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Catullus Carmen 11 Analysis

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As we note, there appears to be a clear progression of feeling Catullus experiences towards Lesbia - initially he is enamored by her and their apparent love for each other. With time, Lesbia's betrayal leads Catullus to become bitter towards his former lover, which then manifests itself into slander, mockery and invective to demoralize her image. As we touched on earlier, women in Roman society during this era, possess no public persona except for those that are assigned by rumores. Due to this social construct, any negative account circulated among the public about Lesbia lends to her role and image within society; Catullus takes full advantage of this ideology and openly disgraces Lesbia for her betrayal. Lastly, Carmen 11, solidifies this distaste Catullus has developed for Lesbia. Initially within the poem, we are introduced to Aurelius and Furius, two men Catullus has heaped excessive invective upon in his Carmen 16. But, in this case, we are given an image of these two men, along with Catullus, travelling the world. The beautiful images that follow the next 15 lines set a stage for what seems to be beautifully crafted poetry, focusing on the characteristic …show more content…

He strays away from a blunt invective speech by instead personifying each other as either the aggressor or the aggressed as he personifies Lesbia as the plough, which callously annihilates a flower, on the outskirts of the field, as it passes. In this hyperbolic explanation of Lesbia‘s destructive sexuality, Catullus personifies himself in the role of a flower. The "touch" of the plough, ruthless and supplementary, overlaps with the touching and cutting of words as they meet with each other. Catullus' portrayal of his ill-treatment illustrates awareness to Lesbia's betrayal, and how it has affected him, being the disregarded "flower on the edge of the

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