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The poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus was written towards the end of the Roman Republic. It describes the lifestyle of the poet and his friends, as well as, most famously, his love for the woman he calls Lesbia. ==Sources and organization== Catullus's poems have been preserved in three manuscripts that were copied from one (of two) copies made from a lost manuscript discovered around 1300. These three surviving manuscript copies are stored at the National Library in Paris, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and the Vatican Library in Rome. These manuscripts contained approximately 116 of Catullus's ''carmina''. However, a few fragments quoted by later editors but not found in the manuscripts show that there are some additional poems that have been lost. There is no scholarly consensus on whether or not Catullus himself arranged the order of the poems. While the numbering of the poems up to 116 has been retained, three of these poems — 18, 19 and 20 — are excluded from most modern editions because they are now considered not to be Catullan, having been added by Muretus in his 1554 edition (which identified 113 poems existing in the Catullan manuscripts). Some modern editors (and commentators), however, retain ''Poem'' 18 as genuine Catullan.〔 Furthermore, some editors have considered that, in some cases, two poems have been brought together by previous editors, and, by dividing these, add 2B, 14B, 58B, 68B and 78B as separate poems. Not all editors agree with these divisions, especially with regard to ''Poem'' 68. Catullus's ''carmina'' can be divided into three formal parts: short poems in varying metres, called ''polymetra'' (1-60); eight longer poems (61-68); and forty-eight epigrams (69-116). The longer poems differ from the ''polymetra'' and the epigrams not only in length but also in their subjects: there are seven hymns and one mini-epic, or epyllion, the most highly prized form for the "new poets".〔Cf. Wikipedia ''s.v.'' "Latin Neoterics, the New Poets".〕 The ''polymetra'' and the epigrams can be divided into four major thematic groups (ignoring a rather large number of poems eluding such categorization): * poems to and about his friends (e.g., an invitation such as ''Poem'' 13). * erotic poems: some of them indicate homosexual penchants (48, 50, and 99),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=English Catullus 48 Translation - Carmen 48 - Gaius Valerius Catullus (English) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=English Catullus 50 Translation - Carmen 50 - Gaius Valerius Catullus (English) )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=English Catullus 99 Translation - Carmen 99 - Gaius Valerius Catullus (English) )〕 but most are about women, especially about one he calls "Lesbia" (in honour of the poet Sappho of Lesbos, source and inspiration of many of his poems); philologists have gone to considerable efforts to discover her real identity, and many have concluded that Lesbia was Clodia, sister of the infamous Publius Clodius Pulcher and a woman known for her generous sexuality, but this identification rests on some rather fragile assumptions. Catullus displays a wide range of highly emotional and seemingly contradictory responses to Lesbia, ranging from tender love poems to sadness, disappointment, and bitter sarcasm. * invectives: some of these often rude and sometimes downright obscene poems are targeted at friends-turned-traitors (e.g., ''Poem'' 16) and other lovers of Lesbia, but many well-known poets, politicians (e.g. Julius Caesar) and orators, including Cicero, are thrashed as well. However, many of these poems are humorous and craftily veil the sting of the attack. For example, Catullus writes a poem mocking a pretentious descendant of a freedman who emphasizes the letter "h" in his speech because it makes him sound more like a learned Greek by adding unnecessary Hs to words like ''insidias'' (ambush). * condolences: some poems of Catullus are, in fact, serious in nature. One poem, 96, comforts a friend for the death of his wife, while several others, most famously 101, lament the death of his brother. All these poems describe the lifestyle of Catullus and his friends, who, despite Catullus's temporary political post in Bithynia, appear to have lived withdrawn from politics. They were interested mainly in poetry and love. Above all other qualities, Catullus seems to have sought ''venustas'' (attractiveness, beauty) and ''lepidus'' (charm). The ancient Roman concept of ''virtus'' (i.e. of virtue that had to be proved by a political or military career), which Cicero suggested as the solution to the societal problems of the late Republic, are interrogated in Catullus. But it is not the traditional notions Catullus rejects, merely their monopolized application to the ''vita activa'' of politics and war. Indeed, he tries to reinvent these notions from a personal point of view and to introduce them into human relationships. For example, he applies the word ''fides'', which traditionally meant faithfulness towards one's political allies, to his relationship with Lesbia and reinterprets it as unconditional faithfulness in love. So, despite the seeming frivolity of his lifestyle, Catullus measured himself and his friends by quite ambitious standards. Catullus is the predecessor in Roman Elegy for poets like Propertius, Tibullus, and Ovid. Catullus's focus in his poetry is on himself, the male lover. He writes obsessively about Lesbia; however she is just an object to him. In his writing, the male lover is the important character, and Lesbia is part of his theatrical passion. Catullus's love-poetry offers a superb example of why it is not enough in love to focus exclusively on one's own feelings. It is important to note Catullus came at the beginning of this genre, so his work is much different than his predecessors. Ovid is heavily influenced by Catullus; however, he switches the focus of his writing to the concept of love and Amor, rather than himself or the male lover. This opposing views begin to shape the different types of love and controversies in Roman elegiac poetry. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Poetry of Catullus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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