Loading AI tools
Gaius Valerius Catullus (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaːius waˈlɛrius kaˈtullus]; c. 84 – c. 54 BC), known as Catullus (kə-TUL-əs), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and their modern appeal.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2023) |
Catullus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Gaius Valerius Catullus c. 84 BC Verona, Italy, Roman Republic |
| Died | c. 54 BC (age 29–30) Rome |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | Lyric poetry |
Little is known of Catullus's life; even the dates of his birth and death are unknown. Some facts are externally attested by Jerome in his Chronica, where states that Catullus was born in Verona in 87 BC, and died in Rome "in his 30th year" (which may mean that he was aged 29 or 30) in 58 or 57 BC; he derived this information from Suetonius's De poetis, now lost, which may have given Catullus's age at his death, but not the year of his birth or death.[3][4] Catullus references Verona in several places in his poem, in one poem writing that he was living there, and calls Sirmio (a peninsula near Verona) his home.[5] Ovid and Martial also state that Verona is Catullus's birth place.[6] Catullus moved to Rome around 60 BC, and it is likely that he died there.[7] Although Jerome is likely correct about the locations of Catullus's birth and death, his dates are almost certainly incorrect. Catullus mentions Pompey's second consulship, from 55 BC, and Caesar's invasion of Britain, which he undertook twice, in 55 and 54; in fact, all of Catullus's poems which can be dated with some certainty are from 56 to 54.[8] A number of different theories exist on when Catullus was born and how long he lived. Most scholars treat Jerome's number for Catullus's lifespan as accurate and therefore move Catullus's date of birth earlier to account for the dates of his poems. Some, because Catullus's last datable poem is from 54, adjust the year of his birth to 84 BC; under this theory, Jerome may have confused 87 and 84 because Lucius Cornelius Cinna was consul in both years (though the other consul was different).[9] Others, finding evidence that Catullus 29 must have been written some time towards the end of 53 BC or later, adjust his birth to 82; this conveniently assigns Catullus the same birth year as Calvus, a contemporary of his and one of his closest friends.[10] There are also some who think that the source from which Jerome derived Catullus's lifespan had an error which caused an X to be left off from the true figure of 40 (XXXX), but that Jerome's figure for Catullus's birth year is correct. This interpretation is also compatible with an interpretation of Catullus's poems where he writes "Vatinius is swearing falsely by his consulship": some think that this refers to a boast made by Vatinius in 63 BC, where he claimed that he would be consul in that year; others, however, believe that this refers to Vatinius's actual consulship in 47 BC, meaning that Catullus could not have died before then.[11] Wheeler believes that Catullus lived to 40, and states that the error of omitting a numeral was common in manuscripts.[12] Wiseman also argues for this, and further that Catullus wrote other poems which did not survive. It is likely that the true dates of Catullus's birth and death will never be known.[13]
Two other facts relating to Catullus's life are externally attested: Apuleius's identification of Lesbia as a woman name Clodia; and Suetonius's story that Julius Caesar forgave Catullus and invited him to dinner after he apologized for his attacks against Mamurra, a high-ranking officer in Caesar's employ, and that Caesar resumed visiting Catullus's father, as he was accustomed to doing.[14] The former, along with the statement in one of Catullus's poems (Lesbius est pulcher), indicates that Lesbia was one of the sisters of Publius Clodius Pulcher, though which one is a matter of debate.[15] The latter provides an indication of the degree to which Catullus's poetry was read, since it apparently tarred Mamurra's reputation, and the relatively high social status of Catullus's family which allowed them to regularly host Caesar.[16] It is hard to explain why Catullus would have embarrassed his family by insulting Mamurra while his father was still alive, and he was thus still under his father's control.[17]
A few facts about Catullus's life can be gleaned from his poems.[18] From poems 10, 28, and 46, it can be determined that Catullus was part of the personal staff (cohors) of Gaius Memmius while he was governor of Bithynia from 57 to 56 BC.[19] This also gives some indication of his social status: to occupy such a position, Catullus must have been an eques, like his father, and well-connected.[20][21] Like a number of other individuals who spent time as members of a governor's cohors, Catullus did not enjoy it; he and others expected to make money, but failed to.[22] Poems 65, 68, and 101 refer to his elder brother's death in the Troad, at which he grieved greatly; nothing else is known about this brother.[23] The poems referring to his brothers death may have been written during the period when Catullus was in Bithynia, which would place poems 65-68 in the same period.[24] Poems 31 and 44 indicate that had an estate (perhaps a farm) in central Italy, west of Rome, and property in Sirmio.[25] Throughout his poems, many important intellectual and political figures in Rome are mentioned, some as friends; however, most of the people in his poems are not easily identified.[26][27]
