Catullus 85

This is my favorite poem written by Catullus. It is so cool how this short poem has so much meaning....and SO many verbs! As we discussed in class, Catullus is constantly balancing his feelings emotionally and literally in his poetry. In 85, we see "Odi et amo" which translates as "I hate and I love." This is a very evident balance, as we can see that these emotions are complete opposites. 

I am also intrigued by how Catullus goes about explaining the way he is currently feeling. After finding out that Lesbia cheated on him, Catullus loses all respect for her but still is passionate about her. I think that feeling this way is completely human and very present in many situations. For example, if someone I loved did something bad, I would feel like I was obliged to hate them and lose respect for them. However, I would still love them a lot. I think that the hate is the more superficial feeling...as if Catullus uses it to show the world that Lesbia did him wrong and he is standing up for himself. The love is a more secretive emotion; he does not want to show everyone that he still is very in love with a woman who cheated on him.