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Through reading the selection of poetry three parts of Catulluss consciousness are revealed. Catullus has a loving side that is fraught with torment as he cannot obtain what he desires, he is a top academic in his knowledge and also his skill in using the Latin language and last but not least is a fierce intellectual as the Story of Attis shows. Overall, although he painstakingly describes and devotes many poems to Lesbia, the most important part of Catulluss psyche is the need to be remembered for his work and ideas.
Poem one, although small, is quite an important one in terms of content and meaning. It shows that Catullus, aside the jokes about his, novum lepidum libellum wants people to think that his, nugas esse aliquid. He seems to be a modest person, dismissing his toils as a, quidquid libelli quaelumque, but he has true ambitions. He wants his work to, maneat perenne plus uno saeclo as they are worthy of that timelessness. Notice too, the positioning of this poem at the beginning of the book. This shows its the first thing he wants the reader to take in, his academic aspirations and just for this reason alone his aspiration to be recognised as being a great poet and not dwindling into obscurity is very important to the man. Its content, him wanting to be ambitious and having true ideas, covered by modesty and jokes, is how the book is to be seen.
Catulluss desire for Lesbia and the fact that he cant have her are two important themes in Catulluss mind, nearly as important as his academic aspirations (he devotes nearly as much of the selection to the fact.) Poems two and three give the impression that Catullus is on the outside looking in at Lesbia. Initially in poem two, he tries to deceive the reader into thinking that he is close to her all the time but it can be argued as if he is looking and lusting after someone that he cant have. Catullus is watching Lesbia and the bird, cum qui ludere from afar, hoping that, ut gravis ardor acquierat he may have the courage in himself to boldly go and gain the attention of Lesbia to, ludere tecum ipsa sicut et levare tristis curas animi. In poem three there is nothing that alludes to the interpretation that he and Lesbia are having any kind of relationship. The time that he was waiting for, gravis ardor acquierat with the bird has come as the, passer est mortuus. Catullus fills the poem with a lot of detail about the sparrow being, mellitus and that he, norat tam bene quam puella matrem etc., but notice that he is never personally involved in any of the detail, he is simply observing the situation and through his description, deceiving the reader. He adds to his deception that he is personally involved by over-elaborating about the sparrows death by the, malae tenebrae Orci, quae devoratis omnia bella. Catullus is biding his time, watching the, ocelli of Lesbia which are, rubent turgiduli flendo, and waiting to make his move.
Poems five, eight, seven and thirteen are open to the interpretation of the fact that Catullus is with Lesbia, however there is still much evidence to supply the opposite view. The first two lines of poem two, loudly exclaiming, vivemus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus, and telling her not to care about, omnes rumores severiorem senum, do slightly imply that Catullus is with Lesbia but looking over the body of the poem, it can be seen that this is not the case. It is another deception and looks as if he is projecting a vision to himself. The later lines of the poem, nobis cum brevis lux semel occidit and, cum fecerimus multa milia (of kisses) although pleasantly romantic, have not actually happened yet (they are all talking about the future) and just give the inclination that Catullus is still fantasising. Poem seven is just another one of Catullus fantasies of courtship. It is a playfull one wittily asking, quot mihi basiationes tuae sint satis superque, for himself. He also shows his academic knowledge by referring to, oraclum Iovis…et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum. Poem eight is one of the few poems, if one was so inclined, that can give rise to a strong feeling that Catullus really had an affair with Lesbia. However, with the direction I have taken it can be seen to give the opposite view. For example when Catullus tells himself to, desinas ineptire, et quod vides perisse ducas perditum he has realised that his positive pontificating is over-this fantasy is going nowhere. Quondam candidis fulsere on Catullus and his visions when, multa iocosa fiebant quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat. If Lesiba hadnt wanted the, iocosa to take place she wouldnt have let them, fiebant and so where, if the, iocosa did take place, would they have happened? In Catulluss mind. This poem is Catulluss wake up call to himself to tell him to stop fantasising and with a, obstinata ment perfer, as from then on he will, nec rogabit invitam. Poem seventy-six although not as strong minded as poems eight and eleven is evidence of a build-up to the sentiment he expresses in those two poems. Although he asks the Gods to, eripite hanc pestem perniciem mihi he shows signs of wanting the contrary as he makes references to his, longum amore and wishes her to be, pudica. Poem thirteen can be seen as some sort of conclusion for either view of Catulluss relationship with Lesbia. It is concrete evidence that Catullus either had a lover (if this is true then its not Lesbia here) or was once again projecting his visions into reality (if this is the case then he would be with Lesbia.) Catullus definitely seems very much high on life as he jokes lightly about Fabulus bringing a, bonam cenam non sine puella et wine et sale. Catullus is trying to say here that he is not going to provide any of that as he already has everything he needs in his girl and so he is jokingly asking Fabulus to bring with him his own entertainment for the night. Catullus throughout this whole poem, until it comes to the perfume, quod Veneres -que Cupidines donarunt meae puella, definitely alludes to the view that he has a girl, Lesbia or not, but that line with its reference to the Gods just shows that Catulluss head is truly and firmly, with the, Veneres -que Cupidines on this issue.
