Often, when us Millenials think about the literature from ages long gone, and the people who wrote those works, we often fall into the trap of visualizing the “old time” writers as being a bunch of prudes, of being interested in philosophy and religion and being unable to link fun, sex, and ribald humour into their poems and novels and plays. However, a quick glance backwards into history will unveil that this notion about past writers is so very incorrect that, in some cases, our own generation with our modern and liberal outlook on life is the one that ends up appearing to be truly prudish, uptight and conservative. A good “old timey” writer who proves this is Catullus (full name: Gaius Valerius Catullus), a Roman poet who probably lived around 84 – 54 BC.
Catullus was a bit of a rebel. He stepped away from the norm and fell into a group of Roman poets known as the “neoterics.” These were poets who wrote about personal things, rather than about great Roman history or the deeds of the great Roman heroes. Their poetry tended to be more playful, to focus on things that might be considered trivial when compared to the tradition of Homeric poems which were epic, serious and grand in scale. Catullus’ poetry covered various themes, many of which the young people of today might find shockingly entertaining, thoughtful and well-written. Is it scandalous to say that Catullus’ poetry reminds me of the modern day lines that sneak out of our fingers when we post on Facebook and Twitter? Is it a literary offence to compare the man’s well-thought out literature to people’s daily banter on social media? Perhaps in form, structure, diction and delivery, the two are very different from each other. But when it comes to purpose, a modern day teenager with an internet connection seems to be very similar to this high-class Roman poet who lived centuries ago.
For example, Catullus was often in love, and had a relationship, with a married woman referred to as Lesbia. Their relationship seems to have been a complicated one, according to Catullus’ poetry, as Lesbia might have been unfaithful to him on several occasions. Often the poems were romantic, as seen in Carmen 7 (Poem 7, trans. Daniel San) when he writes: “You ask, my Lesbia, how many of your kisses / are enough and more than enough for me” and then providing the answer by going on to say, “As big a number as the Libyan grains of sand…” and “Or as many stars that see the affairs of men, / when the night is silent.” While most of us may be incapable of expressing love in such a beautiful fashion, there is no doubt that we share Catullus’ affectation for needing to express his love in words, even if our own pre-Valentine’s day status updates are more filled with subtle hints and the pining of “young people” instead of well-articulated comparisons to stars and the like.
Despite the number of love poems Catullus wrote to Lesbia, he also wrote a few that sought to disparage her. Yes, we also often give in to the dark side of ourselves and all of us, at some point, has written something hurtful about someone on social media. But truly, most of us cannot really claim to be able to bring, nor want to bring, the pain the way Catullus does in his poems. Take note, for example, of when he writes of a former lover in “Carmen 11” (trans. Bryn Stromberg): “Let her live and flourish with her adulterers / whom having embraced three hundred of them at the same time, she owns and keeps them, / truly loving none of them, but repeatedly breaking the groins / of all of them…” This is not only an invective against someone he is trying to hurt, but it is also clearly an example of Roman slut-shaming, something that, unfortunately, continues to this day.
Catullus, like a never ending newsfeed on a Facebook page, keeps going on and on, writing about everything from politicians to catamites, his friends and his lover’s pet bird. He has many other poems that are sure to be enjoyed by the young people today, as much as they are enjoyed by academics. Despite the diverse topics (love, sex, politics, the nobility, his friends) he addresses, the constants that remain in all of his poems are his enduring wit, his way with words and his wicked, critical, poetic voice. Perhaps then, it would not be such a good idea to simply brush away those writers who operated in another era in world history. Give them a chance and you might just find that we have more in common with them than you think.
