The lives of Catullus and Horace overlap by a dozen years in the first
century BC. Yet, though they are the undisputed masters of the lyric
voice in Roman poetry, Horace directly mentions his great predecessor,
Catullus, only once, and this reference has often been taken as mocking.
In fact, Horace's allusion, far from disparaging Catullus, pays him a
discreet compliment by suggesting the challenge that his accomplishment
presented to his successors, including Horace himself. In Poetic
Interplay, the first book-length study of Catullus's influence on
Horace, Michael Putnam shows that the earlier poet was probably the
single most important source of inspiration for Horace's Odes, the
later author's magnum opus.
Except in some half-dozen poems, Catullus is not, technically, writing
lyric because his favored meters do not fall into that category.
Nonetheless, however disparate their preferred genres and their
stylistic usage, Horace found in the poetry of Catullus, whatever its
mode of presentation, a constant stimulus for his imagination. And,
despite the differences between the two poets, Putnam's close readings
reveal that many of Horace's poems echo Catullus verbally, thematically,
or both. By illustrating how Horace often found his own voice even as he
acknowledged Catullus's genius, Putnam guides us to a deeper
appreciation of the earlier poet as well.