History Creator / Catullus

Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84 – c. 54 BC) was a Roman poet who lived during the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic Roman Republic]]. His poetry moved away from the [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece ancient Greek]] epics about gods and heroes to something closer to everyday life. It is greatly admired throughout the ages and influenced poets such as Creator/{{Ovid}}, Creator/{{Virgil}} and Creator/ChristopherMarlowe. Some of his most famous poems include ''5'', a passionate ode to his lover whom he calls "Lesbia"; ''[[Literature/CatulliCarmen16 16]]'', an infamously obscene invective that might have been in response to the charge of slight effeminacy and immodesty; and ''85'', which captures the essence of a BelligerentSexualTension in a distich.

* TheMasochismTango: ''85'' which describes Catullus' love/hate relationship with (presumably) Lesbia. Arguably, ''25'' is also an example (essentially, the bastard child of BDSM and GreenEyedMonster).

->"I didn't, God help me, think it mattered whether \\

at ''him'' would lick a sick hangman's rank behind."

* CargoEnvy: In many of his poems he desires to be this or that belonging to his mistress, Lesbia. Most famously, he wants to be her ''passer'' or pet "sparrow." [[ADateWithRosiePalms Though some believe it may not really be a sparrow]].

--> "O queenie Thallus, softer than a furry little rabbit, \\

the monogrammed set of face-towels too, and all those Spanish napkins, \\ which---''idiot''---you keep on show as heirlooms: pray unglue them \\
''this moment'' from your talons and return them to me, \\
if you don't want your fleecy little flanks and tender poofy paw-waws \\
all scribbled with the lash of whips, burned with a shameful branding, \\

--> "Hopportunity" he was saying whenever he wished to say opportunity
And ambush Arrius was saying "hambush,"
And then he was hoping that he had spoken wonderfully
Whenever with as much effort as he could he said "hambush."
I believe, thus his mother, thus his free uncle,
Thus his maternal grandfather and grandmother he said.
With this man having been sent into Syria, everyone's ears found relief:
They were hearing the same thing more softly and more lightly,
Nor afterwards were they themselves fearing such words,
When suddenly the horrible message is brought that:
The Ionian waves, afterwards Arrius had gone there,
Now were no longer Ionian but... "Hionian"!

--> ''O queenie Thallus, softer than a furry little rabbit, \\

the monogrammed set of face-towels too, and all those Spanish napkins, \\ which---idiot---you keep on show as heirlooms: pray unglue them \\
THIS MOMENT from your talons and return them to me, \\

caught in a heavy storm at sea, a hurricane of gale force.''

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent:

->''"I didn't, God help me, think it mattered whether \\
I put my nose to Aemilius' mouth or ass, \\

NO TEETH, for starters. His mouth's a cemetery inside: \\

at HIM would lick a sick hangman's rank behind."''

* no teeth*, for starters. His mouth's a cemetery inside: \\

at *him* would lick a sick hangman's rank behind."''

''this moment'' from your talons and return them to me, \\

->''"I did not (may the gods love me) think it mattered, \\
whether I might be smelling Aemilius’s mouth or arse. \\
The one’s no cleaner, the other’s no dirtier, \\
in fact his arse is both cleaner and nicer: \\
since it’s no teeth. Indeed, the other has \\
foot long teeth, gums like an old box-cart, \\
and jaws that usually gape like the open \\
cunt of a pissing mule on heat. \\
He fucks lots of women, and makes himself out \\
to be charming, and isn’t set to the mill with the ass? \\
Shouldn’t we think, of any girl touching him, \\
she’s capable of licking a foul hangman’s arse?"''
-->-- ''Catullus 97'' (translation by Tony Kline)

* BlackComedyRape: The opening and closing lines of poem 16 invoke this: ''Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo'' were translated by G.P. Goold as "I'll bugger you and stuff you." ''Irrumo'' is a Latin verb meaning "to be fellated".
* BookEnds: The well-known poem 16 begins and ends with the same sentence: "Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo".

%%* HoYay: So, so much; bisexuality was considered usual for upper-class Romans and it shows.
%%* HiddenDepths: Read ''Catullus 16'' and then read ''72'', or ''101''.
* TheMasochismTango: ''85'' which describes Catullus' love/hate relationship with (presumably) Lesbia.

* SophisticatedAsHell: A master of this. Catullus's love poems are beautiful, describing kisses and lovemaking in carefully crafted wordplay and poetry. And then you flip to ''16'' where the first line is "one of the filthiest expressions ever written in Latin"
* TakeThat: His entire genre of invective poems: writings meant to take potshots at people such as Julius Caesar and Cicero.

->''"Who's the dedicatee of my new witty\\
booklet, all fresh-polished with abrasive?\\
You, Cornelius: for you always used to\\
feel my trivia possessed some substance,\\
even when you dared—the lone Italian!—\\
that great three-decker treatment of past ages:\\
scholarly stuff, my god, and so exhaustive!\\
So take this little booklet, this mere trifle,\\
whatever it may be worth—and Patron Virgin,\\
let it outlast at least one generation!"''
-->-- ''Catullus 85'' (translation by Peter Green)

* VitriolicBestBuds: ''16'' reveals this side of his relationship with Furius and Aurelius, although it's probably all in good fun. Most of his "Furius and Aurelius cycle" contains insults and invectives towards his friends, though ''16'', where he basically [[DisproportionateRetribution threatens them with homosexual rape]] [[ClusterFBomb in the filthiest Latin possible]] over CreativeDifferences, ''does'' stand out. On the other hand, the lines "pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo"

let it outlast at least one generation!."''

let it outlast at least one generation!''."''

