Folks: Day 13! we now move into our next brief unit, on the major Roman lyric poets (“lyric” here meaning that broad modern term for “shorter poems”). Today we look at the three greatest: Catullus, Horace, and also we revisit Virgil. As on our schedule, our readings are as follows:

Catullus, selections (Knox 604-14); Horace, from Odes (Knox 614-35); Vergil, Eclogues 1 and 2 (handout); reread Theocritus Idylls 1 and 2 (Knox 547-59)

Knox’s headnotes will give you the minimum background needed for Catullus and Horace. Basically, Catullus (84-54 BCE) is remembered for being earthy and direct and oh-so-bitter when his love is denied and his heart is broken. He uses some variety of meters, but the real variety is in tone and content, from the angry and foul-mouthed, to sweetly tender, to sadly bereaved.

Horace (65-8 BCE) is somehow just alike, and yet the direct opposite of Catullus—incredibly refined and skillful, but just as human and insightful regarding the depths of the heart. He uses every Grecian meter he can, and artfully arranges his poems (“odes,” invoking the Greek, whereas we remember Catullus’s poems as simply carmen/carmina, the Latin word for “song[s]”).

And, we look again at Virgil, in his early pastoral poems, The Eclogues (handout, attached). Although Horace’s Odes are certainly a contender, there is probably no more carefully and beautifully designed set of poems than the Eclogues. This pastoral form and the ideal of nature it implies has been deeply influential in Western culture.

All three of our poets today are in the Hellenistic era—they are writing in Latin, but each is deeply influenced by Greek models of various kinds. To understand Virgil, in particular, who is so allusive, we need to review Theocritus, so do that as needed.

For the response of the day, spend about a third of your time on each poet. For Catullus and Horace, what is your favorite poem? what do you love or find annoying in these verses and/or translations? what do we learn about life and love here? how do these authors affect you?

Alternatively, if you like, for either Catullus or Horace or both, and as a model for a possible future short writing assignment, you could locate an alternative translation of any one poem. Insert both translations into your response, and compare and contrast the effects of using certain words vs. others, or breaking lines a certain way, etc. (NO NEED to attempt to correlate any of this with the original Latin!!!)

For Virgil, we need to ensure you’ve got a grasp on the basic vocabulary of the pastoral tradition, so the handout includes 10 fairly straightforward content, device, and interpretation questions. You can cut and past these in any way into your response to make things easier. Answering these questions will constitute your response on Virgil.

All other things being equal, our poets will each be worth 10 pts. apiece within your response, so budget accordingly! reply-all as always!

best,
Dr K