The Student's Catullus

Book excerpt: Although his audacious, erotic, and satirical verses survived the Middle Ages in only a single copy, Catullus has in our time become a standard author in the college Latin curriculum, ranking with Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. In this third edition, thoroughly revised, Daniel H. Garrison makes these famous poems more accessible than ever to students of Latin. A standard college textbook as well as a comprehensive reference, the book includes a brief introduction about the poet's life and the character of his poems, a fresh recension of all 113 poems, and a commentary in English on each poem, explaining difficult points of Latin and features of Catullus' artistry, and providing background information. Additional aids to the reader are a Who's Who of the most important people in Catullus' poems, an introduction to Catullan meters, a glossary of literary terms used in the commentary, a complete Latin-English Catullan vocabulary, and six maps.