Finally, some things are known concerning Catullus's family, the Valerii Catulli. They were domi nobiles at Verona: a family which was wealthy and important in the provinces, but not in Rome itself.[28] Catullus and his father were also Roman citizens; since the area did not receive a general right of citizenship until 49 BC, they must have either been granted citizenship (perhaps through a magistracy held by his father) or moved from an area which did have citizenship to Verona.[29][30] At Catullus's time, the Valerii Catulli had equestrian status; they achieved senatorial status under Augustus and consular status under Tiberius.[31] Because Catullus was from the provinces, some suggest that he may have been an outsider in Rome, with its delicate and complicated rules of urbanitas. Although his social background was not as prestigious as some of his associates such as Calvus and Clodia, his poems do not show any anxiety at his status in Rome, and in them he seems to be well aware of the customs of elite Roman society.[32]
Influences
Among the Greek poets, Catullus was primarily influenced by Callimachus and Sappho. Sappho's influence can be most obviously seen in the pseudonym he chose for his beloved, "Lesbia", after the island of Lesbos where Sappho lived, and in his translation of part of Sappho 31 in Catullus 51. Catullus also adopted the Sapphic meter in poems 11 and 51. Like a number of other poets, Catullus adapts Sappho's homosexual poems to portray heterosexual love and desire, as well as being influenced by her heterosexual wedding poetry.[33] Sappho's influence is also felt in the first fourteen of Catullus's poems. Catullus 11's metaphor of a flower being cut down by a plow echoes Sappho's fragment 105b. Catullus's sparrow poems (2 and 3) share similar themes of desire and longing with Sappho 1; these poems also introduce Lesbia in the collection. Sappho 1 also contains a speech to Sappho from Venus; this bears resemblance to Catullus's self-address, which is particularly similar to Sappho 1's in Catullus 8. Sappho's reception by Catullus can be seen to primarily relate to topics of love and desire.[34]
Callimachus was one of the most influential third-century Greek poets; his influence on Catullus is primarily aesthetic. Catullus followed Callimachus in writing shorter poems; he also describes the poetry that he appreciates, including his own in his dedication, in similar terms as Callimachus.[35] In his dedication, for instance, Catullus's description of his work as lepidus echoes the Μοῦσαν λεπταλέην in Callimachus's Aetia. Catullus directly engages with Callimachus's poetry in Catulus 66, where he translates the "Lock of Bernice" in the Aetia. This poem is introduced by Catullus 65 where he describes Callimachus's poems as carmina Battiadae. He uses the same phrase in Catullus 116; the fact that the first word of this poem, saepe, is a translation of the first word of the Aetia, πολλάκι, indicates a connection between the two poems.[36] Catullus also organized combined poems on diverse themes into a collection, a practice particularly associated with Callimachus. Callimachus's effect on later generations of poets was greatly influenced by Catullus's earlier adoption of his themes and aesthetic.[37]
Although it is commonly accepted that the Alexandrian poets such as Callimachus influenced Catullus, the degree of this influence is disputed. Quinn contrasts the clear and direct style of the poetae novae with the Alexandrian's "odd jumble of worn, pretentious literary archaism", and emphasizes the "revolutionary" aspects of Catullus's poetry with respect to earlier Roman poetry.[38] Clausen, on the other hand, considers Callimachus essential in understanding the poetry of Catullus and the novae poetae, and finds similarities in the style and composition of their poetry as well as their aesthetics; Clausen writes that Callimachus's influence can be identified by the later poets' appreciation for "his experiments with language, his technical refinements, his passion for elegance".[39] Callimachus's effect on the neotoric poets is still being debated to determine specific stylistic and aesthetic influences beyond broad terms.[40]
Style and themes
Catullus wrote on a number of themes, sometimes combing on different and contrasting themes in the same poem; poem 37 is a good example of this, beginning with crude insults and ending with an expression of sorrow at the loss of his lover Lesbia. Love is a prominent theme in Catullus's poetry and its description of his relationship with Lesbia is well-known. Catullus also wrote poems on friendship. Many friendly poems seem to be entirely genuine; however, some poems also contain bitter messages, such as poem 11, or may be sarcastic, such as poem 49. Catullus also wrote hostile invective poetry and (sometimes sexual) threats; this style is particularly common in his epigrams. He attacks what he sees as others' failings and immorality, such as Lesbia's promiscuity (Catullus 58), Egnatius's excessive smiling (39), Arrius's pronunciation (84), and a certain Rufus's betrayal of him (77); threats against others can be seen in Catullus 16, where he attacks two men who have criticized him on the basis of his poetry, saying that he will orally and anally rape them. His attacks are frequently against those who he believes have forsaken him.[41]