* ClusterFBomb: Most (in)famously ''[[Literature/CatulliCarmen16 Catullus 16]]'', which is widely considered one of the most obscene and offensive things ever written in Latin. The title alone roughly translates to "I will sodomize you and then facefuck you."
* DueToTheDead: ''Cattulus 101'' records his journey from Rome to Anatolia to make sacrifices at his brother's grave. The description of how he feels at the tomb are heart-wrenching.
%%* {{Gorn}}: ''Catullus 16''. Also, ''63''.
%%* HoYay: So, so much; bisexuality was considered usual for an upper-class Romans and it shows.

* TheMasochismTango: Poem 85 which describes Catullus' love/hate relationship with (presumably) Lesbia.
* RealMenWearPink: The reason he wrote poem 16 was to prove that writing about kisses didn't make him any less of a man, and he chose to show it with filthy expressions.

* SophisticatedAsHell: A master of this. Catullus's love poems are beautiful, describing kisses and lovemaking in carefully crafted wordplay and poetry. And then you flip to Catullus 16 where the first line is "one of the filthiest expressions ever written in Latin"

* VitriolicBestBuds: ''16'' reveals this side of his relationship with Furius and Aurelius, although it's probably all in good fun. In fact, most of his "Furius and Aurelius cycle" contains insults and invectives towards his friends, though ''16'', where he basically [[DisproportionateRetribution threatens them with homosexual rape]] [[ClusterFBomb in the filthiest Latin possible]] over CreativeDifferences, ''does'' stand out.

''I hate and love. You wonder, perhaps, why I'd do that?\\

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet who lived during the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic Roman Republic]]. His poetry moved away from the [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece ancient Greek]] epics about gods and heroes to something closer to everyday life. His poetry has been and still is greatly admired thoughout the ages and influenced poets such as Creator/{{Ovid}}, Creator/{{Virgil}} and Creator/ChristopherMarlowe. Unfortunately, his most famous poem nowadays is [[Literature/CatulliCarmen16 ''Catullus 16'']], which has been censored for centuries because of its... [[ClusterFBomb colourful]] language.

* BelligerentSexualTension: Catullus often moves swiftly from praising his beloved's best features to calling her a whore for her infidelity, and back again.
* BookEnds: The well known poem 16 begins and ends with the same sentence: "Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo".

* RomanAClef: Lesbia, the heroine of his romantic poems, is widely believed by the modern scholars to be a pseudonym for [[ReallyGetsAround rather infamous matron]] Clodia Pulchra Tertia (a "heroine" of Creator/{{Cicero}}'s probably most famous speech, "Pro Celio"), whom Catullus probably had an affair with.

-->''I hate and I love. Perhaps you ask why I do this?\\
I do not know, but I feel it happen and I am torn apart.''

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet who lived during the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic Roman Republic]]. His poetry moved away from the [[UsefulNotes/AncientGreece ancient Greek]] epics about gods and heroes to something closer to everyday life. His poetry has been and still is greatly admired thoughout the ages and influenced poets such as Creator/{{Ovid}}, Creator/{{Virgil}} and Creator/ChristopherMarlowe. Unfortunately, his most famous poem nowadays is ''Catullus 16'', which has been censored for centuries because of its... [[ClusterFBomb colourful]] language.

* ClusterFBomb: Most (in)famously ''Catullus 16'', which is widely considered one of the most obscene and offensive things ever written in Latin. The title alone roughly translates to "I will sodomize you and then facefuck you."

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet who lived during the [[UsefulNotes/TheRomanRepublic Roman Republic]]. His poetry moved away from the [[AncientGreece ancient Greek]] epics about gods and heroes to something closer to everyday life. His poetry has been and still is greatly admired thoughout the ages and influenced poets such as Creator/{{Ovid}}, Creator/{{Virgil}} and Creator/ChristopherMarlowe. Unfortunately, his most famous poem nowadays is ''Catullus 16'', which has been censored for centuries because of its... [[ClusterFBomb colourful]] language.

* {{Tsundere}}: Poem 85 ("Odi et amo" or I hate you and I love you) neatly distills the essence of this trope into two lines.

%%* AltumVidetur: Except in ''Greek'', with poem 63, as well as others.

%%* ClusterFBomb: Most (in)famously ''Catullus 16'', which is widely considered one of the most obscene and offensive things ever written in Latin.

* DueToTheDead: ''Cattalus 101'' records his journey from Rome to Anatolia to make sacrifices at his brother's grave. The description of how he feels at the tomb are heart-wrenching.

* DueToTheDead: One surviving work records his journey from Rome to Anatolia to make sacrifices at his brother's grave. The description of how he feels at the tomb are heart-wrenching.