CHARACTER OF HORACE—DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS VILLA AT TIVOLI, AND HIS SABINE
FARM—SITE OF THE BANDUSIAN FOUNTAIN—THE NEIGHBOURING SCENERY—SUBJECTS OF
HIS SATIRES AND EPISTLES—BEAUTY OF HIS ODES—IMITATIONS OF GREEK
POETS—SPURIOUS ODES—CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT.
The life of Horace is especially instructive, as a mirror in which is
reflected a faithful image of the manners of his day. He is the
representative of Roman refined society, as Virgil is of the national
mind. He who understands Horace and his works can picture to himself the
society in which he lived and moved. One cannot sympathize with
Petrarch, when he says “Se ex nullo poeta Latino evasisse meliorem quam
ex Horatio,” or exclaim with the devoted Mæcenas,
Ni te visceribus meis Horati
Plus jam diligo, tu tuum sodalem
Ninnio videas strigosiorem—
but still it is scarcely possible not to feel an affection for him.
Notwithstanding his selfish Epicureanism, he possessed those elements of
character which constitute the popularity of men of the world. He was a
gentleman in taste and sentiments. He would not have denied himself any
gratification for the sake of others; but he would not willingly have
caused any one a moment’s uneasiness, nor was he ever ungrateful to
those who were kind to him. He was a pleasant friend and a good-humoured
associate, adroit in using the language of compliment, but not a
flatterer, because he was candid and sincere. He changed his politics,
but he had good cause for so doing. The circumstances of the times
furnished ample justification. His morals were lax, but not worse than
those of his contemporaries: all that can be said is, that he was not in
advance of his age. His principles will not bear comparison with a high
moral standard; but he had good qualities to compensate for his moral
deficiencies. He looked at virtue and vice from a worldly, not a moral
point of view. With him the former was prudence, the latter folly. Vice,
therefore, provoked a sneer of derision, and not indignation at the sin
or compassion for the sinner; and for the same reason he was incapable
of entertaining a holy enthusiasm for virtue.
Good-tempered as a man, he nevertheless showed that he belonged to the
_genus irritabile vatum_. He was jealous of his poetical reputation;
not, indeed, towards his contemporaries, but towards the poets of former
ages. He either could not or would not see any merit in old Roman
poetry. His prejudice cannot be ascribed only to his enthusiasm for
Greek literature, for he did not even appreciate the excellences which
the old school of poetry had in common with the Greeks. Party spirit had
somewhat to do with it, for a feud on the subject divided the literary
society of the day,[649] and hence Horace took his side warmly and
uncompromisingly.
But the principal cause was jealousy—unless he ignored Lucilius and
Catullus, he could not claim to have been the first follower of
Archilochus of whom Rome could boast; or, as the representative of Roman
lyric poetry, to have first tuned his lyre to Æolian song.
The scenes in which Horace passed his life are so interesting to every
reader of his works, that a few words respecting his villa at Tivoli and
his Sabine farm will not be out of place here. Tibur[650] is situated on
one of the spurs of the Appennines, about fifteen or sixteen miles from
Rome, on the left bank of the Anio (Teverone.) The river winds gently by
the town, separating it from the villa of Horace, and then, falling in a
sheet of water over an escarped rock, disappears beneath a rocky cavern.
Its roaring echoes are heard far and wide, and justifies the epithet
(_resonans_,) which Horace gives to the dwelling of Albunea, the
Tiburtine Sibyl. The villa commanded fine views, and a garden sloped
down from it to the river’s bank. From its grounds was visible the
palace of Mæcenas: on the opposite shore the wooded Sabine hills
sheltered it from the north; and the domain of the poet’s friend,
Quintilius Varus, formed its western boundary.
About fifteen miles north-east of Tibur, nestling amongst the roots of
Mount Lucretilis, lay the Sabine farm. Fragments of white marble, and
mosaic, which have been found there, show that, notwithstanding the
simple frugality which Horace delights to describe, it was built and
embellished with elegance and taste. From the mountain side, which rises
behind the house, trickles a clear stream, the source of which is now
called Fonte Bello, and which afterwards becomes the river Digentia
(Licenza,) and waters the beautiful valley of the sloping Ustica
(_Usticæ Cubantis_.) This rill, the parent of Horace’s favourite river,
the embellisher of that “_riant_ angle of the earth,” is interesting as
being probably the fountain of Bandusia, “more transparent than
glass,”[651] with whose fresh and sparkling waters the poet tempered his
wine.