Catullus portrays himself in his poems with a particular persona. Although the fact that he uses his own name make his poems seem deceptively autobiographical, he sometimes addresses himself with a different perspective, as in Catullus 8, where he addresses himself, mourning, as a distanced third-party, who recognizes that such mourning is futile. How Catullus describes himself in the poems may therefore not be entirely accurate.[42]
There are many mythological allusions in Catullus's poetry. His wedding poems contain allusions to the myths of Theseus and Ariadne, as well as to Achilles's mythological parents, Peleus and Thetis. Catullus also uses the mythology of the Trojan war in poetry about his brother's death in the Troad. Like Hesiod's idea of a mythological golden age, Catullus sees a decay in morals and attitudes when comparing a number of mythological situations to his own time.[43]
Catullus wrote in many meters. The first 60 poems have the largest variety of meters and are thus called the polymetrics: 41 in the hendecasyllables which were later best associated with him;[44] eight in choliambs (also known as scazons or limping iambs); two in pure iambic trimeters (a stricter kind of iambic trimeter which is not seen before Catullus); two or three (depending on whether Catullus 51 is split in two) in Sapphics; one each in greater asclepiads, glyconics, priapeans, iambic trimeters, and iambic tetrameters cataletic. Some of these meters can be grouped as Aeolic (Sapphic, greater asclepiad, glyconic, and priapean) or iambic. Poems 61–64 comprise two poems in hexameters, one in galliambs, and one in glyconics. Poems 65–116 are all in elegiac couplets, although 65–68 are significantly longer and differ stylistically. Sometimes a meter can be employed in a characteristic style: iambic meters, for example, are often associated with invective themes, perhaps influenced by Callimachus's Iambs. On the other hand, hendecasyllables are used in many ways, from love poems to invective. Catullus's usage of various meters influenced that of later poets such as Martial. Other neotoric poets also experimented with meter, although not enough of their work survives to determine whether their experiments had similar breadth.[45]
Catullus similarly wrote in a wide variety of styles. The polymetric poems are similar in style to typical iambic poetry and feature informal language, and many poetic devices such as alliteration, as well as aesthetic experimentation. Poems 61–64 have a number of traditional sophisticated techniques and devices, along with new stylistic features devised by Catullus. Poems 65–68 include many references to mythology and his translation of Callimachus's Lock of Bernice. The final set of poems, the epigrams, bear some resemblance to the polymetrics, but have fewer novel or sophisticated poetic devices. In his informal poetry, Catullus uses a somewhat more obscene style than a number of other poets, but also takes influence from the less vulgar comic style. Catullus combines traditional and novel words and structures, particularly in his longer poems 61–68; however, much poetry before Catullus was lost and it is therefore difficult to discern how "archaic" Catullus was. Catullus uses a number of diminutives, which are uncommon in high register. A great majority of Catullus's poems are addressed to a person (either himself or another), typically identified by name, instead of a general audience; Catullus also frequently uses imperatives compared to other poets. These demonstrate a more personal style.[46]
Catullus wrote in many poetic styles and on many themes; even similar themes could be covered in different styles. For example, two poems on the same subject with the same subject and aesthetic may have entirely different tones, one jocular and the other serious. Catullus's style can set the tone, for example by situating the reader as an observer to his private poems and conversations. Particular devices included in Catullus poetry are archaisms, vulgarisms, Hellenisms, diminutives, and meter..[47]
Catullus typically used archaic diction for a particular effect, such as evoking traditional imagery, but in some instances this was due to metrical necessity. It can be difficult to discern what is archaic, because there are fewer surviving works before Catullus's time. Additionally, some instances that may constitute archaism could be only due to textual corruption; others are present regularly enough that they would have been employed by Catullus. In addition to using words which are archaic in all senses, Catullus uses words which did have contemporary meanings in archaic senses. Religious and legal, words are common among Catullus's archaisms; moralizing archaic legal words are frequent. While Catullus does use archaic words to put his poems in traditional contexts, he also uses them ironically, satirizing older poetry or the archaic speech of his contemporaries.[48]
As well as archaic speech, Catullus sometimes wrote in a vernacular and vulgar way characteristic of comedies or mimes. This is common in his iambics and hendecasyllabics, and occurs in his epigrams. Adding vernacular speech makes his poetry seem more personal; this style had been also used for that purpose by the Greeks. His vulgarisms contrast the restrained tone of higher registers and give his poetry a contrarian tone. As in English, certain Latin words can be used for vernacular effect, and there are vernacular phrases and ways of speaking.[49]
