LPC: Lesson - Biography of Catullus
Biography of Gaius Valerius Catullus
We know little about Gaius Valerius Catullus other than what we learn through his poetry. We do know that he was born at Verona in Cisalpine Gaul somewhere around 84 BCE to a family of considerable wealth. His father was a friend of Iulius Caesar. Catullus came to Rome as a young man and spent most of his life there. In 57 BCE he went to Bithynia and served on the staff of the governor. While in Bithynia, he traveled to his recently deceased brother's tomb to perform funeral rites. The event is recorded in poem 101 which you will read shortly. Following his year in Bithynia, Catullus returned to Rome where he continued his previous life among the fashionable society. It is uncertain when Catullus died. The last of his poems refer to events in 54 BCE. It is assumed that he died in that year at the age of 30. Catullus stands in the center of the painting, with Lesbia seated behind him on the lectus. Painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tameda, 1865.
Catullus' Poetry
The poems of Catullus come to us from a single manuscript discovered in the 14th century. They consist of 116 carmina (three are thought to be spurious) divided into three parts = sixty short poems called polymetra, eight longer poems, and forty-eight epigrams. It is not known if these poems were arranged in the manuscript by Catullus himself or someone else. The numbering used today, though, is that of this one manuscript.
Catullus has been called the greatest writer of Latin lyric verse. His poems are lively, dynamic, and engaging. In them he talks about love and hate; he sneers at the rich and noble; he at times reveals tenderness, delicacy, and even madness; he can be brutal and obscene; he is passionate and sincere.
Although he uses a wide variety of meters, most of Catullus' poems are written in either hendecasyllabic or elegiac couplets, though some, like Poem 101, which we will read later, are dactylic hexameter. He was influenced by the Alexandrian poets in Egypt who were writing a new kind of Greek verse - not the verse of epics and narration. Instead, these poets focused on personal themes. Many considered these topics to be trivial, but Catullus called his poems accomplished works of art, carefully and artistically composed. Catullus was an admirer of Sappho, a female poet of the seventh century BCE. Much of what we know about her is through Catullus. Several of Catullus' poems are thought to be direct translations of her poems. The image to the left is believed to be a portrait of Sappho: it is a fresco (wall painting) discovered in Pompeii.
Catullus' influence in Latin literature was widespread. Poets from Horace to Vergil wrote with echoes of Catullus. Martial, whom you have read, acknowledges Catullus as his master. Later authors who owe a debt of gratitude to Catullus include Thornton Wilder and Archibald MacLeish.
Lesbia
Catullus is most well known for his poems about his love affair with a woman he called Lesbia. He was the first in a long line of poets (including Dante and Shakespeare) to use the image of a woman they love to describe themselves. We see Catullus as he admires Lesbia from a distance, then becomes passionately in love with her only to struggle with her rather callous treatment of him. We see his anger, his bitter reproaches, and finally his sad sense of acceptance that he must end his relationship with her. To the right, we see another portrait of Catullus with Lesbia seated, playing with her sparrow (passer). Painting by Guillaume Charles Brun, 1860.
Catullus' use of the pseudonym Lesbia is a reference to the island of Lesbos where the poetess Sappho lived. The name, then, comes to represent female intelligence and emancipation. Although no one knows for certain, it is believed that the real Lesbia was a Roman woman by the name of Clodia (notice the same metrical beat). Clodia was a member of a distinguished patrician family and was a member of the same social circle which Catullus belonged to. Unfortunately, Clodia does not have a stellar reputation. Most of what we know about her comes from Cicero's oration in defense of Caelius. As you learned when you studied Cicero, Roman lawyers did not always stick to the truth when defending a client. According to Cicero, Clodia had multiple lovers, murdered her husband, and committed incest with her brother. We do know, though, that Clodia chose an independent role in society, choosing to remain single after her husband's death, to have been interested in politics, and to have had large brown eyes. This independence by a Roman woman no doubt led to many of the scurrilous rumors about Clodia. Regardless of her reputation, we owe much to Clodia for she was the inspiration for much of Catullus' poetry which contains an intensity of feeling.