The Influence Of Simonides Of Ceos Upon Horace

Over the course of his life (550-460 BC), the Greek poet Simonides produced poetic work of every kind then extant. Unfortunately, Simonides' corpus has survived only in fragments, though classical scholars have been studying his work for generations. The 1992 discovery of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri revolutionized the study of Simonides, casting particular light on the epic of Plataea. This edited volume gathers the best of the recent research on Simonides' newly expanded oeuvre into a single collection that will be an important reference for scholars of Greek poetry.

In this volume, first published in 1945, Mr Wilkinson writes primarily for students of the classics who are not Horatian specialists. His book falls easily within the scope of those who can read any Latin at all - and even of those who cannot, for most passages quoted are also translated. Horace - for Mr Wilkinson - is the poet of the Odes and the Epodes - the incomparable genius of the lyric form, and a sympathetic and engaging character into the bargain. He is especially concerned with Horace as the poetic craftsman. Like most Roman poets, Horace was not inventive in subject-matter: he generally wrote about what we now recognize as the eternal platitudes. But Mr Wilkinson focuses on the mastery of form, rhythm and cadence that have charmed readers for centuries.

This book is a successor to the commentaries by Nisbet and Hubbard on Odes I and II, but it takes critical note of the abundant recent writing on Horace. It starts from the precise interpretation of the Latin; attention is paid to the nuances implied by the word-order; parallel passages are quoted, not to depreciate the poet's originality but to elucidate his meaning and to show how he adapted his predecessors; sometimes major English poets are cited to exemplify his influence on the tradition. In expounding the so-called Roman Odes the editors reject not only uncritical acceptance of Augustan ideology but also more recent attempts to find subversion in a court-poet. They show how Greek moralizing, particularly by the Epicureans, is applied to contemporary social situations. Poems on country festivals are treated sympathetically in the belief that the tolerant and inclusive religion of the Romans can easily be misunderstood. The poet's wit is emphasized in his addresses both to eminent Romans and to women with Greek names; the latter poems are taken as reflecting his general experience rather than particular occasions. Though Horace's ironic self-presentation must not be understood too literally, the editors reject the modern tendency to treat the author as unknowable. Although the text of the Odes is not printed separately, the headings to the notes provide a continuous text. The editors put forward a number of conjectures, most of them necessarily tentative, and in the few cases where they disagree, both opinions are summarized.

This handbook is a guide to the reading of elegiac, iambic, personal and public poetry of early Greece. Intended as a teaching manual or as an aid for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, it presents the major scholarly debates affecting the reading of these poetic texts, such as the effect of genre, the question of the poetic persona, or the impact of modern literary theory.

The first three books of Horace's Odes were issued together, apparently in the latter part of 23 BC. The second book, however, has a coherence of its own in terms of subject matter, tone of voice, and arrangement. In particular there is a predominance of poems concerned with philosophy, with conduct, and with friendship. This commentary provides the reader with the background knowledge of conventional forms and topics needed to appreciate fully every aspect of the poems. In particular word-play, literary parallels, and stylistic nuances are highlighted and discussed. The commentary may be used in conjunction with the Oxford Classical Text of Horace edited by E. C. Wickham.