Load Bearing Goth Blog

"To make a prairie..."

'In regard to Cicero, while he provides a productive point of comparison for Catullus, fundamental differences distinguish their expression of their emotions. While Cicero’s private letters were meant for Atticus, Catullus sets his grief in poems that, although they are addressed to individual friends, were written for and circulated among a wider audience. This is significant for two reasons. Firstly, it means that Catullus chooses to make his reaction to his brother’s death public, and by situating his grief within poems that emphasize the reciprocal duties binding himself and his addressees, he creates a tension between his social and commemorative obligations.

It's a Western, Henry, it's a downright shoot-em-up