Why Catullus ' Carmina Still Hold a Powerful Message Cameron King, Parliamentarian
Love, Lyrics, and Legacy
Why Catullus ' Carmina Still Hold a Powerful Message Cameron King, Parliamentarian
When war and turbulence are having their bouts at the death of a Republic, it’ s in the humanity of primal emotions that people find solace. During the death of the Roman Republic and subsequent birth of an empire, Gaius Valerius Catullus found solace in his infatuation and desire for a woman under the pseudonym Lesbia, about whom he wrote roughly twenty-five poems, out of the one hundred and sixteen poems that were contained in his collection, Carmina. It is said that Catullus’ particular style of poetry, which invited the writer and reader to connect through personal emotion and feelings, championed“ lyric poetry” for individuals such as Horace and Vergil to utilize in the future. As author James Chang writes,“ Catullus captures the feelings of being young. His poetry pulsates with emotion from every end of the human experience.” For many, Catullus’ raw and real-life storytelling of love, depression, joyousness, and deceit connects on different levels, as many of our first encounters with such emotions are happening in this current stage of life. Catullus’ usage of binary oppositions within emotions, as expressed in Carmina 85,“ odi et amo,” I hate and I love, mirrors the stark changes between human emotions and reflects the way humans have been trained to think, in polarization to others. While Vergil and Pliny will certainly be remembered, Catullus’ short, descriptive masterpieces will certainly speak volumes about the human experience, and all of his writings will continue to make me eager to turn to the next page.
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