THE FLUIDITY OF GENDER ROLES IN CATULLUS: A NEW INTERPRETATION OF POEM 11.

In this paper I argue that Catullus 11 anticipates the shift from the first section of the collection (1-14 ), mainly revolving around the poet's passive love for Leshia, to the second section (14b-26), mostly focused on his active love for Juventius. My reading has three interpretive advantages: first, it confirms the authorial arrangement of the first two segments of Catullus' collection; second, it defends the thematic unity of poem 11 by providing a coherent analysis of the connections between stanzas 1- 4 and 5- 6; third, it explains the different tone used by Catullus to address Furius and Aurelius in different poems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]