Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1
Slide2

Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry

DWBAT identify the characteristics of Propertius and Catullus’ work

Expectations: Listen, take notes on the graphic organizer, and ask questions at the endSlide3

Lyric Poetry

Originally poems sung to an instrument, strings for lyric, pipes for elegiac

Performed at parties, celebrations, festivals

Along with epic and drama, lyric poetry was the third major genre of poetry, designed primarily for private performance or to mark special occasions in publicSlide4

Lyric Poetry

Originally poems sung to an instrument, strings for lyric, pipes for elegiac

Performed at parties, celebrations, festivals

Along with epic and drama, lyric poetry was the third major genre of poetry, designed primarily for private performance or to mark special occasions in publicSlide5

Lyric Poetry in Rome

Lyric was largely neglected for centuries because the Romans preferred the

gravitas

of epic and tragedy

When the Republic was being torn apart, some tried to hold up the standard of the old values (Cicero and Cato), others saw opportunity in the Chaos (

Cataline

, Caesar) and finally others chose to remove themselves from the violence they were witnessing and engaged in other pursuits,

This final group included a group of poetsSlide6

“New Poets”

Display some traits of the modern “stereotypical poet…”:

Push the boundaries

avant-garde

But usually come from wealthy families, living a life of

otiumSlide7

Gaius

Valerius

Catullus

born around 84

bce

, 24 years before Cicero and 40 before Ovidborn into an equestrian family of wealth and social prominence in Verona

Actively avoided politics, preferring intimate social gatherings around the citySlide8

Catullus and the

Neoterics

Catullus and other poets of his circle were dubbed

poetae

novi by Cicero or “Neoterics”

Neoterics

valued

lepor

(wit),

venustas

(charm), and

urbanitas

(urbanity) in their lives and poetry

Neoterics

strove to outdo one another in producing poetry that was witty, charming, and steeped in smart, sophisticated manners of the city, characterized by subtle winks and knowing glances

The

Neoterics

respected the Greek Hellenistic poet CallimachusSlide9

Catullus and Propertius

Urban elite

Both men devoted many poems to description of extended, on-and-off love affairs with women of the upper class

Not necessarily an autobiography, but vehicles to emphasize two important aspects of the lives of Roman elite:

otium

(leisure)

vs

negotium

(business)Slide10

Checks for Understanding

How do Catullus and Propertius compare with your vision of a modern poet?

What expectations do you have for their poetry? Consider how it differs from other ancient poetry you have read.Slide11

IB Exam:

Translatio

vs

Explicatio SyllabiWhat does this mean for our class for the rest of the year?

We will be reading at a quicker pace (100 lines per term) so that you will have read all the IB selections of Catullus and Propertius before the exam

Most vocabulary will be provided to facilitate speed

In the lyric poetry unit, the poems we read WILL BE on the IB exam. Remember as much as you, take a copious amount of notes on your packets, and hold onto all materials until the IB exam next year.Slide12

Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry

Gaius

Valerius

Catullus was born roughly twenty years after Cicero (ca. 84 BC) to an equestrian family of wealth and social prominence in Verona, a town of Cisalpine Gaul (as governor, Caesar had visited his family home).

From an established family of means, Catullus came to Rome for his education. While he frequented the social circles of the most prominent political figures, he actively avoided politics, preferring intimate social gatherings, the social life of the city, and, of course, the reading, composition, and performance of poetry.Slide13

Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry

Catullus and the other poets of his circle, contemptuously dubbed

poetae

novi

by Cicero or “Neoterics” (from Greek), valued lepor

(“wit”),

venustas

(“charm”), and

urbanitas

(“urbanity”) in their lives and their poetry.

The

Neoterics

strove to outdo one another in producing poetry that was witty, charming, and steeped in the smart, sophisticated manners of the city, characterized by subtle winks and knowing glances.

This style, though, was nothing new — the

Neoterics

held in high regard the 4th cent. B.C. Greek poet

Callimachus

, whose slim, tightly packed, learned poems were the standard against which all lyric poetry since had been judged.Slide14

Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry

After Catullus’ death, the Neoteric tradition was inherited by poets like

Sextus

Propertius

, who in the 40s and 30s BCE grew up in a Rome that was somehow even more tumultuous than that of Catullus’ youth. Like Catullus, Propertius was of equestrian rank and chose to forgo a political and military career to pursue the arts.

He was a self-styled Roman Callimachus (or at least so he thought), and rode the fame from his first book of love poems to a place in the circle of poets (including Ovid and Virgil) who enjoyed the support of Gaius

Cilnius

Maecenas

, a close friend to and advisor of Augustus.Slide15

Lecture: Introduction to Lyric Poetry

Like Catullus, Propertius was a poet of the sophisticated, urban elite. Of most importance to our course are the many poems both men devoted to descriptions of extended, on-and-off love affairs with women of the upper class.

These poems, which we must be careful not to treat as autobiography, serve as vehicles to emphasize the quotidian themes of their work, and lifestyles that prized

otium

(free time) over

negotium

(business).

But whereas Catullus’ poems seamlessly integrate the erudite references and wit of the

Neoterics

with a gut-wrenching

pathos

that disarms and distracts the reader from their underlying skill, Propertius’ hyper-sophisticated references, clunky exposition, and fascination with the process of creating art make it clearer that these poems are less a manipulation of the actual experience of his daily life, but more so exercises in creating carefully crafted poetry.Slide16

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

How do Catullus and Propertius compare with your vision of a modern poet?

Be specific, cite evidence from your lecture notes.

What expectations do you have for their love poetry? Consider how it differs from other ancient poetry you have read.

Be specific, cite evidence from your lecture notes.

Slide17

Propertius, 2.12- A portrait of Amor

In poem 2.12, Propertius poet depicts Amor, the god of love. He claims that Amor has purposely destroyed the wings on which he flies so as to torture him alone.

The poet begs Amor to leave him so that he might, with a right mind, continue writing poems in praise of Cynthia., his beloved.

The poem is characteristic of Propertius’ — in the argument that jarringly jumps from topic to topic, his invocation of mythological examples, the challenging imagery, and its meta-poetic fascination with the creation of art itself.Slide18

Propertius 2.12.1-8

1

qu

īcumque

ille fuit, puerum

quī

pinxit

Amōrem

,

2

n

ōnne

putās

mīrās

hunc

habuisse

manūs

?

3 is

pr

īmum

vīdit

sine

sēnsū

vīvere

amantēs

,

4 et

levibus cūrīs magna perīre bona.5 īdem nōn frustrā ventōsās addidit ālās,6 fēcit et hūmānō corde volāre deum:7 scīlicet alternā quoniam iactāmur in undā,8 nostraque nōn ullīs permanet aura locīs.

P is looking at a painting of Amor

P sees the way the painter depicts lovers as senseless (crazy?) and self-destructive.

P interprets Amor’s wings to help in fly into human hearts  figurative language to describe a literal image

P shifts to 1st person, more figurative language to describe feeling of love as ‘unda’ and ‘aura’