10 Catullus

84? – 54? BC

Latin

Gaius Valerius Catullus, born in the northern Italian city of Verona, lived out his short life in the last violent century of the Roman republic, but his poetry gives little hint that it was produced amid political upheaval.¹⁷¹⁴⁴ The 116 poems by him that have come down to us present a rich variety: imitations of Greek poets, long poems on Greek mythological themes, scurrilous personal attacks on contemporary politicians and private individuals, lighthearted verses designed to amuse his friends, and a mag­nificent marriage hymn. He also wrote a series of poems about his love affair with a Roman woman he calls Lesbia but who may have been Clodia, the enchanting but complex sister of one of Rome’s most violent aristocrats turned political gangster. These poems, from which our selection is taken, present all the phases of the liaison, from the unalloyed happiness of the first encounters through doubt and hesitation to despair and virulent accusation, ending in heartbroken resignation to the bitter fact of Lesbia’s betrayal.

Their tone ranges from the heights of joy at passionate love requited through the torments of simultaneous love and hate to the depths of morbid self-pity. Their direct and simple language seems to give readers immediate access to the experience of desire and betrayal and the feelings it arouses. In one sense, this impression is surely correct. But the poems are exceedingly complex. The passion is joined with consid­erable learning, and it is one of the remarkable characteristics of Catullus’s poetry that strong emotion and sophistication are not at odds with each other but comple­mentary.

There are further complexities. Many of the poems are addressed to someone ­Lesbia, Catullus himself, or some third party-and the reader is a privileged audience to this communication. Who the addressee is and the relation between that person and the poet subtly shape the reader’s view of the situation described in each poem. In poem 83, for example, when Leshia seems to abuse “Catullus” in the presence of her husband, the speaker interprets this as a sign of love to which the husband is obtusely oblivious. Perhaps. Or is this a wishful interpretation? Who really is the dupe? Does the reader ever get access to Leshia’s feelings? Catullus’s poetry is not simply a spontaneous outpouring of emotion, but a carefully meditated portrayal of a love affair in which the poet’s persona as well as his mistress is a character; and that gives depth and range to its passion.

Catullus

Read Catullus: The Poems

Selections:

• 2 Tears for Lesbia’s Sparrow
• 5 Let’s Live and Love: to Lesbia
• 8 Advice: to himself
• 11 Words against Lesbia: to Furius and Aurelius
• 51 An Imitation of Sappho: to Lesbia
• 58 Lament for Lesbia: to Marcus Caelius Rufus
• 70 Woman’s Faithfulness
• 72 Familiarity: to Lesbia
• 75 Chained: to Lesbia
• 76 Past Kindness: to the Gods
• 83 The Husband: to Lesbia
• 85 Love-Hate
• 86 True Beauty: to Lesbia
• 87 Incomparable: to Lesbia
• 109 A Prayer: to Lesbia

EXCERCISE:

Problem of interpretation: Translator Charles Martin places Catullus’s poem in a different order than the Greek manuscript. Martin believes that his order of the poems is “the logical one determined by the progress of Catullus’s love affair with Lesbia.” This prompts the question: Can we make a timeline that tells a love story that is “logical” in the order of the manuscript?

Using the table below, write down the meaning of each poem in the order of manuscript and of the translator (Martin).²⁵¹⁹ Note how these order change the narrative the poems tell and your interpretation of the poem. After filling out the table answer the following two questions: What is the “story” that the poems tell in the order decided by Martin? And what is the “story” that the poems tell in the order of the manuscript?

What is the “story” that the poems tell in the order decided by Martin? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And what is the “story” that the poems tell in the order of the manuscript? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FURTHER READINGS:

For an introduction to Catullus and his poetry, see:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gaius-valerius-catullus

For another introduction on Catullus, his love for Lesbia, and his poetry, see

http://www.negenborn.net/catullus/about_cat.htm?l=l

For multiple translations of Catullus including Latin, Afrikaans, Spanish, and Arabic, see

http://www.negenborn.net/catullus/

https://caneweb.org/catullus-and-the-beatles/

https://fb.watch/xUr0S6kpf2/