Before Catullus, Greek forms were not typically used in high-register Latin poetry. However, Greek proper nouns were usually preserved in mythological contexts. This usage is followed by Catullus, who uses a number of names of Greek places and heroes in his poems. A few Greek common nouns used by Catullus have poetic senses, but most other Greek words serve an aesthetic purpose. They indicate witty and vernacular, but educated, speech; Catullus's Grecisms are higher in register than his vulgarisms. Catullus also uses Greek words in Greek contexts, or to express particular modes of speech.[50]
Diminutives are one of the most famous characteristics of Catullus's poetry. Although diminutives are not necessarily vulgar, and poems with many vulgarisms may not have many diminutives, their use in high-register poetry is rare; Catullus's usage is distinctive in this respect. Catullus can use diminutives in affectionate, playful, or delicate poetry. They can also be used to minimize the sense word or, negatively, a topic or person. In serious poetry, diminutives may intensify a poem's emotion.[51]
Meters employed by Catullus had associated genres and styles. Dactylic hexameter, for example, was associated with epics and serious poetry. Catullus could follow the standard style and themes for a meter, or he could deliberately diverge from tradition. Elegiac meters have a number of different associations. Catullus primarily took up its authority, as well as its instructive and moralizing nature, but Catullus's elegies do not have many specific associations. Hendecasyllables, the most common meter in Catullus's polymetrics, are rare before Catullus, but were apparently used by Sappho in lyric poetry. Catullus's use of hendecasyllables is varied, and can be light, humorous, or obscene, or more serious and lyrical. Iambic meters were associated with invective, and Catullus recognizes this use. Although much of his iambic poetry is aggressive and obscene, some is merely playful or without any mockery. Poem 60 is the iambic poem which has the most uncharacteristic tone; although critical, it is more elevated and has elements of tragedy.[52]
Catullus mentions s number of people (e.g., Lesbia, Calvus, Juventus) in several poems.
Organization
It is unknown whether Catullus's poetry was organized after his death to into its current form. Catullus's poetry may also have been originally published in multiple books.
Transmission
Catullus's poetry survived to the modern era through a single manuscript. It was lost, but copies were made; all modern editions are descended from these.
Ancient influence
Horace was influenced by Catullus's language, themes, and style. He often quotes words or phrases from Catullus, employing them in similar contexts. The second most common meter used in Horace's poetry, the Sapphic, was used earlier in Catullus 11 and 51. Situations and topics present in Catullus's poems are echoed in Horace's.[53]
Catullus is never recognized as a predecessor by Horace. In Odes 3.30, Horace writes that he was the first (though some translate this as "chief") to bring Aeolian verse into Latin, which includes Sapphic meter. Later in Epistles 1.19, he makes a similar claim, where he is more specific in his accomplishments, not making any reference to Sappho. It has been suggested that Horace neglected Catullus's Sapphic poems because there were only two.[54] More generally, Horace may not have recognized Catullus because they wrote in different meters: Quintilian identifies Catullus as a writer of iambic verse, and Horace as a writer of lyric. Although this may seem superficial, ancient authors considered meter closely related to genre.[55] Horace also may not have recognized Catullus due to pride, or simply because he felt that the allusions he made were recognition enough.[56]
While Horace does not recognize Catullus as a predecessor, he mentions Catullus once in Satires 1.10. In this poem, he mocks the imitators of Catullus and his friend Calvus, another member of the poetae novae.[57] Some see this as derogatory,[58][59] or a means for Horace to distance himself from Catullus;[60]; others interpret it as a compliment to Catullus, who would not have wanted imitators.[61][62]
While Horace did take much from Catullus, he was less passionate and turned Catullus's themes into more universal expressions.[63] Horace also was more strict in his meter, with less of a spontaneous feeling to his poetry.[64]
Catullus also influenced Vergil's writing, especially Eclogue 4. Both authors relate personal occurrences to events of greater significance. Vergil takes a more optimistic approach to Catullus's themes, sometimes inverting a negative chronological trend to a positive one.[65] This reworking of Catullus's themes may also be ironic, suggesting that Vergil's poems may not be as optimistic as they seem.[66]
Catullus's influence on Vergil is mainly apparent in the Eclogues and the Aeneid, although there are still some allusions in the Georgics. The Aeneid is primarily influenced by Catullus 11, 64, 66, and 101. In particular, Catullus 66 contains a line (invita, o regina, tuo de vertice cessi) which is almost identical to a line in the sixth book of the Aeneid (invitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi). This line is puzzling, however, because it is quoted in an entirely different context: Catullus's poem is humorous, while the part of the Aeneid where it occurs is solemn. Some have suggested that Virgil's allusion is merely incidental, while others have found serious themes echoed from Catullus 66. It has also been identified as part of a larger reference to Catullus 66 in Aeneid 6.[67]
