1932. “Meters of Catullus.” The C. Valerius Catullus Society. 12 October 2008. <http://www.informalmusic.com/Catullus/meters.html> Nisbet, Robin. “The Poets of the Late Republic.” The Oxford History of the Classical World. Ed. John Boardman, et al. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 1986. Palma, Ronald B. and David J. Perry. Ecce Romani III. 4th ed. Pearson: Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2009. “Punk Rock Latin Poetry – Catullus 5.” YouTube. 25 April 2007. 12 October 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzs2Fq1ICZU>