M. de Chaupy[652] assumes that the Bandusian fountain, mentioned by
Horace, was situated near the birthplace of Horace, on the
Lucano-Apulian border. His opinion rests on the words of a grant made by
Pope Pascal II. to the abbot of the Bantine monastery; and Mr.
Hobhouse[653] considers this document as decisive in ascertaining its
position. It is decisive as to the existence of a Bandusian fountain
near Venusia; but it must be remembered that Horace never saw it after
the days of his childhood, when his paternal estate passed away from him
for ever, whilst he speaks of his Bandusian fountain as near him, when
he writes, and promises to sacrifice a kid to the guardian genius of the
spring. What, then, is more probable than the suggestion of Mr.
Dunlop,[654] that the same pleasing recollections of his early years,
which inspired him to relate his touching adventure, led him to “name
the clearest and loveliest stream of his Sabine retreat after that
fountain which lay in Apulia, and on the brink of which he had no doubt
often sported in infancy?”[655] He has in one of his odes alluded to
this affectionate desire to perpetuate reminiscences of home—a desire
which is illustrated by the topographical nomenclature which has been
adopted by colonists of every age and country.
Mr. Dennis, however, in a letter written at Licenza,[656] in sight of
the pleasant shades of M. Lucretilis, although he makes no doubt of the
Bandusian fountain being in the neighbourhood, does not identify it with
the “Fonte Bello.” He asserts that, although he has traced every
streamlet in the neighbourhood, the only one which answers to the
classical description is one now called “Fonte Blandusia.” It rises in a
narrow glen which divides the Mount Lucretilis from Ustica, which
probably derives its modern name _Valle Rustica_ from a corruption of
the classical appellation. As you ascend the glen it contracts into a
ravine with bare cliffs on either side; the streamlet with difficulty
winds its way between mossy rocks (_musco circumlita saxa_,)
overshadowed with dense woods which effectually exclude the heat of the
blazing Dog-star. The water issues from a rock, and trickles into two
successive natural basins. “The water is indeed _splendidior vitro_;
nothing, not even the Thracian Hebrus, can exceed it in purity,
coolness, and sweetness: ‘its loquacious waters still bubble;’ the very
ilices still overhang the hollow rocks whence it springs.”
A reference to Horace’s description[657] will prove to the modern
traveller through this classic region with what fidelity and accuracy
the poet has described the natural features of the scenery. The mountain
chain is continuous and unbroken (_continui montes_,) save by the well
wooded and therefore shady valley of the Digentia, which intersects it
in such a direction that—
Veniens dextrum latus aspiciat sol,
Lævum decedens curru fugiente vaporet.
Another valley meets it, and on an exposed height, at the point of
junction, stands Bardela, in Horace’s time Mandela, and well described
by him as _rugosus frigore pagus_.[658] Corn grows on the sunny field
(apricum pratum) which slopes from the farm to the river: the ruins of
other dwellings mark the spot occupied by five domestic hearths, and
sending five honest representatives to the municipal council of the
neighbourhood:—
—— habitatum quinque focis, et
Quinque bonos solitum Variam dimittere patres.[659]
A comparison of the truthful and descriptive verses of Horace identify
the spot which he loved. Nature is the same now as it was then; but
human skill and perseverance have adorned with the purple clusters of
the vine that “little corner of the world” which Horace said would bear
pepper and frankincense more quickly than grapes.[660]
The Satires of Horace occupy the position of the comedy of manners and
the fashionable novel. They are much more appropriately described by the
title _Sermones_ (Discourses) which is also given to them. They are, in
fact, desultory didactic essays, in which the topics are discussed just
as they present themselves. In them is sketched boldly but
good-humouredly a picture of Roman social life with its vices and
follies. His object was (to use his own words)—
Ut omnis
Votivâ pateat veluti descripta tabellâ
Vita.