Catullus is considered by many to be a founder of Roman love elegy, and Catullus 68 is widely considered the first example of it, but his exact relation to the genre is difficult to place.[68] Apart from Gallus, whose poetry is almost entirely lost, the canonical Roman love elegists recognized Catullus as a model: Ovid and Propertius explicitly, Tibullus implicitly.[69] The love elegists' poetry has much in common with Catullus's: Catullus's Lesbia influenced later portrayals of women in love elegy; Catullus and the love elegists both characterized themselves as effeminate; Catullus's first-person narration resembles that of love elegists; and both wrote collections of poems whose meaning could be better understood through repeated reading.[70] Ovid in particular quotes Catullus's poetry in similar contexts and reflects Catullus's earlier treatment of myths.[71] The love elegists were not only influenced by those of Catullus's poems that were in elegiac couplets; many of the themes and styles they borrowed from him are present throughout his poetry.[72][73]
Although Catullus influenced love elegists, it is disputed whether he was a love elegist himself. Ovid and Quintilian did not consider him a love elegist. Apart from Ovid's, all of the love elegists' surviving poetry is in elegiac couplets; even Ovid describes himself as dedicated to elegy. Meanwhile, less than one-third of Catullus's poetry is in elegiac couplets, most of it short epigrams; Catullus 68, while influential, was the only poem he wrote in elegiac couplets of a similar length. With regards to theme, the love elegists' beloveds serve more allegorical purposes than Lesbia, who seems to actually be Catullus's lover.[74][75]
Later writers still referenced and were influenced by Catullus's poetry. Pliny the Elder quotes some lines of Catullus at the begin of his Natural History, using it to relate to Vespasian's son, Titus, to whom he dedicated his work, and criticizes them with the neologism duriusculus (rather harsh). Statius, too, was to some degree influenced by the structure of Catullus's poetry and its precedent of novelty. Martial, though, was perhaps most influenced by Catullus's works among the later poets.[76]
Martial's poems were of similar length and meter to Catullus, and Martial explicitly recognizes Catullus as a predecessor.[77] Although Martial writes that he takes his style of epigram from Catullus, he distances himself from aggressive Catullan verse; Martial writes that he does not wish to use his poems as weapons and will avoid using a person's real name – although he does not always do so. In this way, Martial is restricted by the times in his imitation of Catullus, as it had become more dangerous for poets to attack powerful figures.[78][79] As well as recognizing Catullus as a predecessor, Martial makes reference to Catullus's poetry and things mentioned in them, such as Lesbia and her sparrow. Martial and Catullus also wrote poetry for different purposes: Martial wrote for public fame; Catullus wrote for a private group of friends.[80] Martial thus neglected the sophisticated learning and sincerity of Catullus, creating short, obscene epigrams suited for mass appeal.[81][82]
Modern reception
After the 4th century, Catullus's poetry was largely lost as Martial and other Silver Age poets eclipsed him. With Catullus's sophistication and elegance neglected, Martial seemed more enjoyable and easier to read. There are some references to and quotations of Catullus's poetry here and there, but nothing indicated that his entire body of work was accessible. At last, however, a single manuscript of Catullus's poetry was discovered around 1300 by a Veronese whose name is not known. This manuscript was lost soon after its discovery, but it was copied and forms the basis for the all other manuscripts of Catullus's poetry.[83][84]
For the first 150 years after its discovery, the text of Catullus's poetry was corrected, but little interpretation was done. The first known imitation was by Leonardo Bruni some time between 1405 and 1415, of poems 41-43. Bruni had access to a manuscript through either a friend of his or his mentor. In the next generation, Cristoforo Landino wrote an imitation of poem 11 and three of poem 8, which were more in the style of Roman elegy than purely Catullus. These imitations had little influence: Bruni's because it was of poor quality, Landino's because later writers concentrated on Catullus's hendecasyllabics instead of his elegiacs.[85]
Because Martial's poetry was more widely available during the Renaissence due to its greater popular appeal, he was often read before Catullus. Early imitators of Catullus thus interpreted him through Martial. Catullus was thus seen as a writer of light and vulgar poetry, and imitations of him followed a similar style.[86]
Three important early imitations of Catullus were produced by Giovanni Giovianno Pontano which influenced all later Renaissance imitations. Pontano, due to Martial's influence, saw Catullus as a writer of epigrams which lacked depth and were often vulgar. The first and most obscene imitation was published in 1449; of Pontano's imitations, this one was most greatly influenced by Martial and Pontano's mentor Antonio Beccadelli's interpretation of him. His next imitation was more literary and less obscene, and was published in 1457. Pontano's final imitation was developed throughout the 1490s and was published in 1500; compared to his previous imitations, it was closer to elegy and his furthest from Catullus's style.[87]
