What is the topic of Catullus famous elegy?
What is the topic of Catullus famous elegy?
Catullus is the predecessor in Roman elegy for poets like Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid. Catullus’s focus in his poetry is on himself, the male lover. He writes obsessively about Lesbia; however she is just an object to him.
What are the two types of poetry that Catullus wrote?
Style. Catullus wrote in many different meters including hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets (common in love poetry). A great part of his poetry shows strong and occasionally wild emotions, especially in regard to Lesbia (e.g. poems 5 and 7).
What group of poets did Catullus join?
Gaius Valerius Catullus was born in Verona about 84 b.c.e. and lived both there and in Rome until about 54 b.c.e. He joined the “Neoterics” in Rome — a group of young “new poets” who focused their work on personal matters instead of Roman high seriousness and favored short, elegant poetry with sophisticated allusions.
Is O Captain my captain an elegy?
“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
What is Lesbia’s real name?
Lesbia wasn’t her real name. Her real name was Clodia. Classical scholars disagree over whether she was the Clodia married to the praetor Metellus Celer, infamous for her licentiousness and possible matricide.
What is Gaius Valerius Catullus known for?
Gaius Valerius Catullus (Classical Latin: [ˈɡaː.i.ʊs waˈɫɛ.ri.ʊs kaˈtʊl.lʊs]) was born to a leading equestrian family of Verona, in Cisalpine Gaul. The social prominence of the Catullus family allowed the father of Gaius Valerius to entertain Julius Caesar when he was the Promagistrate (proconsul) of both Gallic provinces.
What is the relationship between Catullus and Lesbia?
The 1888 play Lesbia by Richard Davey depicts the relationship between Catullus and Lesbia, based on incidents from his poems. Catullus was the main protagonist of the historical novel Farewell, Catullus (1953) by Pierson Dixon. The novel shows the corruption of the Roman society.
How did Catullus influence other artists?
His surviving works are still read widely and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Catullus’s poems were widely appreciated by contemporary poets, significantly influencing Ovid and Virgil, among others. After his rediscovery in the Late Middle Ages, Catullus again found admirers such as Petrarca.
How old was Catullus when he was born?
There survives no ancient biography of Catullus: his life has to be pieced together from scattered references to him in other ancient authors and from his poems. Thus it is uncertain when he was born and when he died. St. Jerome says that he died in his 30th year, and was born in 87 BC.