_Sat._ II. i. 32.
Vices, however, are treated as follies; and the man of wit and pleasure
seldom uses a weapon more keen than the shafts of ridicule:—
Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico
Tangit et admissus circum præcordia ludit.
_Persius_, S. i. 116.
Arch Horace, while he strove to mend,
Probed all the foibles of his smiling friend;
Played lightly round and round the peccant part,
And won unfelt an entrance to his heart;
Well skilled the follies of the crowd to trace,
And sneer with gay good humour in his face.
_Gifford._[661]
There is nothing of the political bitterness of Lucilius,[662] the love
of purity and honour which adorns Persius, or the burning indignation
which Juvenal pours forth at the loathsome corruption of morals. Horace
had been a politician and a warm champion of liberty; but the struggle
was now over, both with himself and his country. Ease and tranquillity
were insured to both by the new régime; and his contented temper
disposed him to acquiesce in a state of things which gave Rome time to
rest from the horrors of civil war, and did not interfere with the
independence of the individual. Hence the circumstances of the times, as
well as his own temper, rendered his satires social and not political.
Lucilius wrote when the strife between nobles and people was still
raging, and the latter had not as yet succumbed. He, therefore, breathed
the spirit of the old Athenian comic poets whom he followed and
emulated; and the war of public opinion furnished him with topics
similar to those which were discussed in the republican commonwealth of
Athens.
Circumstances also influenced, in some degree, the tone of Horace’s
strictures on the habits of social life. Immoral as society was, its
most salient features were luxury, frivolity, extravagance, and
effeminacy. Vice had not reached that appalling height which it attained
in the time of the emperor who succeeded Augustus. Deficient in moral
purity, an Epicurean and a debauchee, nothing would strike him as
deserving censure, except such success as would actually defeat the
object which he proposed to himself—namely, the utmost enjoyment of
life. The dictates of prudence, therefore, would be his highest standard
and his strongest check. He saw that public morals were already
deteriorated, and threatened to become worse; but though they were bad
enough to provoke derision, they did not shock or revolt one who was,
and who professed to be, a man of the world. Had Horace lived in the
time of Persius or Lucilius, even his satire would probably have been
pointed and severe.
Often his satires are only accidentally didactic; he contents himself
with graphic delineations of character and manners, and leaves them to
produce their own moral effect upon the reader. In one[663] he holds up
the superstition of the Romans to ridicule by a minute narrative of the
absurd ceremonies performed by Canidia and another sorceress in their
incantations. In another,[664] amusingly describes the annoyance to
which he was exposed by the importunities of a gossiping trifler. In the
journey to Brundisium he seems to have had no view beyond entertainment;
although two incidents give him an opportunity of exposing the pomposity
of a municipal official and the superstitious follies of a country
town.[665] In others, his subjects are the scenery and neighbouring
society of his Sabine valley;[666] the way in which he is wont to spend
his day when at Rome; his own autobiography;[667] a laughable trial in
Asia;[668] an essay on cookery;[669] and a candid exposure of his own
faults and inconsistencies. Not that he is forgetful of his moral duties
as a satirist. He exposes to merited contempt the prevailing iniquities
of the day. The meanness of legacy-hunting; the absurdity of pretension
and foppery; the folly of an inordinate passion for amassing
wealth;[670] the dangers of adultery;[671] the unfairness of
uncharitably misinterpreting the conduct of others.[672]
Such are the varied subjects contained in the _Sermones_ or Satires of
Horace. The Epistles are still more desultory and unrestrained.
Epistolary writing is especially a Roman accomplishment. The Romans
thought their correspondents deserved that as much pains should be
bestowed on that which was addressed to them as on that which was
intended for the public eye; and, in addition to the careful polish of
which Cicero set the example, Horace brought to the task the
embellishment of poetry. In the Epistles, he lays aside the character of
a moral teacher or censor. He treats his correspondent as an equal. He
opens his heart unreservedly: he gives advice, but in a kind and gentle
spirit, not with sneering severity. The satire is delivered _ex
cathedrâ_;—the epistle with the freedom with which he would converse
with an intimate friend.
The subjects of the first books are moral, those of the second critical.