Pontano focused largely on Catullus's "kiss poems" (in particular Catullus 5 and 7), his sparrow poems (Catullus 2 and 3), and Catullus 16, from which he took the lesson that a poet ought to be chaste, but his poetry need not be so; later poets were also influenced by this "law", both in their imitation of Catullus and in their other writings, though it was rejected by Mantuan, who held that obscene poetry would draw others into vice, and by Marco Marullo, Pontano's friend, although he accepted obscene poetry. In his imitations, Pontano exaggerated typical features of Catullus's style, such as excessive use of diminutives and repetition, and was often more explicitly obscene than Catullus. Pontano was also the first to interpret Catullus's sparrow as his penis, under the influence of Martial; this interpretation was also published by Angelo Poliziano in 1489 and would continue to be hotly debated in the first half of the 16th century.[88]
Catullus's poetry was first published by Vindelo de Spira in Venice in 1472, alongside Tibullus, Propertius, and Statius in a large volume.[89][90] The text was incorrect or corrupted in many places: poems (for example, 2 and 3) were combined; the poems were often misinterpreted (Catullus 1 was titled as a dedication to Cornelius Gallus). In the next year, two men set about to correcting the text: Francesco dal Pozzo (under the name Puteolano) and Angelo Poliziano. Puteolano's corrections were published in 1473 and influenced a number of later editions; five further editions of Catullus were published between 1473 and 1485. Poliziano finished his notes on Catullus's work at 18; he was then quite proud of it, but at 30 he admitted that many parts were incorrect. Poliziano likely produced this work with the intent of publishing a commentary on Catullus or an edition of the text, but never did; still, his corrections were the most accurate available until an edition of Catullus (the first Aldine edition) published in 1502.[91]
Poliziano published a collection of short essays in 1489 called Miscellanea. In this work, seven out of one hundred chapters are on the subject of Catullus's poetry; most of these draw from his earlier corrections and interpretations. Though some of his interpretations had been published elsewhere, he had produced them earlier in his corrections to Catullus's text. The chapters which did not have antecedents in his earlier work provide evidence that he did not update his marginalia until after 1485; both chapters are apparently due to the Codex Farnesianus, which he saw in spring of that year. One of these directly refers to the Codex, where he writes that he found a particular word to correct Catullus 17; the other, relating Martial's poem that references Catullus's to Catullus's sparrow poems, does not refer to the Codex, but similarly uses a word which he likely first encountered there.[92]
Antonio Partenio, a less-skilled contemporary of Poliziano, published an edition of Catullus's text in 1485, annotating nearly every line. Partenio was already teaching Catullus in his school, and published his edition with the intent of making Catullus more accessible to those who were not able to interpret Catullus's poetry or understand its references to mythology, people, and places. Partenio admitted that he was not very learned; many of his corrections were elementary grammatical or contextual points. Often Partenio was incorrect in his basic knowledge or understanding, or sough context in other ancient authors' works, much of which was misleading or irrelevant. Despite his failures, he was the first to recognize that Catullus's poetry was dedicated to Cornelius Nepos instead of Cornelius Gallus (because Gallus would have been too young, and wrote the wrong genre of poetry), or Cornelius Cinna (to whom Poliziano thought Catullus's poetry was dedicated). Partenio's commentary succeeded in making Catullus's poetry more accessible and was reprinted 5 times in 15 years.[93]
A number of other commentaries were published after Partenio. Palladio Fosco, a schoolmaster like Partenio, published his commentary in 1496; though it contained some original though, much was unscrupulously taken from others. Alessandro Guarino published another commentary in 1521, which was not very influential; Guarino based his work on his father Battista Guarino's earlier corrections, which he failed to publish before Puteolano did in 1473. The most important commentator after Partenio was Girolami Avanzi, who published several works on Catullus: the Emendationationes in 1495 and 1500; and two editions of Catullus's text, which were published by Aldo Manuzio in 1502 and 1515. These editions called the first and second Aldine editions. As well as being more accurate than all previous editions of Catullus, the first Aldine was smaller and thus more accessible; nearly 3,000 copies were printed.[94]
