Editing Catullus (section)

==Poetry==
{{Main|Poetry of Catullus}}
{{See also|List of poems by Catullus}}
[[File:Catullus et in eum commentarius.tif|thumb|''Catullus et in eum commentarius'' (1554)]]
{{unreferenced section|date = July 2023}}

===Sources and organization===
Catullus's poems have been preserved in an [[anthology]] of 116 ''carmina'' (the actual number of poems may slightly vary in various editions), which can be divided into three parts according to their form: approximately sixty short poems in varying meters, called ''polymetra'', nine longer poems, and forty-eight [[epigram]]s in elegiac couplets. Each of these three parts – approximately 860 (or more), 1136, and 330  lines respectively – would fit onto a single scroll.<ref>Dettmer (1997), p. 2. A single scroll usually contained between 800 and 1100 verses.</ref>

There is no scholarly consensus on whether Catullus himself arranged the order of the poems. The longer poems differ from the ''polymetra'' and the epigrams not only in length but also in their subjects: several of them are based on the theme of marriage. The longest (64) of 408 lines, contains two myths (the abandonment of [[Ariadne]] and the marriage of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]]), one story included inside the other.

The ''polymetra'' and the epigrams can be divided into four major [[Theme (literature)|thematic]] groups (ignoring a rather large number of poems that elude such categorization):

* poems to and about his friends (e.g., an invitation like poem 13).
* [[erotic]] poems: some of them about his attraction for a boy named Juventius, but others about women, especially about one he calls "[[Lesbia]]" (which likely  served as a false name for the married woman [[Clodia (wife of Metellus)|Clodia]]. "Lesbia" served as a source of inspiration for many of his poems).
* [[invective]]s: often rude and sometimes downright [[Obscenity|obscene]] poems targeted at friends-turned-traitors (e.g., poem [[Catullus 16|16]]), other lovers of Lesbia, well-known poets, and politicians (e.g., [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Cicero]]).
* [[condolence]]s: some poems of Catullus are solemn in nature. [[Catullus 96|96]] comforts a friend in the death of a loved one; several others, most famously [[Catullus 101|101]], lament the death of his brother.

Above all other qualities, Catullus seems to have valued {{lang|la|venustas}}, or charm, in his acquaintances, a theme which he explores in a number of his poems.

===Intellectual influences===
[[File:John_Reinhard_Weguelin_Lesbia.jpg|thumb|upright|''Lesbia'', 1878 painting by [[John Reinhard Weguelin]] inspired by the poems of Catullus]]
Catullus's poetry was influenced by the innovative poetry of the [[Hellenistic Age]], and especially by [[Callimachus]] and the [[Alexandrian school]], which had propagated a new style of poetry that deliberately turned away from the classical [[epic poetry]] in the tradition of [[Homer]]. Cicero called these local innovators ''[[neoteroi]]'' ({{lang|grc|νεώτεροι}}) or "moderns" (in Latin ''[[Neoteric#Latin Neoterics|poetae novi]]'' or '[[Neoteric#Latin Neoterics|new poets]]'), in that they cast off the heroic model handed down from [[Ennius]] in order to strike new ground and ring a contemporary note. Catullus and Callimachus did not describe the feats of ancient [[hero]]es and gods (except perhaps in re-evaluating and predominantly artistic circumstances, e.g. poem 64), focusing instead on small-scale personal themes. Although these poems sometimes seem quite superficial and their subjects often are mere everyday concerns, they are accomplished works of art. Catullus described his work as ''expolitum'', or polished, to show that the language he used was very carefully and artistically composed.

Catullus was also an admirer of [[Sappho]], a female poet of the seventh century BC. [[Catullus 51]] partly translates, partly imitates, and transforms [[Sappho 31]].  Some hypothesize that 61 and 62 were perhaps inspired by [[Lost literary work|lost work]]s of Sappho but this is purely speculative. Both of the latter are ''[[Epithalamium|epithalamia]]'', a form of [[wikt:laudatory|laudatory]] or erotic wedding-poetry that Sappho was famous for. Catullus twice used a meter that Sappho was known for, called the [[Sapphic stanza]], in poems [[Catullus 11|11]] and 51, perhaps prompting his successor Horace's interest in the form.

Catullus, as was common to his era, was greatly influenced by stories from Greek and Roman myth. His longer poems—such as [[Catullus 63|63]], [[Catullus 64|64]], [[Catullus 65|65]], [[Catullus 66|66]], and [[Catullus 68|68]]—allude to mythology in various ways. Some stories he refers to are the wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]], the departure of the [[Argonauts]], [[Theseus]] and the Minotaur, [[Ariadne]]'s abandonment, [[Tereus]] and [[Procne]], as well as [[Protesilaus|Protesilaus and Laodamia]].

===Style===
Catullus wrote in many different meters including hendecasyllabic verse and elegiac couplets (common in love poetry). A great part of his poetry shows strong and occasionally wild emotions, especially in regard to [[Lesbia]] (e.g., poems [[Catullus 5|5]] and 7). His love poems are very emotional and ardent, and are relatable to this day. Catullus describes his Lesbia as having multiple suitors and often showing little affection towards him. He also demonstrates a great sense of humour such as in [[Catullus 13]].