Blog Post 6

The relationship between Catullus and Lesbia

Introduction

Before touching on the topic of relationship between Catullus and Lesbia, I believe it is important to know general information about Catullus (I am doing this just for myself). He was one of the well-known Latin poets of the late Roman Republic (84-54 BC). Moreover, his poetry is still read unanimously and has influenced to modern poetry as well.

Paraphrasing notes from class, in Catullus’s poem,

·      He uses plenty of humors to make fun of someone yet in a clever way. Also,

·      He uses conversational words such as asking questions to engage the readers to his poem.

·      Themes mentioned in this poem are very personal such as love (love with Lesbia) and hate.

·      When he comes down to expressing his opinion, he is direct – who is he talking to, what is her talking about – and straightforward.

o   In terms of politics, poets in Greek Lyrics twist the word and it is sometimes hard to understand his/her point. However, Catullus pinpoints his idea and thoughts on politics mentioned in the poem.

·      He usually deprecates his status eventhough he is quite up in terms of social status.

·      Most of his poetry is targeted towards Lesbia and it expresses strong and wild emotions to her.

Analyze

Catullus 2A

From line 1 to 7, Catullus does not write in first person and figuratively compares himself to “Sparrow.” It is also “always her plaything” and Catullus wishes to be “held fast in her bosom.” Also, at this point, Catullus has not yet encountered Lesbia (Clodia) and it gives the impression of him looking her from far away with affection “how I wish I could sport with you as she does.” He “wish[es] … could sport” Lesbia and this demonstrates that he is desperate to have her. However, Catullus is not aware, at the moment, of the dark-side of what will happen in the future with Lesbia. In addition, according to the explanatory notes, sparrow has “obscene double entendre” (213). Firstly, in Sappho’s writing, it mentions that sparrow “was sacred to Aprodite” and also contains another meaning of penis in Greek.

Catullus 5

In this section, Catullus has now developed relationship with Lesbia by saying “Let’s live, Lesbia mine” and specifically talking to that he desires more kisses after kisses. Catullus has completely fallen in love and speaks with a playful tone that he wishes to have “thousand kisses … then yet another thousand then a hundred.” In addition, “Suns can rise and set ad infinitum... there’s only one unending night that’s left to sleep through” implies that Catullus believe the relationship with her will last forever. Meanwhile “no maleficent enemy can hex us” predicts that there could be a downturn in their relationship later; however, in present, Catullus is not worried too much about the future. Also, he tells Lesbia to focus on the relationship that they are having at the moment and disregard “all the gossip” and what other people say.

Catullus 51

Up until this point, the relationship between Catullus and Lesbia has gone worse as mentioned in Catullus 8. Eventhough Catullus “hang[s] tough” of what happened between her yet still leaves with multiple of spiteful lines “Who’ll now pursue you, still admire you for your looks? … Who’ll get your kisses? Whose lips will you bite in play?” which makes him quite a pathetic person. He believes that he is the only man who can be with her and no other men are able to.

Catullus 51 is one of the many translations of Sappho’s writing, Sappho 31. Simply, Catullus has replaced “girl of Lesbos” mentioned in Sappho to “Lesbia” in his writing. Moreover, based on the Catullus’s behavior from poem 8, here it clearly depicts imagery how he feels when he sees Lesbia – “my tongue goes torpid, and through my body thin fire lances down, my ears are ringing with their own thunder.” In the previous poem, Catullus behaved in a way that he will “hang tough” and let go of Lesbia; however, he behaves in a complete opposite way, which is ironic to Catullus’ character.