The _Ars Poetica_ is but a poetical epistle addressed to the Pisos, who
had been bitten by the prevailing mania for tragic poetry. The usual
title claims a far greater extent of subject than the poet intended. It
is not a treatise on poetry, but simply an outline of the history of the
Greek drama, and the principles of criticism applicable to it. It
harmonizes well with the literary subjects treated of in the second book
of the Epistles, and might well be included in it. It is, indeed, longer
and more elaborate: a synopsis of so extensive a subject required more
careful treatment; but it is impossible to form a correct estimate of
the taste and judgment which it displays, unless it is considered as
nothing more than an epistle.
The versification of these compositions is more smooth than that of the
Satires, but only in proportion to the superior neatness of the style
generally. In neither does the metrical harmony rise to the height of
poetry, properly speaking. Doubtless this was the poet’s deliberate
intention. It cannot be supposed that he who could so successfully
introduce all the beautiful Greek lyric metres, and in some cases
improve the delicacy of their structure, was incapable of reproducing
the rhythm of the Greek hexameter. He felt that in subjects belonging to
the prosaic realities of life, and hitherto treated with the
conversational facility of the iambic measure, some appearance of
negligence and even roughness could alone render the stately hexameter
appropriate, and therefore tolerable. But, admirable as the Satires are
for their artistic and dramatic power, and the Epistles for their
correct taste, lively wit, and critical elegance, it is in his
inimitable Odes that the genius of Horace as a poet is especially
displayed. They have never been equalled in beauty of sentiment,
gracefulness of language, and melody of versification. They comprehend
every variety of subject suitable to the lyric muse. They rise without
effort to the most elevated topics—the grandest subjects of history, the
most gorgeous legends of mythology, the noblest aspirations of
patriotism: they descend to the simplest joys and sorrows of every-day
life. At one time they burn with indignation, at another they pour forth
accents of the tenderest emotions. They present in turn every phase of
the author’s character: some remind us that he was a philosopher and a
satirist; and although many are sensuous and self-indulgent, they are
full of gentleness, kindness, and spirituality. Not only do they evince
a complete mastery over the Greek metres, but also show that Horace was
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Greek poetry, and had profoundly
studied Greek literature, especially the writings of Pindar and the
lyric poets. Numerous as the instances are in which he has imitated
them, and introduced by a happy adaptation their ideas, epithets, and
phrases, his imitations are not mere plagiarisms or purple patches—they
are made so completely his own, and are invested with so much novelty
and originality, that, when compared with the original, we receive
additional gratification from discovering the resemblance. The
sentiments which are paraphrased seem improved: the expressions which
are translated seem so appropriate, and harmonize so exactly with the
context, that a poet, whose memory was stored with them, would have been
guilty of bad taste if he had substituted any others. Greek feelings,
sentiments, and imagery, are so naturally amalgamated with Roman
manners, that they seem to have undergone a transmigration, and to
animate a Roman form. The following are some of the most striking
parallelisms:[673]—
Sunt quos curriculo, &c.
_Carm._ 1, 3, _seq._
Ἀελλοποδων μεν τινας ευφραινουσιν ἱππων τιμαι και στεφανοι·
τους δ’ εν πολυχρυσοις θαλαμοις βιοτα·
τερπεται δε και τις επ’ οιδμ’ αλιον
ναι θοα σως διαστειχων.
_Pind. Fragm._
* * * * *
Jam te premet nox, fabulæque Manes,
Et domus exilis Plutonia: quo simul mearis,
Nec regna vini sortiere talis, &c.
_Carm._ 1, 4, 16, _seq._
Κατθανοισα δε κεισ’, ουδεποτε μναμοσυνα σεθεν
εσσετ’ ουδεποτ’ εις υστερον. ου γαρ πεδεχεις βροδων
των εκ Πιεριας. αλλ’ αφανης κην Αιδα δομοις
φοιτασεις πεδ’ αμαυρων νεκυων εκπεποταμενα.
_Sapph. Fragm._
* * * * *
Vides, ut alta stet nive candidum
Soracte, nec jam sustineant onus
Silvæ laborantes, geluque
Flumina constiterint acuto?
