Customer Reviews

Catullus (Phoenix Supplementary Volumes)

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Thomson's edition of Catullus finally weds a commentary to his twenty-odd year old critical text. For the scholar of neoteric poetry, Thomson's book is a must; undergraduates will find it too vast and too unconcerned with elementary matters (also with literary matters) but very helpful for bibliography on each poem (a role Quinn's text was growing a bit long in the tooth for). Graduate students are compelled to use this as their standard text. Thomson is at his best when unraveling the often diffuse manuscript tradition of this often-read, little-understood poet. For classicists with only a passing interest in Catullus and his work, Fordyce (supplemented by Quinn for the "obscene" poems) remains more than usable.

The Loeb Classical Library collects three poets of love together in one volume. First, Catullus is probably the most often studied poet of the group. The reading the poems and glancing across the page at the Latin original gives the reader a much stronger sense for how carefully crafted Catullus's verse is. The Loeb editon has been in circulation for about 90 years; however, it has recently been revised and reissued. Since Catullus was a little racy for the early 20th Century, many of his poems were translated into a very stilted form (or not translated at all). The new edition from Loeb corrects this and takes into account the 100 years of classical scholarship to produce a very authoratative and readable edition.

Second, Tibullus presents an interesting case, because few if any of his poems can directly be attributed to him. This in and of itself may not merit much attention -- particularly after reading the textual introduction which described just how torured a path classical texts have walked in coming down to us today. The poems about Sulpicia are the real interest here in that they may be written by her.

Finally, Tiberianus's Pervigilium Veneris attracts attention because it suggests the move away from classical poetry to Medieval forms.

The Loeb edition is well crafted with sewn binding and acid-free paper. These poets have survived 2000 years, and the Loeb edition is sure to be valued for generations.

Catullus and Tibullus relatively belong to the same epoch in the history of Latin Poetry; and they also derive their inspiration through the same source--from Erato the Muse of Love Poetry. What one will encounter, then, while reading their works, is what may be perhaps the finest manifestation of Roman Love Poetry that has been passed over to us through the ages. With the exception of Propertius or Ovid, Catullus and Tibullus have no rival when it comes to the art of love poetry; and one may argue that the former poets only surpass the later in their bulk of extant poems and in their depth of subject-matter. Also included in this volume, is the Vigil of Venus, a warm and colorful poem attributed to a certain Tiberianus, who belongs to much later time, likely during the reign of the Antonines. As the introduction points out, the Vigil of Venus contains the first piece of Romanticism to be found in Western Poetry. It is a poem of exceptional merit, and it is not unworthy of the majesty of Catullus and Tibullus. Taken as a whole, students of Latin Literature, and poets of our day, have much to learn and enjoy by reading these noble classics.

Gaius Valerius Catullus was a contemporary of Julius Caesar and was known for his provocative poetry. In addition to Catullus, this great little edition by Loeb's has all of Tibullus (a later poet under the reign of Augustus) as well all in one edition.

Although Catullus wrote many erotic or amorous poems to men (he was bi-sexual) and his lover Lesbia, many of his poems are actually invectives attacking some of his contemporaries such as Julius Caesar. One of his greatest invective works is the one against Egnatius which goes as follows:

"Egnatius, because he has white teeth, is eternally smiling. If people come to the prisoner's bench, when the counsel for the defense is making everyone cry, he smiles: if they are mourning at the funeral of a dear son, when the distrought mother is weeping for her only boy, he smiles: whatever it is, wherever he is, whatever he is doing, he smiles: it is a malady he has, neither an elegant one as I think, nor in good taste. So I must give you a bit of advice, my good Egnatius. If you were a Roman or a Sabine or Tiburtine or a plump Umbrian or a fat Etruscan, or a black and tusky Lanuvian, or a Transpadane (to touch my own people too), or anybody else who washes his teeth with clean water, I still should not like you to be always smiling; for there is nothing sillier than a silly laugh. As it is, you are a Celtiberian; now in the Celtiberian country everyone regularly brushes his teeth and ruddy gums in the morning with his piss; so that, the more highly polished your teeth are, the more urine they will prove to have passed your lips."

If this type of poetry appeals to you, then you will probably like most of Catullus' works as well as other ancient Roman poetry.

The Loeb library is unique in that its classical texts are printed in both the original Latin text and English side-by-side. The translations are quite good and were done by competent scholars of classics whose choice of language is accurate, clear, and modern. These hard bound volumes are small but their covers are durable: the paper is of good quality. Good companions to this text would be Loeb's editions of Ovid's works and those of Martial who lived later in the Empire.

