Catullus

Happy Birthday Catullus, homoerotic poet: December 2

Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84 BC – ca. 54 BC) was a Roman poet of the 1st century BC.His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Catullus invented the “angry love poem.” He was imitated by Tibullus, Propertius, Horace and Ovid, as well as Ben Jonson and Robert Herrick in English.  Most of Catullus’ poems are short. In a few concise lines he expresses love, friendship or bitterness. Most of his poems are heterosexual, but a good number of them are devoted to boys and are “particularly lusty.”

According to The Gay Book of Days most translations are watered down and only Peter Wigham’s Poems of Catullus (Penguin Classics) truly lives up to the explicit sexual flavor of the original.  In one poem Catullus suggests “stuffing the boy.”  Since Catullus was a contemporary of Caesar his poetry has the prejudice of the period: “the taking of a boy is a manly act, but allowing another male to do unto you what you did unto him is sheer depravity.

Wikipedia says his “poems describe the Epicurean lifestyle of Catullus and his friends, who, despite Catullus’ temporary political post in Bithynia, lived their lives withdrawn from politics. They were interested mainly in poetry and love. Above all other qualities, Catullus seems to have sought venustas, or charm, in his acquaintances, a theme which he explores in a number of his poems. The ancient Roman concept of virtus (i.e. of virtue that had to be proved by a political or military career), which Cicero suggested as the solution to the societal problems of the late Republic, meant little to them.

“But it is not the traditional notions Catullus rejects, merely their monopolized application to the vita activa of politics and war. Indeed, he tries to reinvent these notions from a personal point of view and to introduce them into human relationships. For example, he applies the word fides, which traditionally meant faithfulness towards one’s political allies, to his relationship with Lesbia and reinterprets it as unconditional faithfulness in love. So, despite seeming frivolity of his lifestyle, Catullus measured himself and his friends by quite ambitious standards.”

You can purchase the best book of Catullus’ poems here.

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