Although seeming to be modest about his own work, Catullus does not hold back from criticising other poets work if he deems it to be poor. In poem thirty-six for example, Catulluss victims are the, annales Volusi which he labels as, cacita carta simultaneously using alliteration to harden the cursing. He is very harsh about Volusius work as even though his annals are, cacita carta they are the, electissima scripta of Volusius, one of the, pessimi poetae. Catullus continues his critique streak through to poem ninety five where this time his victim is, Hortensius who he believes, edita quingenta milia too many of his throwaway verses. This time he emphasises his criticism by comparing the work to his friend, Cinnae Zmyrna. Cinnas more careful craftsmanship ensures that, saecula cana diu pervolent Satrachi and that Hatrachius hasty outpourings are ensured nothing more that a fate of providing, laxas tunicas scombris.
Catullus shows his ability to skilfully portray feeling and emotions in two poems of the selection. In poem thirty-one Catullus is concerned with the simple feelings of joy and emotion. It is an unartificial outpouring of the two emotions epitomised by such lines as, o quid beatius curus est solutis and, ridete quidquid cachinnorum est domi. The poem is about the great release of the mind from, onus when one is in familiar surroundings. Though Catullus is dealing with simple themes he counterbalances the poem utilising a consciously complex formulation and wordplay for example with, Thyniam atque Bithynos. Catullus touches on the more solemn emotions when writing about his experiences at his brothers, munere in poem one hundred and one. Simultaneously as he is portraying his, fletu emotion he shows his intellectual side by employing resigned irony with such lines as, advenio…ut…mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem. Through such examples of observation Catullus creates the atmosphere of there being a real brotherly understanding between himself and the corpse of his brother, behind the picture he paints of the, tristi ceremony.
Catullus shows more of his intellectual prowess in his rendition of, The Story of Attis. This poem has been described of as, a study of fanatic devotion and subsequent disillusionment (not unlike Catullus situation between himself and Lesbia then!) Catullus presents a very real sense of desolation that a natural man would feel in the midst of the strange scenes that appear throughout the poem. Catullus during the poem repeats the word Attis six times and this sort of repetition helps to convey the picture of a unique and morbid state of mind, by returning the reader forcefully and frequently to key themes. One of the many other descriptive effects Catullus employs is the use of rhythm to show such scenes of action, protracted physical effort and the breaking of misty white waves. For example in line eighty-six, vadit, fremit, refringit virgulta pede vago is a staccato line that shows the fast action in its sound as well as in wording. A last example of Catullus mastery of the Latin language is the way that he uses the choice of wording to convey the emotions of Catullus. In lines forty-four to forty-nine he gathers together the Latin words for mind, intelligence and emotions (pectore…liquida…mente…animo aestuante) to convey the confused, sorting out process in Attis mind when he woke up. To the unlearned eye, this poem might just be seen to be a great feat of literary skill and story telling, but in fact this poem does have a purpose too. Catullus belonged to a group of poets who wanted to rebel against the greats such as Homer and Virgil and their huge epics. This is a poem that is completely mocking the efforts that those sort of poets wrote about and employs the skill of the language to add effects but also to add weight to the mocking of such people. Catullus is intellectually and stylishly taking the piss.
So one can learn through this selection of poetry that there are a few sides to Catullus the man. He shows he has a loving side, although it has been torn with his thankless love for Lesbia, but while it is an important side to his personality, contrasted to his academic and intellectual skill and aspirations in is small in comparison. Catullus makes this clear on the first page of poetry; the poem is not about his love for Lesbia its his hope of being remembered as a great for, more than one century.
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