Catullus
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G. Valerius Catullus (literally 'Puppppy') was a poet and pervert in the late Roman republic. He is widely read today and appreciated mostly by second year Latin students wanting to learn to say really filthy things.
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[edit] Life
Catullus moved to Rome and immediately fell in love with a woman whom he referred to in verse as Lesbia, as he had been an admirer of the Lesbian Sappho. He died at the age of thirty, having worn himself out with lasciviousness, indulgence, and overemotionality.
[edit] Lover
The true name of Catullus's lover, as identified by Cicero, was Medea Palatii. She was widely regarded during her own time as flagrant, loose, scandalous, and quite fond of her brother in the most improper of ways. However, as she was a lesbian, the accusations of incest with her brother must surely have been fabrications, likely by Catullus himself in a moment of jealous spite. Some debate which one (brother or sister) was the focus of his jealousy.
"Let us live and love Clodius-Clodia-I-don't-care-which,
or I'll nod to Venus and hump whoever has their bum the highest.
And if you don't let me in, I'll have to sit on your dead pet sparrow
(Pity it's only able to wiggle on the way to Hades, and not here and now.)"
-Catullus LIX, lines 1-4
[edit] Poetry
Catullus's poetry is noted for its direct and honest style, having shocked audiences in its time for the sheer levels of obscenity to which it aspires and inspiring later poets (most especially Ovid) to attempt the same. No other Roman poets have, however, matched Catullus in pure filth. He also devotes considerable attention to various perversions and mental disorders.
For example, in his fifteenth poem he makes a quite emotional reference to using fish and vegetables as dildos. (Julius Caesar was quite fond of a radish dildo, however, and even performed with one in public, so this may have been a custom in Rome. One scholar even claims that the radish dildo was a sign of pride, and Catullus was seeking to honour his friend by talk of one.)
In his sixteenth poem, Catullus threatens to anally rape and force oral sex upon two of his critics who accuse him of being a gay sex fiend, in order to help them understand the difference between the artist's persona in his work and his persona in life. The sixty-third poem deals with the theme of self-castration, while the thirty-ninth focuses on watersports.
Scholars have debated, for example, whether the counting of [kisses in his fifth poem is a sign of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or, rather, some numerical paraphilia. His later desire to 'stir up the kisses' to confuse the number shows, in either case, some distress over the obsession, demonstrating either a desire for psychiatric counseling or a guilt over his perversion.
[edit] Influence in Popular Culture
Are you kidding? Catullus may influence some people living today (mostly Latin students with dirty minds), but we have yet to hear a rapper diss someone by telling them they brush their teeth with urine.
