(1)
Catullus says about Quintia that she is "scarcely venereous" and that he basically disagrees with others who think of Quintia as "stunning". Further, he describes Lesbia as the one that fits the "Stunning" definition, having a total beauty. Catullus here is saying that a woman to be stunning, must not just be tall and have a pretty skin, but have more qualities. It seems from his words that he is seeking a women be perfect in all of her features. He is countering the traditional thinking at the time that a women who is tall and have a fair complexion is considered as beautiful. He is basically raising the the standard for women to be considered "Stunning".
(2)
Poem 27:
Catullus here basically talks about how he loves pure wine and none of it being watered down. This is shown in the poem when he calls on the servant to pour him the bitter wine and when he wishes for the water to get away from him and go to the conservatives who are not fond of getting drunk. Catullus also mentions how he likes to party and get drunk by referencing the "party-poopers" who might be interested in a weaker wine that is watered-down. This poem is not at all conservative. The negative reference to the party-poopers and his love for a bitter wine that is not watered-down are examples of how liberal his poems can be.
Poem 80:
The main theme of this poem revolves around oral sex. Catullus writes this poem as a conversation that he is having with a woman named Gellius and he asks her questions about rumors that say that she commits oral sex on men. He attributes the whiteness of her lips in the morning, as an effect of her committing of this act on men. The fact that Catullus was able to write such a poem at those times is very surprising to me. If he wrote such a poem today, I don't think he would get a lot of admiration for it; rather he would probably be condemned by a number of conservative media personalities and be known for his vulgar poems even though he writes other poems considered as proper.
Poem 83:
Catullus here talks about his lover Lesbia, who is obviously married to another man. It appears from the poem that Lesbia and Catullus have been separated and that Lesbia is now with another man. Catullus says that even though Lesbia talks bad about him in front of her man, she is still in love with him and that she is unable to forget about him. This can apply in modern times as we go through bad breakups or uneven love between couples that resulted in early breakups. What results is one slandering another in their social circles.
(3)
My definition of romantic love can be summed up with one word for our times - Tolerance. I think if two people are able to tolerate one another after a few weeks, months or years of staying together then there is romance. These days, as women are more independent, and both sexes dealing with so many social, financial and other issues, it gets very difficult to deal with the baggage that comes with a person. So, relationships often begin to fade when we learn more about the other person. So, it takes a lot of love of that person to be able to ignore her/his baggage and choose to be with her/him.
Catullus and Sappho
Catullus:
86
Many find Quintia stunning. I find her attractive:
Tall, “regal,” fair in complexion—these points are granted.
But stunning? No, I deny it: the woman is scarcely venerious,
There’s no spice at all in the length of her body!
Now Lesbia is stunning, for Lesbia’s beauty is total:
And by that sum all other women are diminished.
39
Egnatius, because he has bright white teeth,always smiles: If someone comes to the defendant'sbench, when the speaker arouses weeping,he grins; If there is weeping at the funeral pyre ofa dutiful son, when the bereaved mother laments her only son,he grins. Whatever it is, wherever he is,whatever he is doing, he grins: he has this disease,neither elegant, as I think, nor refined.Therefore I must warn you, my good Egnatius.If you were a city man or a Sabine or a Tiburnanor a thrifty Umbrian or a fat Etruscanor a swarthy or toothy Lanuvian ora Transpadane, to touch on my own people as well,or anyone you like who cleans his teeth with clean water,I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.Now you are a Celtiberian: in the land of Celtiberia,whatever each man has urinated, with this he is accustomedin the morning to rub his teeth and gums until they are red,so that the more polished those teeth of yours are,the more urine they proclaim you to have drunk.
70
My woman says there is no one whom she’d rather marry
Than me, not even Jupiter, if he came courting.
That’s what she says—but what a woman says to a passionate lover
Ought to be scribbled on wind, on running water.
94
Mentula is an adulterer. Why certainly he is. How could he be anythingelse with a name such as his. It is as natural as for a pot to gather vegetables.
Excerpts from Sappho
‘Some say horsemen, some say warriors’
Some say horsemen, some say warriors,
Some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
Vision in this dark world, but I say it’s
What you love.
It’s easy to make this clear to everyone,
Since Helen, she who outshone
All others in beauty, left
A fine husband,
And headed for Troy
Without a thought for
Her daughter, her dear parents…
Led astray….
