Catullus
Catullus
83 av. J.-C. — 53 av. J.-C.
Rome antique
Catullus was a Latin lyric poet of the Roman Republic, born around 83 BC in Verona. A contemporary of Caesar and Cicero, he authored a collection of 116 poems blending passionate love, friendship, and political satire.
Famous Quotes
« Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. »
« Da mi basia mille, deinde centum. »
« Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus. »
Key Facts
- Born around 83 BC in Verona (Cisalpine Gaul), died around 53 BC
- Author of a collection of 116 poems (carmina) preserved through a single medieval manuscript
- His muse and passion, Clodia Metelli, is immortalized under the poetic pseudonym 'Lesbia'
- Contemporary and poetic rival of Caesar, whom he attacks in several epigrams
- Introduced Greek metrical forms into Latin poetry, notably the hendecasyllable
Works & Achievements
The complete surviving works of Catullus, bringing together short lyric poems, mythological epyllia, and epigrams. This collection, preserved through a single medieval manuscript discovered in Verona, forms the foundation of all Latin lyric poetry.
A love cycle devoted to 'Lesbia', the poetic name for Clodia Metella. These poems trace the full arc of a passionate affair: wonder, happiness, betrayal, rupture, and disillusionment.
Two lengthy wedding songs composed for ceremonies among the Roman aristocracy, following the Greek tradition. They demonstrate Catullus's mastery of longer, more solemn poetic forms.
A mythological epyllion of 408 lines, considered Catullus's masterpiece in the grand style. It tells of the wedding of the hero Peleus to the goddess Thetis, with an extended ekphrasis on Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus.
A frenzied poem in galliambic meter on the myth of Cybele and her priest Attis, who mutilates himself in a fit of mystical madness. A unique work for its breathless rhythm and emotional intensity.
A series of biting poems attacking Caesar, Mamurra, and other political figures of the day. They reflect the poet's fearless wit and political boldness in the face of the powerful.
Anecdotes
Catullus was madly in love with a woman he called 'Lesbia' in his poems — in reality Clodia Metelli, the wife of a Roman governor. Their turbulent and painful relationship inspired his most celebrated verses, swinging between absolute adoration and burning hatred.
Catullus did not hesitate to take aim at the powerful men of Rome in his satirical epigrams. He mocked Julius Caesar himself in several biting poems — and Caesar, far from holding a lasting grudge, reportedly invited the poet to dinner to reconcile with him.
Catullus's shortest and most famous poem fits in two Latin lines: 'Odi et amo' ('I hate and I love'). This paradoxical phrase, expressing the ambivalence of romantic feeling, has remained one of the most widely quoted Latin lines in all of Western literature.
Catullus traveled all the way to Bithynia (present-day Turkey) in the retinue of the governor Memmius, hoping to make his fortune there. He returned empty-handed, but brought back a poem about his voyage home by boat to his villa at Sirmio, on the shores of Lake Garda.
Upon the death of his beloved brother, who had died in Asia Minor, Catullus wrote one of the most moving funeral poems of antiquity. In it he describes his journey to the tomb to perform the funeral rites and say a final farewell: 'Ave atque vale' ('Hail and farewell').
Primary Sources
Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, / rumoresque senum severiorum / omnes unius aestimemus assis. ('Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love, / and all the rumors of stern old men / let us value at a single penny.')
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. / Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. ('I hate and I love. Why I do this, perhaps you ask. / I do not know, but I feel it happening and I am tormented.')
Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus / advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias. ('Carried through many peoples and many seas, / I come, my brother, to this sorrowful funeral rite.')
Ille mi par esse deo videtur, / ille, si fas est, superare divos, / qui sedens adversus identidem te / spectat et audit. ('He seems to me to be equal to a god, / he surpasses the gods, if that is possible, / he who, sitting opposite you, again and again / watches and hears you.')
Key Places
Catullus's hometown in Cisalpine Gaul, a Roman province in northern Italy. He owned a family property there and likely returned several times throughout his life.
Catullus's family villa on a peninsula of Lake Garda, celebrated in Poem 31 as the 'jewel of peninsulas and islands.' Roman ruins known as the 'Grottos of Catullus' are still visible there today.
Catullus lived in Rome, moving through literary and social circles, the taverns of the Subura, and the aristocratic homes of the Palatine Hill where Clodia — his 'Lesbia' — resided. It was here that he composed the greater part of his work.
A Roman province corresponding to the northwestern part of modern-day Turkey. Catullus accompanied the governor Memmius there around 57 BC, hoping to make his fortune; he returned disappointed, but while there he visited the tomb of his brother, who had died in the Troad.
A coastal region of Asia Minor where Catullus's brother died. It was here that the poet traveled to perform the funeral rites and speak his famous 'Ave atque vale' ('Hail and farewell,' Poem 101).