Dissolve frigus, ligna super foco
Large reponens; atque benignius
Deprome quadrimum Sabina,
O Thaliarche, merum diota.
_Carm._ 1, 9. _seq._
Υει μεν ο Ζευς, εκ δ’ ορανω μεγας
χειμων · πεπαγασιν δ’ υδατων ροαι.
· · · ·
· · · · ·
Καββαλλε τον χειμων’, επι μεν τιθεις
πυρ, εν δε κιρναις οινον αφειδεως
μελιχρον· αυταρ αμπι κορσα
μαλθακον αμπιτιθει γναφαλλον.
_Alcæi Fragm._
* * * * *
Quem virum aut heroa lyra vel acri
Tibia sumis celebrare, Clio?
Quem Deum? cujus recinet jocosa
Nomen imago, &c.
_Carm._ 1, 12, _seq._
Ἀναξιφορμιγγες υμνοι
τινα θεον, τιν’ ηρωα, τινα δ’ ανδρα κελαδησομεν.
_Pind. Ol._ 2, 1.
O navis, referent in mare te novi
Fluctus? O quid agis? fortiter occupa
Portum. Nonne vides, ut
Nudum remigio latus,
Et malus celeri saucius Africo
Antennæque gemant? ac sine funibus
Vix durare carinæ
Possint imperiosius
Æquor?
_Carm._ 1, 14, _seq._
Το μεν γαρ ενθεν κυμα κυλινδεται,
Το δ’ ενθεν· αμμες δ’ αν το μεσσον
ναι φορημεθα συν μελαινα,
Χειμωνι μοχθευντες μεγανω καλων·
παρ μεν γαρ αντλος ιοτοπεδαν εχει,
λαιφος δε παν ζαδηλον ηδη,
και λακιδες μεγαλαι κατ αυτο
Χαλασι δ’ αγκυραι ...
_Alcæi Fragm._
* * * * *
Nullam, Vare, sacra vite prius severis arborem.
_Carm._ 1, 18, _seq._
Μηδεν αλλο φυτευσης προτερον δενδρεον αμπελω.
_Alcæi Fragm._
* * * * *
Vitas hinnuleo me similis, Chloe,
Quærenti pavidam montibus aviis
Matrem, non sine vano
Aurarum et silvæ metu.
_Carm._ 1, 23, _seq._
Ατε νεβρον νεοθηλεα γαλαθηνον, ος εν υλη
Κεροεσσης απολειφθεις υπο μητρος επτοηθη.
_Anacr. Fragm._
* * * * *
O Venus, regina Gnidi Paphique,
Sperne dilectam Cypron, &c.
_Carm._ 1, 30, _seq._
Κυπρον ιμερταν λιποισα και Παφον περιρρυταν.
_Alcman. Fragm._
* * * * *
Quid dedicatum poscit Apollinem
Vates? quid orat, de patera novum
Fundens liquorem? &c.
_Carm._ 1, 31, _seq._
Τι δ’ ερδων, φιλος σοι τε,
καρτεροβροντα Κρονιδα,
φιλος δε Μοισαις, Ευθυμια τε
μελων ειην, τουτ’ αιτημι σε.
_Pind. Fragm._
* * * * *
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
Pulsanda tellus, &c.
_Carm._ 1, 37, _seq._
Νυν χρη μεθυσκειν, και τινα προς βιαν
πινειν, επειδη κατθανε Μυρσιλος.
_Alcæi Fragm._
* * * * *
Nullus argento color est avaris
Abdito terris, inimice lamnæ
Crispe Sallusti, nisi temperato
Splendeat usu.
_Carm._ 2, 2, _seq._
Ουκ εραμαι πολυν εν μεγαρω πλουτον κατακρυψαις εχειν
αλλ’ εοντων, ευ τε παθειν και ακουσαι, φιλοις εξαρκεων.
_Pind. Nem._ 1, 45.
* * * * *
Sævius ventis agitatur ingens
Pinus.
_Carm._ 2, 10, 9, _seq._
Ου θρυον ου μαλαχην ανεμος ποτε, τας δε μεγιστας,
η δρυας η πλατανους οιδε χαμαι καταγειν.
