The Cambridge Companion to Catullus (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

"Catullus is one of the most popular poets to survive from classical antiquity. Above all others he seems to speak to modern readers with a modern voice. The distinguished contributors to this Companion discuss the principal subjects which drew Catullus' affection and disgust, above all his famous affair with the woman he calls 'Lesbia', and situate him in the social, historical and intellectual context of firstcentury BC Rome. One of the so-called 'new poets', Catullus had a profound effect on subsequent Latin poetry, and this is explored especially for the Augustan age and the late first century AD. A significant part of the volume is concerned with Catullus' survival into the modern world. There are discussions both of the manuscript tradition and of the interpretative scholarship which has been devoted to his poetry, as well as his reception by renaissance and later poets. Students in particular will appreciate this book"-- Provided by publisher FM 1 Contents 5 Notes on Contributors 7 Preface 11 Introduction 13 Situating Catullus 19 Literary Liaisons 38 Catullan Intertextuality 59 Gender and Sexuality 82 Catullan Themes 101 Language and Style 128 Catullus and Metre 155 Catulli Carmina 179 Catullus and Augustan Poetry 231 Rewriting Catullus in the Flavian Age 254 The Manuscripts and Transmission of the Text 275 Appendix 299 Editions and Commentaries 303 Catullus in the Renaissance 330 Catullus and Poetry in English since 1750 355 Abbreviations and Bibliography 375 Index Locorum 411 General Index 413 Aimed not only at a broad readership of classical scholars and students but also at all those interested in one of the most loved and influential poets of ancient Rome. Discusses Catullus' poetry, his late-republican background, and his scholarly and literary reception.