Catullus Poetry

Catullus poetry is very different from the previous Sappho poetry we had read in class earlier. While Sappho poetry tended to be more reserved and proper, relying heavily on metaphors and similies to carry a message across, Catullus tended to be more direct and honest in his summations of various topics. He often used vulgar language and crude imagery to blast opponents in his writings. Another difference is that Catullus used poetry to attack a number of enemies and lambast friends who had appearently wronged him in some manner. I was not familiar with this sort of writing, especially one that had existed so long ago. The erotic poems obviously owe a debt to Sappho's writing, as they seem to have a fair amount in common with her while still retaining their own crude style and formation. Overall, Catullus poetry is an interesting look at a time when this sort of liberal writing was allowed, and clearly censorship had not developed in order to curtail the writer's ambitions.

Catallus

Catallus's poetry was definitely a contrast from Sappho's poetry. It was more direct and to the point. Modern poetry also has these contrasts and there is no specific style that is common in today's poetry, just like ancient poetry apparently. Catallus has a direct style where you know exactly what he means, something I appreciate in literature. Whats the point in taking the time to make a point if you can't get the point across to your readers? However its hard to compare the two poets because most of Sappo's poems were in fragments. I think that he is making fun of sappho when he takes her poems word for word, and criticizing her indirect confusing style.

William Chiu

The poems of Catullus are very different from the content we have studied in the openness and informality of the content and language. He writes as he wishes which at the time in roman society was completely out of the normal. one poem which I found his openness particularly surprising would be poem number 21. In this crude poem he makes an attempt to dissuade Aurelius from trying to have sex with all of his friends and directs him to particularly avoid one male whom Catullus appears to favor. His blunt words are furthered by a threat towards Aurelius that he will sodomize him if he does not refrain from his lustful acts. i was quite taken aback from the language and content here. Despite the uncomfortable content of a few poems. i admire the audacity of this author. He writes about the subjects and topic which concern his life whether it be his lust, anger or friendships.

Catullus Poetry

This week in class we read Catullus’ poetry. His poetry is full of both strong and outrageous emotions, but is full of humor as well. We read a lot of poems that were regarding Lesbia, Catullus’ love, but all of his poetry is not about her. His poetry lyrics are about both love and desire, which makes it similar to Sappho poetry, but I found more Catullus poetry to be obscene, and have some anger in it, whereas I found much of Sappho poetry somewhat perverted. Much of his poetry is critical, and its interesting that he likes to makes fun of people and embarrass them. The poetry of Catullus, (and Sappho) is different from most poetry I’ve read before. It was interesting to read a bunch of poems that were all somewhat related because the connections made it like a story.

Catullus Poems

The Catullus poems we read in class are basically about his love, desire, and passion for Lesbia. He thinks of Lesbia as the most beautiful woman alive and would do pretty much anything to get her. He is similar to Sappho in writing because they both write about love. They both openly talk about sexuality even though Catullus may tend to sound perverted sometimes. This might be due to the fact that he respected Sappho and admired her work. He also tended to sound homosexual in some of the poems.
Although he loves Lesbia, his feelings for her changes through out the poems from tender love poems to sadness, dissapiontment and bitter sarcasm.
I loved reading both Catullus and Sappho because they are both different from other literary pieces i have read.

Willie Ho

After reading some of Catullus poetry, I feel that his poetry is very clever and somewhat satirical. He likes to poke fun and harass people for their misdoings, whether it be great or small. This is much like the work of talk show hosts, bloggers, and comedians today. It can definitely be comparable to these people because he names out well-known, or rather people who were well-known by his readers at the time he issued his work.

He criticizes, embarrasses, and makes fun of many things concerning these "celebrities" such as their habits or hobbies. Catullus must have had many enemies during his time and many readers/fans as well. If he is supplying people with this sort of amusement to read, then he is likely to have an equal amount of people who hate him as well.

Catallus

Similar to Sappho, Catallus’ poems speak openly about sexuality. Some of his lyrics come across as very perverted and appalling almost when you figure out what he is trying to convey. He tends to include the names of individuals in his poems; whether they are enemies or good friends. The poems we’ve discussed in class seem to either praise his friends or highly humiliate his enemies.