_Lucian. in Anthol._
* * * * *
Eheu fugaces, Postume, Postume,
Labuntur anni: nec Pietas moram
Rugis et instanti Senectæ
Adferet, indomitæque Morti.
_Carm._ 2, 14, _seq._
Ἀλλ’ ολιγοχρονιον γιγνεται, ωσπερ οναρ,
ηβη τιμηεσσα· το δ’ αργαλεον και αμορφον
γηρας υπερ κεφαλης αυτιχ’ υπερκρεμαται.
_Mimnerm. Fragm._
* * * * *
Quid brevi fortes jaculamur ævo
Multa?
_Carm._ 2, 16, 17.
—— Ω κενοι βροτων,
οι τοξον εντεινοντες ως καιρου περα.
_Eurip. Suppl._ 754.
* * * * *
—— Nihil est ab omni
Parte beatum.
_Carm._ 2, 16, 27.
Ουκ εστιν ουδεν δια τελους ευδαιμονουν.
_Eurip. Suppl._ 281.
* * * * *
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
_Carm._ 3, 2, 13.
Τεθναμεναι γαρ καλον επι προμαχοισι πεσοντα
ανδρ’ αγαθον περι η πατριδι μαρναμενον.
_Tyrtæi Fragm._
* * * * *
Mors et fugacem persequitur virum.
_Carm._ 3, 2, 14.
Ο δ’ αυ Θανατος εκιχε και τον φυγομαχον.
_Simonides._
* * * * *
Ætas parentum, pejor avis, tulit
Nos nequiores, mox daturos
Progeniem vitiosiorem.
_Carm._ 3, 6, 46, _seq._
Οιην χρυσειοι πατερες γενεην ελιποντο
Χειροτερην! υμεις δε κακωτερα τεξειεσθε.
_Arati Phænom._ 123.
* * * * *
Pulchris excubat in genis.
_Carm._ iv. 13, 8.
Ος εν μαλακαις παρειαις
νεανιδος εννυχευεις.
_Soph. Antig._ 779.
* * * * *
Dis miscent superis. Ἀθανάτοις ἔμιχθεν.
_Pindar. Isthm._ 2, 42.
Nube candentes humeros amictus. Νεφέλῃ εἰλυμένος ὤμους.
_Hom. Il._ εʹ, 186.
Erycina ridens. Φιλομειδὴς Ἀφροδίτη.
_Hom. Il._ νʹ, 424.
Officinas Cyclopum. Ἡφαίστοιο καμίνοις.
_Callim. Fragm._ 129.
Nitidum caput. Λιπαρὰν ἔθειραν.
_Simonid. (Anth. Gr.)_
Duplicis Ulixei. Διπλοῦς ἀνήρ.
_Eurip. Rhes._ 392.
Superis parem. Δαίμονι ἶσος.
_Hom. Il._ εʹ, 438.
Aptum equis Argos. Ἄργεος ἱπποβότοιο.
_Hom. Il._ βʹ, 287.
Ditesque Mycenas. Μυκήνας τὰς πολυχρύσους.
_Sophocl. Elect._ 9.
Nil desperandum. Ἄελπτον οὐδέν.
_Eurip. Fragm._
Deorum nuntium. Ἄγγελον ἀθανάτων.
_Hom. Hymn in Merc._ 3.
Marinæ filium Thetidis. Παῖς ἁλίας Θέτιδος.
_Eurip. Androm._ 108.
Carpe diem. Καιρὸν λάβε.
_Æsch. Sept. adv. Th._ 65.
Difficile bile. Χόλου ἀργαλέοιο.
_Hom. Il._ κʹ, 107.
Melior patre. Πατέρων ἀμείνονες εὐχόμεθ’ εἶναι.
_Hom. Il._ δʹ, 405.
Mordaces solicitudines. Γυιοβόρους μελεδῶνας.
_Hesiod._ Ἐργ, 66.
Dulce ridentem. Γελάσας ἰμέροεν.
_Sappho._
Dulce loquentem. Ἀδὺ φωνοίσας.
_Sappho._
Funera densentur. Θνῆσκον ἐπασσύτεροι.
_Hom. Il._ αʹ, 383.
