Abstract: Catullus’ collection contains several clear echoes of the work of two contemporary Epicurean poets, Lucretius and the Greek philosopher and epigrammatist Philodemus. Indeed, several of the neoteric poet’s central themes (the attractions of otium and disengagement from public life; patronage by members of the high elite and its pitfalls; dissatisfaction with the mos maiorum) bring him potentially into close alignment with Epicurean ideals. In this paper, however, I will argue that on closer consideration, Catullus’ intertextual engagement with his two contemporaries points rather to a self-consciously antagonistic stance towards Epicurean ethics, and, ultimately, to the refusal of any kind of philosophical commitment.
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206 CL