And I recall Anaktoria, whose sweet step
Or that flicker of light on her face,
I’d rather see than Lydian chariots
Or the armed ranks of the hoplites.
‘Stand up and look at me, face to face’
Stand up and look at me, face to face
My friend,
Unloose the beauty of your eyes.....
‘Love shook my heart’
Love shook my heart,
Like the wind on the mountain
Troubling the oak-trees.
‘He’s equal with the Gods, that man’
He’s equal with the Gods, that man
Who sits across from you,
Face to face, close enough, to sip
Your voice’s sweetness,
And what excites my mind,
Your laughter, glittering. So,
When I see you, for a moment,
My voice goes,
My tongue freezes. Fire,
Delicate fire, in the flesh.
Blind, stunned, the sound
Of thunder, in my ears.
Shivering with sweat, cold
Tremors over the skin,
I turn the colour of dead grass,
And I’m an inch from dying.
86
Many find Quintia stunning. I find her attractive:
Tall, “regal,” fair in complexion—these points are granted.
But stunning? No, I deny it: the woman is scarcely venerious,
There’s no spice at all in the length of her body!
Now Lesbia is stunning, for Lesbia’s beauty is total:
And by that sum all other women are diminished.
39
Egnatius, because he has bright white teeth,always smiles: If someone comes to the defendant'sbench, when the speaker arouses weeping,he grins; If there is weeping at the funeral pyre ofa dutiful son, when the bereaved mother laments her only son,he grins. Whatever it is, wherever he is,whatever he is doing, he grins: he has this disease,neither elegant, as I think, nor refined.Therefore I must warn you, my good Egnatius.If you were a city man or a Sabine or a Tiburnanor a thrifty Umbrian or a fat Etruscanor a swarthy or toothy Lanuvian ora Transpadane, to touch on my own people as well,or anyone you like who cleans his teeth with clean water,I still should not want you to smile on all occasions:for nothing is more silly than a silly smile.Now you are a Celtiberian: in the land of Celtiberia,whatever each man has urinated, with this he is accustomedin the morning to rub his teeth and gums until they are red,so that the more polished those teeth of yours are,the more urine they proclaim you to have drunk.
70
My woman says there is no one whom she’d rather marry
Than me, not even Jupiter, if he came courting.
That’s what she says—but what a woman says to a passionate lover
Ought to be scribbled on wind, on running water.
94
Mentula is an adulterer. Why certainly he is. How could he be anythingelse with a name such as his. It is as natural as for a pot to gather vegetables.
Excerpts from Sappho
‘Some say horsemen, some say warriors’
Some say horsemen, some say warriors,
Some say a fleet of ships is the loveliest
Vision in this dark world, but I say it’s
What you love.
It’s easy to make this clear to everyone,
Since Helen, she who outshone
All others in beauty, left
A fine husband,
And headed for Troy
Without a thought for
Her daughter, her dear parents…
Led astray….
And I recall Anaktoria, whose sweet step
Or that flicker of light on her face,
I’d rather see than Lydian chariots
Or the armed ranks of the hoplites.
‘Stand up and look at me, face to face’
Stand up and look at me, face to face
My friend,
Unloose the beauty of your eyes.....
‘Love shook my heart’
Love shook my heart,
Like the wind on the mountain
Troubling the oak-trees.
‘He’s equal with the Gods, that man’
He’s equal with the Gods, that man
Who sits across from you,
Face to face, close enough, to sip
Your voice’s sweetness,
And what excites my mind,
Your laughter, glittering. So,
When I see you, for a moment,
My voice goes,
My tongue freezes. Fire,
Delicate fire, in the flesh.
Blind, stunned, the sound
Of thunder, in my ears.
Shivering with sweat, cold
Tremors over the skin,
I turn the colour of dead grass,
And I’m an inch from dying.
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2 comments:
Actually about poem # 80 I thought Gellius was a man.Homosexuality was very common in that era. But maybe I am wrong. Maybe he is just writing about another prostitute...Hmmm..Gellius seems a male's name..I am going to investigate further and will let you know...
This poem demonstrates how Gellius has a perverse sexual appetite and doesn't realize the effects it has on others. There is no self awareness. Gellius' teeth are as "white as winter snow," which exemplifies how much oral sex Gellius performs.
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