19 pages • 38 minutes read
Gaius Valerius CatullusCatullus 51
Fiction | Poem | Adult | BCEA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context
“Catullus 51” is extremely similar to a work now called “Fragment 31” by Greek poet Sappho. Sappho is regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was celebrated by Catullus and his circle of Neoteric poets. “Catullus 51” could be interpreted as an interpretation or translation of Sappho’s original poem. Both poems employ the Sapphic Stanza (See: Literary Devices), for instance, and the content of the first three stanzas is nearly identical in both works.
The goal of the Roman translator, however, was much different than that of modern translators. The Romans saw translation as an opportunity to enhance the poem. Ancient Roman translators tended to exaggerate or hyperbolize aspects of poems they translate. Catullus demonstrates this tendency by making Sappho’s man “better than gods” (Line 2) instead of merely their equal. Catullus also attempts to remove ambiguities, naming Sappho’s ambiguous love object “Lesbia” (Line 7).
The translator tries not only to demonstrate their superior poetic abilities, but to enhance their own language’s literature through the inclusion of the translated work. This cultural assimilation requires more than a literal translation of the poem’s words: The translator must place the work within a Roman context. Catullus achieves this secondary goal in his altered fourth stanza. Catullus makes the work contemporary by including himself as the presumed speaker. He also appeals to the efficient and structured life of contemporary Romans through his repeated attacks on “Free time” (Lines 13, 14, 15).
Philosophical Context
Though in the last stanza Catullus attacks “Free time” (Line 13) as unbecoming of a Roman, he was hardly a stranger to leisure. Catullus and the other poets involved in the Neoteric movement followed the teachings of Epicurus—founder of Epicureanism.
Epicureanism was one of the dominant philosophical ideologies in late ancient Greece and the Roman Republic. Epicurus’s teachings are hedonistic insofar as they argue that pleasure is the most important goal of human activity. However, unlike many other hedonistic philosophies, Epicurus believed that pleasure was best achieved through freedom and ease. Instead of engaging in pleasurable actions that can often lead to undesirable side effects, Epicureans seek freedom from fears and bodily pains. The serenity achieved through this freedom is called ataraxia by the ancient Greeks and otium by the ancient Romans.
The majority of ancient Epicureans tried to live a simple, pain-free life. The principles of Epicureanism often conflicted with material and political ambition. Most of Epicurus’s followers, including Catullus and the Neoterics, withdrew from the frustrations of political and high social life. This withdrawal from the public sphere is reflected in the Neoterics’ turn from nationalistic literary forms like the epic poem.
In this context, “Catullus 51” is indicative of Catullus’s troubled relationship with his own Epicureanism. The love and desire he feels for “Lesbia” (Line 7) is thwarted at every turn, and only brings him pain and emotional turmoil an Epicurean life attempts to avoid. Despite this apparent validation of his philosophical leanings, Catullus is unable to detach himself from these negative emotions. Roman Epicureans also used the word otium to refer to the bliss achieved by a pain-free life (See: Symbols & Motifs).
