Catullus Summary

Biography EssayThe poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus has had two lives. In Rome, Catullus and his generation, the "new poets," played an essential role in the development of Augustan poetry. They help... Read more

The poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus has had two lives. In Rome, Catullus and his generation, the "new poets," played an essential role in the development of Augustan poetry. They helped to create th... Read more

In the following chapters from his Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius, Davies offers a discursive reading of Catullus's most notable poems among the poet's epithalamia and alexandrines. ... Read more

Below, Small examines Catullus's most ambitious work, "Poem 64," and draws critical conclusions about the poet and his view of the role of poetry as a vehicle of self-expression, ... Read more

In the excerpt below, Lee examines Catullus's epigrams, citing the epigrammatist Martial for clarification and comparison. Catullus the Epigrammatist Because he writes short and intense poem... Read more

In the essay below, Wheeler demonstrates that Catullus was a pioneer and signal influence in the genre of the classical elegy. In elegy the Romans achieved one of their greatest literary successes.... Read more

Below, Quinn examines the features of what he terms "the Catullan movement" in classical Roman literature, focusing upon the poetry of youth and reaction, meter and structure, and the la... Read more

In the following essay, Quinn explores Catullus's poems that focus upon political and social commentary: those poems which, in the main, "establish a norm (if one can speak of a norm in ... Read more

In the essay below, Raphael and McLeish provide a portrait in miniature of Catullus's life and enduring accomplishment, piecing together a likely outline of the poet's life and that of L... Read more