Gaius Valerius Catullus

Introduction

According to Charlotte Ahlin in her article: How Ancient Writer Gaius Valerius Catullus Used His Poems To Subtweet His Enemies,"Catullus was a poet in Ancient Rome, somewhere between 84 and 54 BCE. He was part of the "new wave" of poetry at the time, because he wasn't into retelling myths in the epic tradition. Instead, he wrote poems about his personal life (you had better believe that if Catullus was alive today, he'd be killing the Instagram poetry game).

The poems of Catullus can be roughly grouped into four categories: poems to and about his friends, poems offering condolences for loss, poems about his wild and passionate sex life, and "invectives," which were obscene take down poems focused on dragging all of Catullus's frenemies".

When it comes down to it, Catullus wrote about his relationships and how they affected his life and well-being.To that end, in groups of four, we will be exploring the life of Catullus in and the following poems: Poem 9, Poem 77, Poem 5, and Poem 8 using the concepts of friendship and relationships set out by Cicero in the de Amicitia.

Task

To successfully complete this web-quest each group member must complete:

Please complete a googledoc to gather all of the information required below.

  • Research the life of Catullus and create a googledoc to gather your information.
  • Review and list the qualities of friends and friendship from de Amicitia.
  • Read Poem 9, Poem 77, Poem 5, and Poem 8.
  • Discuss the de Amicitia and Catullus poems.
  • Using a choice board, complete a project.
Process

In order to complete the web-quest:

Use the following resources to research the life of Catullus and complete the notes page:

https://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/rhodese/The-Life-of-Catullus

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/gaius-valerius-catullus

Answer the following questions below:

I. Roman Authors WebQuest Worksheet

 

During your Internet search, fill in the following information.  Each person in the group is responsible for one section of information.  You will compile everything into a google document later.

 

  1. Birth and Early Life
    1. Full name
    2. Date and place of his birth
    3. Family background
    4. Details of childhood

 

  1. Social Life and Work History/Career
    1. Who were his friends/enemies?
    2. Was he well known around town?
    3. Jobs/Profession
    4. Was he involved in the military or politics?

 

  1. Political/Historical Background of Time Period
    1. Who was in power?
    2. What was happening in Rome?
    3. Who were some strong public figures of that time?

 

  1. Written Works and Death
    1. For what works of literature is your author well known?
    2. Why?
    3. Date and place of death
    4. How/why did he die?
    5. Impact on modern society

 

II. Re-read the English of the de Amicitia.

You only need to read number 6 and number 27 in the text.

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/cicero-friendship.asp

Each person in the group is responsible for one question.

1. What is friendship?

    1. What are its characteristics?

 

2. What does the poet Ennius say about friendship?

     1. Of what value is friendship in good times and bad times?

 

3. What are the specific advantages of friendship?

     1. What way does friendship enhance success? In what way does it reduce the burden of adversity?

 

4. According to Laelius, for what characteristic must we search?

     1. What happens if those characteristics are taken away?

 

III. Read the following Catullus poems:

Poem 9

Notes are located in Ecce Romani III p. 123.

Verani, omnibus e meis amicis
antistans mihi milibus trecentis,
venistine domum ad tuos penates
fratresque unanimos anumque matrem?
venisti. o mihi nuntii beati!
visam te incolumem audiamque Hiberum
narrantem loca, facta nationes,
ut mos est tuus, applicansque collum
iucundum os oculosque suaviabor.
o quantum est hominum beatiorum,
quid me laetius est beatiusve?

 

Poem 77

Notes are located in Ecce Romani III p. 123.

Rufe mihi frustra ac nequiquam credite amice
     (frustra? immo magno cum pretio atque malo),
sicine subrepsti mi, atque intestina perurens
     ei misero eripuisti omnia nostra bona?
eripuisti, heu heu nostrae crudele venenum
     vitae, heu heu nostrae pestis amicitiae.

 

Poem 5

Notes are located in Ecce Romani III p. 111.

Vivamus mea Lesbia, atque amemus,
rumoresque senum severiorum
omnes unius aestimemus assis!
soles occidere et redire possunt:
nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux,
nox est perpetua una dormienda.
da mi basia mille, deinde centum,
dein mille altera, dein secunda centum,
deinde usque altera mille, deinde centum.
dein, cum milia multa fecerimus,
conturbabimus illa, ne sciamus,
aut ne quis malus invidere possit,
cum tantum sciat esse basiorum.

 

Poem 8

Notes are located in Ecce Romani III p. 117.

Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod vides perisse perditum ducas.
fulsere quondam candidi tibi soles,
cum ventitabas quo puella ducebat
amata nobis quantum amabitur nulla.
ibi illa multa cum iocosa fiebant,
quae tu volebas nec puella nolebat,
fulsere vere candidi tibi soles.
nunc iam illa non vult: tu quoque impotens noli,
nec quae fugit sectare, nec miser vive,
sed obstinata mente perfer, obdura.
vale puella, iam Catullus obdurat,
nec te requiret nec rogabit invitam.
at tu dolebis, cum rogaberis nulla.
scelesta, vae te, quae tibi manet vita?
quis nunc te adibit? cui videberis bella?
quem nunc amabis? cuius esse diceris?
quem basiabis? cui labella mordebis?
at tu, Catulle, destinatus obdura.

IV. Complete the chart with examples from the poems that relate to the characteristics of friendship in the de Amicitia.

 

Evaluation

Once your group has submitted:

  • background research on the poet
  •  questions from de Amicitia
  •  individual translations of the poems,  completed chart of the characteristics of friendship and the poems

Please pick up a choice board. You will complete two projects from a choice board. These projects are to be completed individually.