Fulgentes oculos. Ομματα μαρμαίροντα.
_Hom. Il._ γʹ, 397.
Bellum lacrymosum. Πόλεμον δακρυόεντα.
_Hom. Il._ εʹ, 737.
Vacuum aera. Ἐρήμας δι’ αἰθέρος.
_Pind. Ol._ αʹ, 10.
Loquaces lymphæ. Λαλὸν ὕδωρ.
Fulmine caduco. Καταιβάτης κεραυνός.
_Æsch. Pr. V._ 359.
Vis consili expers. Ῥώμη ἀμαθής.
_Eurip. Fragm._
Flagitio additis damnum. Πρὸς αἰσχύνῃ κακόν.
_Eurip. Rhes._ 102.
Aquæ augur cornix. Ὑετόμαντις κορώνη.
_Euphorion._
Lentus amor. Βραδινὰ Αφροδίτα.
_Sappho._
Aquosa Ida. Πολυπίδακος Ἴδης.
_Hom. Il._ ξʹ, 157.
Obliquum meditantis ictum. Δοχμώ τ’ ἀΐσσοντε.
_Hom. Il._ μʹ, 148.
Gelu acuto. Χιόνος ὀξείας.
_Pind. Pyth._ αʹ, 39.
Dulci fistula. Γλυκὺς αὐλός.
_Pind. Ol._ ιʹ, 114.
Testudinis aureæ. Χρυσέα φόρμιγξ.
_Pind. Pyth._ αʹ, 1.
Magnæ linguæ. Μεγάλης γλώσσης.
_Sophocl. Antig._ 12.
Morti atræ. Μέλανος θανάτοιο.
_Hom. Il._ βʹ, 834.
Aureo plectro. Χρυσέῳ πλάκτρῳ.
_Pind. Nem._ εʹ, 44.
Supremum iter. Ὑστάτην ὁδόν.
_Eurip. Alcest._ 686.
Nescios fari infantes. Νήπια τέκνα.
_Hom. Il._ βʹ, 311.
Noctilucam. Νυκτιλαμπής.
_Simonides._
Purpureo ore. Πορφυρέου ἀπὸ στόματος.
_Simonides._
Mens trepidat metu. Δειματὶ πάλλει.
_Soph. Æd. Tyr._
The two following[674] odes have been attributed to Horace, but there is
no doubt that they are spurious. It was pretended that they were
discovered in the Palatine Library at Rome by Pallavicini: no MS.,
however, of Horace, containing them, has ever yet been found:—
AD IULIUM FLORUM.
Discolor grandem gravat uva ramum
Instat Autumnus; glacialis anno
Mox Hiems volvente aderit, capillis
Horrida canis.
Jam licet Nymphas trepide fugaces
Insequi lento pede detinendas;
Et labris captæ, simulantis iram,
Oscula figi.
Jam licet vino madidos vetusto
De die lætum recitare carmen;
Flore, si te des, hilarem licebit
Sumere noctem.
Jam vide curas aquilone sparsas!
Mens viri fortis sibi constat, utrum
Serius leti citiusve tristis
Advolat aura.
* * * * *
AD LIBRUM SUUM.
Dulci libello nemo sodalium
Forsan meorum carior extitit;
De te merenti quid fidelis
Officium domino rependes?
Te Roma cautum territat ardua;
Depone vanos invidiæ metus;
Urbisque, fidens dignitati,
Per plateas animosus audi.
En quo furentes Eumenidum choros
Disjecit almo fulmine Jupiter!
Huic ara stabit, fama cantu
Perpetuo celebranda crescet.
According to Bentley, the works of Horace were written in the following
chronological order:—
Satires Book I. in his 26th, 27th, and 28th years.
Satires “ II. “ 31st, 32d, and 33d years.
Epodes “ 34th and 35th years.
Odes “ I. “ 36th, 37th, and 38th years.
Odes “ II. “ 40th and 41st years.
Odes “ III. “ 42d and 43d years.
Epistles “ I. “ 46th and 47th years.
Odes “ IV. } “ 49th, 50th and 51st years.
Secular Hymn }
Epistle to the Pisos } uncertain.
Epistles “ II. }