In November 1521, Pierio Valeriano began to lecture on Catullus at the University of Rome. While some lectured on Catullus before him, his lectures are the only ones which were written down and still survive largely unedited. Valeriano was also the first major figure that we know of to lecture on Catullus; earlier lecturers were either school teachers or university lecturers of lesser importance, and had less earlier interpretation to rely on. While earlier commentators such as Pontano made much of Catullus's obscenity, Valeriano took less interest in it, both due to his personal attitudes and the general attitude of Rome in his time; however, he does not try to censor Catullus. Valeriano was a Neo-Latin poet and thus focused his lectures more on specific features of Catullus's poetry, such as his meter, than its themes compared to others; he held Catullus's style as a model for his students to imitate when learning to compose poetry. Valeriano, influenced by Terentianus Maurus's second-century work De metris, opened his lectures by demonstrating how the hendecasyllables in Catullus 1 could be seen as a combination of an epic and an iambic tome, or section; he then combines sections of the poems to form a number of meters. Valeriano also saw Catullus's poetry as instructive in moral matters, rejecting vice and embracing virtue. For example, he saw Catullus's sparrow as a warning against excessive lust; he writes that a sparrow is exceedingly lustful and thus has a short life, while the crow is not and thus lives for a long time.[95]
Just two months after Valeriano began his lectures, his patron Pope Leo X died. In 1522, the new pope, Adrian VI, was not favorable to secular activities such as Valeriano's; funds were short, meaning that professors were not often paid; and the plague had arrived in Rome. Valeriano's lectures may thus not have continued. However, it is not known whether they did because all lectures on poems after Catullus 21 were lost from the manuscript after the sack of Rome in 1527. Also missing are the lectures on the obscene Catullus 15 and 16, though Valeriano did give them at the insistence of his students.[96]
Catullus's poetry had mainly been studied inside Italy, but around 1550 it began to be studied elsewhere in Europe, particularly in France. The most important commentaries were written by Marc-Antoine de Muret in 1554, Aquiles Estaço (known as Statius) in 1556, and Joseph Scaliger in 1577.[97]
Muret, like Valeriano, was an important lecturer in Paris. He was part of an important school of french poets called the Brigade, who worked to create a new style of French poetry which combined French literary traditions with various forms of classical and contemporary poetry. One member of the Brigade, Pierre Ronsard, wrote an imitation of Catullus's hendecasyllabic poems which was published in 1553; others in Paris wrote similar imitations. After Muret fled Paris after charges of heresy and sexual immorality, he produced a commentary on Catullus in 1554 with Paolo Manuzio, influenced by Italian and French interpretations. French writers, including Muret, separated Catullus from Martial; Muret wrote "I think there is as much difference between the writings of Martial and Catullus as between the words of some wag on the street-corner and the well-bred jests of a gentleman, seasoned with sophisticated wit." Muret recognized Catullus's Alexandrian influences, particularly appreciating poem 68, because he had studied archaic and Alexandrian Greek poetry; Poliziano was the only 15th century interpreter who had seen these influences. Though Muret was successful in recognizing Catullus's influences, he was not as skilled in correcting its text. One error which can be seen today is in the numbering of Catullus: Muret inserted three priapeia as Catullus 18, 19, and 20; these were removed by Lachmann, leaving a gap between Catullus 17 and 21.[98]
Statius and Scaliger were less interested in Catullus's poetry and its meaning than its text. Both also provided excuses for working on it: Statius claimed that he was studying Latin meters for a translation of the Psalms, and explained Catullus's obscenity as merely part of the general indecency of paganism; Scaliger wrote that he was recovering from an illness and was too weak to study more serious authors. Scaliger was the first to attempt to reconstruct the initial manuscript which contained Catullus's poetry, and was the first to understand that a single such manuscript existed. Though his method was not exceptionally successful in the case of Catullus, the idea is important in the history of philology as an early example of such a reconstruction.[99]
After around 1580, Catullus was neglected because he was not seen as a serious poet, but rather a libidinous one.[100] Catullus's poetry had a resurgence in the Romantic era. The first complete translation of Catullus's poetry into English was accomplished by John Nott in 1795.[101] Nott's translation provided provided broad access to Catullus and influenced later Romantic writiers, including Frank Sayers, Leigh Hunt, and Françoise Noël. Before this, translations of some, but not all, of Catullus's poems had been completed (often anonymously, perhaps out of fear for the translator's reputation); these had not yet been assembled into any kind of collection. Similar progress was made in other languages: the first French translation, by Charles Louis Mollevaut, was not published until 1812.[102]
After Nott's translation, George Lamb produced a more polished translation in 1821. Lamb took much from Nott's earlier translation, borrowing some of his rhymes as well as his notes and turns of phrase. Despite heavy influence from Nott, Lamb's translation differs in style and content in many places. Whereas Nott's translation was primarily for education, Lamb's was for entertainment. Lamb's translation, like many early translations of Catullus, removed obscene parts; Lamb wrote that he wished "to veil and soften" Catullus's poetry. Compared to this, Nott's translation, though not rendering Catullus's indecency directly into English, permits his readers to understand Catullus's meaning, both through the Latin text presented on the opposite page, and through interpretation of Nott's roundabout turns of phrase. Similarly, while Lamb turned Juventius into a woman, Nott did not explicitly state the character's gender.[103]
