Lesbia

Lesbia was the literary pseudonym used by the Roman poet Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 82-52 BC) to refer to his lover. Lesbia is traditionally identified with Claudia Metelli Celeris, the Clodia of Cicero's extant speech (of March 56 BC) Pro Caelio, and the elder sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher.

Lesbia is the subject of 25 of Catullus' 116 surviving poems, and these display a wide range of emotions (see Catullus 85), ranging from tender love (e. g. Catullus 5, Catullus 7), to sadness and disappointment (e.g. Catullus 72), and to bitter sarcasm (e.g. Catullus 8), following the often unsteady course of Catullus' relationship.

The name evokes the poet Sappho. Catullus's poem 35 celebrating his poet friend Caecilius of Novum Comum also mentions the devotion of Caecilius' girlfriend, who is herself accorded a remarkable tribute as "girl more learned than Sappho's Muse" (lines 16-17: Sapphica puella / musa doctior). This could well be Catullus' Lesbia before she became his own lover.

It may be significant that a poem which looks like an envoi to Lesbia (Catullus 11) is written in the Sapphic metre; the only other poem in the collection composed in this metre is poem 51, which looks like it could be the first poem written to her. What makes this more likely is that the poem is an elegant translation of a poem by Sappho herself, which is still extant.

Lesbia (bird)

Lesbia is a small genus of hummingbird. Its two members are found in tropical South America. They are:

References

Lesbia (disambiguation)

Lesbia was a classical Roman poet.

Lesbia can also refer to:-

See also