Berkeley Undergraduate Journal of Classics

The Lyric Voice can be explored to show the nexus of interlocutors clamouring to be heard in Catullus’ poetry, but ultimately, it is Catullus himself who frames and controls all interaction. In addressing his poems to specific people at specific times, Catullus attempts to be constantly present with the reader. He invites the reader to live the poem, to allow it to transcend the petty constraints of time and space, then elsewhere reminds the reader of the literary artifice which is innate in writing about writing. He points outside the poem, both to bring the readers into his world, but also to force them to recognise that it is fake and created. Playing with Sappho, Catullus recognises how liminal translation is, and questions the locus of the voice in that dialogue. Voice is most investigated through silence however, and Catullus explores everyone’s silences; those he addresses, the readers and even his own. Ultimately though, Catullus comes out on top, these are his poems, he is never silent, and to engage with him is to have your mouth filled with his words. Just as he silences those who can speak, he breathes life into a variety of personae loquentes that litter his poem, such as his phaselus, whose epigraphic tone helps Catullus capture and freeze a moment in time. The Lyric Voice exerts immense influence over how we interact with these poems, and if we listen closely, we can appreciate the voices Catullus does and does not allow us to hear.