Catullus 2 - Influence On Later Poetry

Influence On Later Poetry

This poem and the following Catullus 3 (a lament for Lesbia's sparrow) inspired a genre of poems about lovers' pets. One classical example include Ovid's elegy on the death of his mistress Corinna's parrot (Amores 2.6.). Another is Martial's epigram (Book I number CIX) on a lap dog, which refers to Catullus 2 specifically ("Issa est passere nequior Catulli", "Issa is naughtier than Catullus's sparrow").

Following the printing of Catullus's works in 1472, Poems 2 and 3 gained new influence, From the earliest days after the re-discovery of Catullus' poems, some scholars have suggested that the bird was a phallic symbol, particularly if sinu in line 2 is translated as "lap" rather than "bosom". However, most scholars have rejected this suggestion over the centuries, noting that Catullus is not coy about discussing sex, as shown by his many obscene poems such as Catullus 16.

Birds were common love-gifts in the Classical world, and several scholars have speculated that the narrator gave it to the woman; this might explain the poet's identification with the sparrow and his fond lament for the bird in Catullus 3. The biting it does in line 4 ties in with Catullus 8, line 18 (cui labella mordebis).