During the 19th century, Catullus began to be studied, albeit in censored form, in British schools.[104] He influenced many poets from the Romantic period onward, including Walter Savage Landor, Swinburne, Ezra Pound, Yeats, Graves, and Frost.[105] Tennyson also imitated and alluded to Catullus.[106] Landor, Swinburne, and Pound in particular held Catullus's poetry in high regard: Pound wrote "the Greeks might be hard put to it to find a better poet among themselves than is their disciple Catullus", Swinburne "the first if not the only Latin poet I ever thoroughly loved is Catullus". Catullus's poetry appeals to many modern authors and readers because his style seems modern with its passion and emotion, its brevity, and its individualism. Though Catullus influenced many modern poets, T.S. Eliot did not appreciate him as much, writing that he seemed a "ruffian" and denigrating his "passion".[107]
In the 20th century, external social changes affected the reception of Catullus's poetry. In the 1950s and 1960s, for example, Catullus was interpreted as a rebel. The content of Catullus's poems were affected by the more permissive era: before, Catullus's obscene poems were often not translated or ignored; after this period, however, these poems gained wider acceptance and were translated more effectively into English. Translations of Catullus's poetry were also adapted to modern styles.[108]
Musical settings
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2023) |
The Hungarian born British composer Matyas Seiber set poem 31 for unaccompanied mixed chorus Sirmio in 1957.[citation needed] The American composer Ned Rorem set Catullus 101 to music for voice and piano; the song, "Catullus: On the Burial of His Brother", was originally published in 1969.[citation needed]
Catullus Dreams (2011) is a song cycle by David Glaser set to texts of Catullus, scored for soprano and eight instruments; it premiered at Symphony Space in New York by soprano Linda Larson and Sequitur Ensemble.[109] Carmina Catulli is a song cycle arranged from 17 of Catullus's poems by American composer Michael Linton. The cycle was recorded in December 2013 and premiered at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in March 2014 by French baritone Edwin Crossley-Mercer and pianist Jason Paul Peterson.[110][111][112]
Thomas Campion also wrote a lute-song entitled "My Sweetest Lesbia" dating from 1601[113] using his own translation of the first six lines of Catullus 5 followed by two verses of his own;[114] the translation by Richard Crashaw was set to music[115] in a four-part glee by Samuel Webbe Jr.[citation needed] It was also set to music,[when?][116] in a three-part glee by John Stafford Smith.[citation needed]
Catullus 5, the love poem Vivamus mea Lesbia atque amemus, in the translation by Ben Jonson, was set to music in 1606, (lute accompanied song) by Alfonso Ferrabosco the younger.[117][118] Dutch composer Bertha Tideman-Wijers used Catullus's text for her composition Variations on Valerius "Where that one already turns or turns."[when?][119] The Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson set Catullus 85 to music; entitled Odi Et Amo, the song is found on Jóhannsson's album Englabörn, and is sung through a vocoder, and the music is played by a string quartet and piano.[when?][citation needed] Catulli Carmina is a cantata by Carl Orff dating from 1943 that sets texts from Catullus to music.[120] Finnish jazz singer Reine Rimón has recorded poems of Catullus set to standard jazz tunes.[when?][citation needed]
Cultural depictions
- The 1888 play Lesbia by Richard Davey depicts the relationship between Catullus and Lesbia, based on incidents from Catullus's poems.[121][122]
- Catullus was the main protagonist of the historical novel Farewell, Catullus (1953) by Pierson Dixon. The novel shows the corruption of Roman society.[123][124]
- Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita makes multiple explicit and implicit allusions to Catullus' work.[125]
- W. G. Hardy's novel The City of Libertines (1957) tells the fictionalized story of Catullus and a love affair during the time of Julius Caesar. The Financial Post described the book as "an authentic story of an absorbing era".[126]
- A poem by Catullus is being recited to Cleopatra in the eponymous 1963 film when Julius Caesar comes to visit her; they talk about him (Cleopatra: 'Catullus doesn't approve of you. Why haven't you had him killed?' Caesar: 'Because I approve of him.') and Caesar then recites other poems by him.
- The American poet Louis Zukofsky in 1969 wrote a set of homophonic translations of Catullus that attempted in English to replicate the sound as primary emphasis, rather than the more common emphasis on sense of the originals (although the relationship between sound and sense there is often misrepresented and has been clarified by careful study); his Catullus versions have had extensive influence on contemporary innovative poetry and homophonic translation, including the work of poets Robert Duncan, Robert Kelly, and Charles Bernstein.
- Catullus is the protagonist of Tom Holland's 1995 novel Attis.
- Catullus appears in Steven Saylor's 1995 novel The Venus Throw as the embittered ex-lover of Clodia, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, whom he calls Lesbia.
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