This is a Catullus reader with all of his poems. It's a "loab" with the Latin on one side and English on the other. It should be in every Latin teacher's personal library. This copy arrived on time and in excellent condition.

"Let him tomorrow who has never loved,
and let him who has tomorrow love!"
This review relates to the volume -Catullus,
Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris-, Second Edition,
Loeb Classical Library # 6, ISBN: 0674990072.
The original translations of Catullus (by F.W.
Cornish), of Tibullus (by J. P. Postgate), and
of the -Pervigilium Veneris- (by J. M Mackail)
have now been updated for the better by G. P.
Goold (his first 2nd edition appeared in 1988 --
this reprint is dated 2000), and Goold's
Introductory explanations for the state of the
translations and the need for updates appear
before each section of works (entire volume,
Reviser's Note, Aug. 1987; Catullus, Reviser's
Preface 1987; Tibullus, Reviser's Preface, 1988;
-Pervigilium Veneris-, Reviser's Preface, 1984).
Catullus, perhaps the best known of the 3 sources
of work in this volume, is an extremely interesting,
if not fascinating person and/or character. He can
be rough and bawdy and cynical, and at other times
stricken, driven, haunted, and sympathetic. His
poems are satiric attacks using "gutter language"
and sexual accusations, name-calling (especially
relating to ... proclivities) --
but they are also songs of pain, frustration, despair,
self-criticism, and complaint. There are also
exceptionally moving poems that recite the feelings
of the family and of himself over the loss of his
brother. Many editions of Catullus use euphemistic
language to get around his direct rough talk, or
they simply excise the "offending" passages. Thankfully,
this new edition restores the complete text with
appropriate graphic translations which give one the
sense of just what kind of an artist and person
Catullus was. G.P. Goold says that he has used
W.H.D. Rouse's paraphrases of several of Catullus'
poems because the paraphrases are so good. Those
poems paraphrased by Rouse are: 15, 21, 37, 69, 71,
74, 78, 79, 80, 89, 94, 97, 100, 110, 112, and 113.

Here for those who can take it are the opening
lines of 37 (paraphrased by Rouse): ...BR>Tibullus, on the other hand, is a bit quieter -- his
opening lines talk of pastoral peace (until he a little
later starts talking to Delia and shows how driven he
is, how under her spell -- and Love, oh Love -- that
mesmerizer, that seducer, that desired ideal). "I am
a captive fast bound in the bonds of a lovely girl;
I sit a janitor before her stubborn doors. I care not
for glory, Delia dear; let me only be with thee, and
I will pray folk call me sluggard and idler." "But
me, for I have been ever pliable to gentle Love, shall
Venus' self escort to the Elysian fields."
-Pervigilium Veneris- "a poem of not quite a hundred
lines celebrating a spring festival in honour of the
goddess of love, is remarkable both for its beauty
and as the first clear note of romanticism which
transformed classical into medieval literature."
The poem is divided into 3 sections with sub parts:
Spring -- stanza I, The arrival of spring; stanza
II, The birth of Venus; stanza III, The budding of the
rose. The Festival -- stanza IV, Venus' message to
the nymphs; stanza V, The nymphs' message to Diana;
stanza VI, The festival at Hybla. Litanies to Venus --
stanza VII, As cosmic goddess of procreation; stanza
VIII, As tutelary goddess of Rome; stanza IX, As goddess
of vegetation; stanza X, As goddess of animals and birds;
and a personal epilogue at the end of the poem: "She sings,
I am mute. When will my spring come? When shall I become
like the swallow that I may cease to be voiceless? I
have lost my muse through being voiceless, and Phoebus
[Apollo] regards me not...."
-- Robert Kilgore [acominatus, patroklos, Encolp1850.]

I read all of the reviews on Amazon, but they all seem to refer to different editions than the one advertised. There are dozens of editions of Catullus, including at least two by Goold--but these two editions have quite different purposes. The Loeb edition has parallel texts, Latin and English, but no commentary. The advertised volume (ISBN 0715617109) is heavier on commentary and notes. I would like to see a review that evaluates this edition and its author's interpretations and opinions. In the meantime, the reader should ignore my rating of this item, I really don't know how good it is--just that the editor does have a distinguished reputation.

I got this book for my boyfriend for christmas so I'm writing this review on his part. He loved it! He said that it's one of the greatest books he's ever read.