Catullus seems a sensitive sort of guy, to judge from his first five poems: they have been a thoughtful dedication to a noted historian and fellow-poet; three of the four most famous and romantic poems to Lesbia, including the two about her sparrow; and a sentimental and touching poem about a much-loved yacht that has brought him (probably) on a challenging journey home across the sea. Now, for the first and not the last time, in poem 6 we meet a rather different Catullus, coarsely teasing a friend, Flavius, who is being coy about a new mistress. No wonder that he doesn’t want to confide in Catullus if he’s come across some of his other poems about friends’ girlfriends.
This is one of Catullus’s poems that used not to be taught in schools because of its sexual content and strong language. These days, they are no worse than you hear in films or on late-night TV, but the poem is probably still not taught for another reason: its attitude to women. With Catullus, and quite a few other ancient Roman poets, and with Roman culture in general, what we would now see as misogyny is often part of the package when the subject is sexually available women, so be warned, avoid cultural relativism and hang on to your hat and your historical context!
We know nothing about Flavius except that he has a distinguished name.
See the illustrated blog post here.
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