1. Catullus Modern bronze bust of Catullus, Sirmione

2. Catullus’ Life Gaius Valerius Catullus born around 82 BCE Based on writings of Jerome (4 th -5 th c. CE) who relied on Suetonius’ De Viribus Illustribus (1 st -2 nd c. CE) Born in Verona in Cisalpine Gaul (part of Gaul located in Italy between the Alpine foothills and the river Po) according to Ovid, Martial, and Jerome Served on the staff of Gaius Memmius in Bithynia from 57-56 BCE To have held this position had to be have been a Roman citizen of equestrian rank Wrote verses offensive to Julius Caesar, even though he was a family friend Villa at Sirmio (mod. Sirmione) at Lacus Benacus (mod. Lake Garda) - half-excavated ruins

3. Sirmio (mod. Sirmione) at Lacus Benacus (mod. Lake Garda) Sirmio

4. Le Grotte di Catullo

5. Catullus’ Life Catullus moved to Rome in 60’s returned to Verona perhaps more than once Love affair with Lesbia, thought to be a pseudonym for Clodia Metelli Recalls Sappho (end of 7 th c BCE), lyric Greek poetess from the island of Lesbos sister of Cicero’s enemy Publius Clodius and the wife of Metellus Celer, consul in 60 BC, died in 59 Catullus’ brother died in 58 BC, buried near Troy

6. Map of Italy

7. Catullus’ Life Catullus spent year on staff of Memmius, governor of Bithynia, (Roman province on NW coast of Asia Minor) in 57-56 ( the one precise date we have!) Lucretius dedicated De Rerum Natura to Memmius may have gone to leave Clodia and visit brother’s tomb (see poem 101 “A Final Offering at a Distant Grave”), also to acquire money Caesar’s conquests on Rhine in 55 and plans to invade Britain events mentioned in poems 11 and 45 no poem can be dated later than 54 BC, may be year of death

9. Traditions of Poetry before Catullus Epic Homer, Ennius Long-winded epic Dactylic hexameter meter Patriotic, heroic, impersonal Public audience Rough-hewn narrative Poetry should teach about world Alexandrian/Hellenistic -Callimachus (310/305–240 BC), Theocritus -small scale: lyric, elegy, epyllion (mini epic) -lyric or elegiac meters -private, romantic, personal -coterie poetry, written for set -display of wit, polish, erudition -art for art’s sake; wit; poetry should exist in its own world

10. Catullus and the New Poets “novi poetae” (neoterics) Social and political upheaval may have influenced circle Poetae novae and in Greek hoi neoteroi “the modernists” Followed in footsteps of Greek Alexandrian poets of third century BC, Callimachus and Theocritus his poetic circle included Licinius Calvus, Cinna, and Cornelius Nepos

11. Catullus’ Works We have just 116 poems of Catullus, varying in length from two to 480 lines, and a few fragments; this probably represents the whole of his published work. Poems 1-60 are shorter pieces, for the most part, written in a variety of meters, on a variety of topics (love poems, attacks against enemies, witty observations on contemporary mores, short hymns), and in a variety of tones. Are known as the polymetric poems

12. continued 25 Lesbia poems convey happiness and disallusion wrote lyric poems, besides amatory, some satiric, occasional poems, epigrams cameos of friends and enemies, and of chance encounters Coarse and amusing Poems 61-68 are longer pieces, again in a variety of meters and on a variety of topics (from wedding poems to a particularly elaborate example of an epyllion or "mini-epic“) Known as carmina docta

13. continued Others, including his longest (Poem 64), an account in hexameters of the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, have mythological themes, but still show depth of poetic emotion. Poems 69ff. are shorter pieces of varying length composed in elegiac couplets — a weightier, more reflective meter than those of poems 1-60. The subject matter of these poems parallels that of poems 1-60 for the most part, but often in a more somber or brooding tone. This is particularly true of the Lesbia poems in this part of the collection These poems referred to as the epigrams

14. Textual Tradition Poems of Catullus might have suffered same fate as those of Archilochus and Sappho but for a single manuscript which made its way to Verona early in 14th century Text we use today based on copies of copies of copies of that text which no longer survives

15. Textual Tradition continued Rude and obscene poetry routinely left untranslated or left out of collections all together in many editions so not to offend

16. Catullus at Lesbia's by Sir Laurence Alma Tadema, 1836- 1912

17. Lesbia Weeping Over a Sparrow, by Sir Laurence Alma- Tadema