Reading Catullus

Of all the Roman poets Catullus is the most accessible to the modern reader. His poems range from the sublimely beautiful to the scatologically disgusting, and from the world of heroic epic poetry to the dirt of the Roman streets.

This introductory book, which assumes no prior knowledge of Roman poetry, explores Catullus in all his many guises. In six concise chapters John Godwin deals with the cultural background to Catullus' poetic production, its literary context, the role of love, Alexandrian learning and the ancient tradition of obscenity and, in the final chapter, he considers the coherence and rationale of the collection as a whole.

The book includes a useful timeline and a guide to further reading. Each chapter is illustrated by readings from the poems chosen to give a representative overview of Catullus' poetry. All Latin is translated.