Satire 2.8

Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
I would attend so many a dinner party,
Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
I would enjoy so many meals, extra hearty.

Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
Everyday I would have my choice of fish,
Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
Every meal would be a wish!

Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
Vegetables would engulf my plate,
Oh, if I ate like a Roman,
I could not describe the greatness of the things I ate!

Cultural Context

I usually find it very hard to figure out what is going on in these poems and what Horace could possibly be talking about. The article Professor Malamud posted on UB Learns is awesome at aiding with this. If you haven't read it already read it! I know in class we talked about how it was similar to Virgil, but this article goes into so much depth and shows things that I would have never known Horace was saying. The themes make a lot of sense and I feel like I understand the Satire much better and appreciate it more because of it!

Make-up Odes 3.30 and 4.7

3.30

I have completed a monument lasting longer than

bronze and higher than the royal site (or neglect? the note said to leave it ambiguous) of the pyramids,

because neither devouring rain, nor the wild north wind is able to demolish (it), nor the innumerable series of years and the flight of time (is able to demolish it).

I will not die completely and many parts of me will avoid Labitina: continuously I arise fresh to praise (?),

while a priest climbs the Capitoline Hill with a silent virgin.

I shall be spoken (of), where violent Aufidus roars and

where poor Danus of water (word order?) ruled the rural people,

out of power of humility, the first to lead the song of Aeolius to Italy in this way. 

Take on meritorious actions sought out by pride and surround the laurel of Delphi on my hair, Melpomene. (wasn't sure how the last two lines worked)

4.7

Snow scatters, the grass already retakes the fields (grass again?)

and the leaves (greenery?) of the trees, the land changes turn,

and the shrinking river omits the shore.

Naked kindness, with Nymphs and twin sisters wish(ing?) to lead a chorus. 

You do not hope for immortality, the year reminds and the kind hour which snatches

away the day. The clod becomes wild with the west wind, spring is able to die through summer, at the same time fruitful autumn pours out fruit (what? is he trying to say that this is when things are ready to harvest just in a really Latin-y way?)

and soon the shortest day will lazily return.

Nevertheless the swift celestial moon recovers the losses (Is this talking about death?):

to where do we die, where (wasn't sure when to use where and when to use for what purpose, and how to word it properly) the father Aeneas, who the rich Tellus and Aneus, are dust and ghosts. (Had trouble with that part)

Who knows, whether the gods above will add time of tomorrow to today's sum? 

The friends which give you their souls, they all flee the hands of the greedy heir.

When at the same time you will die,

and Minos of the gods (what to do with the de?) has passed his illustrious

judgement on you, neither your birth, nor your eloquence, nor your devotion

will resort you, Torquatus: and for Diana does not free the honorable

Hippolytus from infernal darkness, Theseus is not strong enough to break the chain of dear

Pirithous. 

Ode 3.13

Translation: Oh worthy spring of Bandusia, more splendid than glass,
more splendid than sweet unmixed wine, not without flowers,
tomorrow, you will be presented with a young goat, whose forehead is swollen with horns just beginning to grow, and is destined for love and battle, in vain:
for the offspring of the playful herd
will stain your cold streams
with red blood.
The dreadful hour of the blazing Dog Star
does not know to touch you, you give friendly (pleasant?) cold
to the bulls tired from the plow
and the wandering herd.
You will become the most famous fountain
with me singing of the oak placed
over hollow stones, from which your talkative
waters jump down the stream (waves? water?)

Are you supposed to distribute the slendidior in the first line, like I put in the translation, or just leave it for the glass? I thought it made more sense in english to distribute it, but I wasn't sure.


What is a casual ablative absolute? The note talks about it when referring to line 14, the me dicente. Do you translate a casual ablative absolute differently than a regular one?


I like the emphasis and repetition of "you" in this ode. The emphasis adds to the personification of the spring and makes the poem more personal with respect to the relationship between it and Horace. I also like the contrast among the comparisons Horace uses: how the young goat is destined for love and for battle and then the contrast between the streams running with blood and the talkative, more serene waters by the oaky rock.

Memento Mori

Today, I was reading a poem for my 18th Century English class and I couldn't help but think of Horace. Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard is about the lamentation of the death of a friend and then goes into a more generalized mourning of death. While researching analysis on the poem, I came across a passage that said Gray was heavily influenced by the phrase "memento mori," remember you must die. I feel as if Horace could have been the godfather of this saying. I know the Classics were a heavy influence in the 18th Century, but its definitely interesting to see Latin and Classical influences in different works.

Horace on the wrong side of battle

I thought it was very interesting in class today when we were talking about how Augustus pardoned Horace for fighting on the wrong side. I was trying to research more about it tonight and I found a passage that said Horace's family's property in Venusia was confiscated. I couldn't find any more sources that went on into more detail about it, but I was wondering if that information was correct. Also, was it just part of Horace's style that he didn't mention Augustus directly in the poem, or did it have to do with the politics of the time? I was guessing it was more of Horace's style because he often alludes to something but leaves it up to the reader to figure out just what that something is, but I wasn't sure.

Ode 1.37

I found this ode to be one of the most interesting we have translated so far. After learning about it's place in history, I found things in the poem I did not think about before. The way the poem starts out with the repetition of "nunc" presents a certain kind of urgency for celebration, but as the poem continues, the pace slows. Horace has time for similes and talks of Cleopatra's "serene expression" on her face. To me, this is Horace allotting a long period of time to reflect back on Cleopatra, amidst the frenzied celebration that is about to take place. I also think, how we discussed in class, that Horace really admired her, even if she appeared crazed at time. I like the complexity of the emotion in this ode.