Among the Ancients: Catullus

For the second half of their Among the Ancients series, Emily and Tom move to Ancient Rome, starting with the late Republican poet Catullus. Described by Tennyson, somewhat misleadingly, as ‘the tenderest of Roman poets’, Catullus combined a self-conscious technical virtuosity with a broad emotional range and a taste for paradox, often using obscene diction to skirt across the boundaries of gender and aesthetics. Non-subscribers can only hear extracts from most of the episodes in this series. To listen in full, and to all our other Close Readings series, subscribe: Directly in Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings Further Reading in the LRB: Elspeth Barker: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v14/n19/elspeth-barker/o-filth-o-beastliness William Fitzgerald: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v28/n04/william-fitzgerald/badmouthing-city Emily Wilson is Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and translator of the 'Odysse'y and the 'Iliad'. Thomas Jones is an editor at the London Review of Books and host of the LRB Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices