Table of Contents

This series will provide concise introductions to classical culture in the broadest sense. Written by the most distinguished scholars in the field, these books survey key authors, periods and topics for students and scholars alike.

This paperback edition first published 2012

© 2012 Julia Haig Gaisser

Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd (hardback, 2009)

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gaisser, Julia Haig.

 Catullus / Julia Haig Gaisser.

p. cm. — (Blackwell introductions to the classical world)

 Includes bibliographical references and index.

 ISBN 978-1-4051-1889-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-118-25535-3 (pbk. : alk. paper). Catullus, Gaius Valerius—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Elegiac poetry, Latin—History and criticism. 3. Love poetry, Latin—History and criticism. I. Title.

 PA6276.G348 2009

 8742.01–dc22

2008046987

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-4443-1046-7 (epdf)

ISBN 978-1-118-29343-0 (epub)

ISBN 978-1-118-29337-9 (mobi)

For T.K.G.

1 Ariadne in Pompeian Wall Paintings

This book is for people who like poetry—in any language. It is for those who like thinking about words and what happens when they are put together, how they sound, how they resonate both inside a poem and with other poems they have read. I hope that there will be something new in it for those who already know Catullus well, but I am thinking mostly of readers whose acquaintance is not so deep, or perhaps not deep at all. That would include students at every level, but especially undergraduates and graduate students, as well as faculty members coming to Catullus from fields like English or comparative literature, or classicists not specializing in Roman poetry. I am also thinking of non-academics—perhaps people who read Catullus once and liked him, or those who never read a word of Latin, but would like to include him in their poetic universe.