Catullus: One Of The First Great Roman Poets

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Maureen Murray Hist 306 April 18, 2011 Catullus: One of the first great Roman poets Of all the influential poets of the Ancient Rome, Catullus changed the way poetry was thought of and written. He brought the quality of Hellenistic poems to Rome and gave the writing style and quality a breath of fresh air. Of course, at the time he had his critics, but now he is considered one of the best known poets of ancient Rome. This is due in part because of his attitude about writing, which was that of poetry and the written word were better than reality. Catullus was born in 84 BC in Verona, Italy. His family had some importance in Verona society, with his father being an occasional acquaintance of Julius Caesar. For his family standing, he had the average schooling that available to him, which was comparable to other poets of that time and their schooling. He was sent to Rome to finish schooling, and that is where he met all of his contemporaries. His family and the education that he relieved were preparing him for public life or political office. However, that is not what he intended to do with his life. He only wrote poems for 2 years, but out of those two years, he wrote 116 poems. They all became part of a collection, although the collection is not cohesive, it still sheds light on Italian life, they way a love affair might have been conducted, and how people interacted with each other. The poems all interact with each other and flow together, and it is difficult to separate them into individual poems. The poems that he wrote all contain similar styles, which makes sense since they were all written within short time period and his style would not have changed much. The poems also share themes and ideas, which is different from other poets of this time. Despite the poems having similar themes and styles, Catullus failed to form a single poetic voice, and to

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