The Odes of Horace – Summary
Horace, whose full name in Latin is Quintus Horatius Flaccus, was a Roman lyric poet. He is best remembered for his poetic works The Odes, Satires, Epistles and the Episodes. His works, which were mostly in Latin, have been translated severally since they were first published more than 2000 years ago.
The Odes, which are now mostly referred to as the Odes of Horace, have been used widely for academic as well as recreational purposes. In total, Horace wrote 103 Odes which he arranged in four books. The first three books preceded publication, coming out around 23 BC, while the fourth Ode was published 10 years later, around 13 BC. In these Odes, he covers varying topics with the topics of love and friendship, parties and wines as well as birthdays particularly coming on strong. Horace’s use of satire throughout the Odes is well covered, and so is the use of different meters for each book and even poem. These diverse meters used by Horace were borrowed from lyric poets from Greece. In the Odes, Horace actually characterizes himself as the heir to the Greek lyric poets of the Generation past. Despite the heavy borrowing from the Greek poets, he still manages to display a unique and original sense of originality in the Odes.
Through the Odes, Horace introduces the reader to his everyday life and by sharing his personal experiences, he familiarizes a reader with the sophisticated side of the Roman Empire. Throughout the framework of the odes, Horace
The author’s tone is excited yet maintains a calmness, like someone in modern times might talk about something expensive that they bought. At points the author speaks with reverence of the palaces. The use of words like “feasted” and “echoing” helps in demonstrating the enormity of what they do for things that may seem like every day encounters, such as having a visitor over. This idea helps to demonstrate that the Greeks valued luxury and leisure so they could reap the rewards from the work that they had done.
The first thing to be recognized in the style of Greek literature is that it is as plain and direct as everything else they did. The simplicity and directness in writing seems bare to modern English readers. Modern English readers are accustomed to elaborate and adorned description. In fact, among most modern English readers there is almost an equivalent appreciation of the thing described and the way it is described in words.
Obesity has become an epidemic in the United States. With such a significant percentage of the population (68.8% of Americans are overweight or obese) dealing with weight issues and with food marketing pushing cheap, fast food options, Americans are suffering from serious health consequences.
Galinsky adds a new dynamic to the telling of Augustus’ life with his interpretation and depiction of the leadership and the progress made at the time. He is attempting to show the reader a more rounded picture of the life of this young emperor. The strict structure of the overall book is great in reminding the reader that this is a recount of historical events. This along with the inset boxes may at times dry out the entertaining aspects of the story being told. That being said this book is well put together and unlike the average historical text has foudn a way to keep audiences engaged while keeping structure, and fact in unison.
One element of the author’s style that I noticed and enjoyed about this novel is how the author properly characterizes each member of the story interestingly, and successfully manages to make the story more appealing due to his use of multiple literary elements. One opening property in this novel is the use of characterization. Aristotle, the protagonist and narrator of this story, is considered a dynamic character. Through the beginning of this novel, Aristotle was very shy, and had a limited amount of friends; moreover, he portrayed himself as timid, antisocial, and basic compared to other of his “peers.” This all changed, however, shortly into the novel, when Aristotle stumbled into a new individual. The book continues by letting the reader understand that Aristotle likes feeling sorry for himself. A passage in the book to support this claim goes as follows,”Feeling sorry for myself was an art. I think a part of me liked doing that.” (Saenz, 13) We also discover that Aristotle’s dad seems far away to him regardless of living in the same house. Moreover, we get some small backstory of Aristotle’s father, and we understand that his father feels distant to him because of the Vietnam war; a war in which Aristotle’s dad was a part of. A line
"Overview: Oedipus Rex." Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens and Lynn M. Spampinato. Vol. 1.
Virgil’s The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. The poem details the journey of Aeneas and his men after they are forced to flee burning Troy and as they wander the seas in search of land suitable to found a new Troy. Throughout the many books, the Trojans suffer through the Trojan War, the loss of their home, fierce storms, horrible monsters, and the wrath of the gods. A major theme of The Aeneid is human suffering as the characters in the poem experience the full front of despair and pain.
Intro – Begin by talking about how people often see Aeneid by Virgil as focusing on the events surrounding the Trojan war, but an equally important part of the story is the prevalent theme of duty. For instance, if one looks at Aeneas one can see his devotion towards caring for his people, and his persistence to follow his duty. Because of the emphasize that Virgil places on Aeneas devotion to his people and his duty to obey the gods, one can begin to theorize that Virgil believed duty was the most important quality a man could possess. Thesis: Often times, the Aeneid carries the reputation as a book centering around the founding of Rome, however, without the constant reminder of duty, one cannot fully view Virgil’s story as he intended.
Virgil came to be regarded as one of Rome's greatest poets. His Aeneid can be considered a national epic of Rome and has been extremely popular from its publication to the present day.
In the Poetics, Aristotle provides an outline of how the artist is to portray or represent the perfect Tragedy. A Tragedy, of course, was nothing more than a drama, in which the characters appeared "better" than in real life (in a comedy, they appeared "worse," according to Aristotle). Aristotle's Poetics makes several references to other dramatic works to illustrate his points, but he most commonly calls upon The Odyssey to support his argument for how a dramatic structure should be designed. However, along with the Odyssey, Aristotle extensively references Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both poetic works were enormously popular in their time (the former had been passed down orally for generations, and the latter won the top prizes at the dramatic festivals). Therefore, Aristotle is comfortable using both to support his viewpoint concerning Tragedy and the Tragic Hero. This paper will analyze the standards that Aristotle sets out concerning the definition of the Tragic Hero and show how Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a Tragic Hero.
In the discourse of literature, every tale presents a story with a hero. When it comes to culture, the author displays a heroic character as someone who demonstrates ideal characteristics that are based on the story’s historical background. These ideal attributes can include heroism, honesty, selflessness, and confidence. From Virgil’s tale of The Aeneid, Aeneas is portrayed as the protagonist and hero of the tale. Within this story, Virgil shows how the Roman culture is valued through Aeneas’s actions of heroism. His example of presenting the value of Roman culture to the reader is by illustrating the concept of romanitas. In the Roman culture, romanitas can be expressed in Latin as “roman-ness.” Though it is known to be a combination of
In order to compare these great philosophers, it is important that we first of all view their history from an individual perspective.
Oedipus the King is an excellent example of Aristotle's theory of tragedy. The play has the perfect Aristotelian tragic plot consisting of paripeteia, anagnorisis and catastrophe; it has the perfect tragic character that suffers from happiness to misery due to hamartia (tragic flaw) and the play evokes pity and fear that produces the tragic effect, catharsis (a purging of emotion).
The twenty-four old romantic poet John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” written in the spring of 1819 was one of his last of six odes. That he ever wrote for he died of tuberculosis a year later. Although, his time as a poet was short he was an essential part of The Romantic period (1789-1832). His groundbreaking poetry created a paradigm shift in the way poetry was composed and comprehended. Indeed, the Romantic period provided a shift from reason to belief in the senses and intuition. “Keats’s poem is able to address some of the most common assumptions and valorizations in the study of Romantic poetry, such as the opposition between “organic culture” and the alienation of modernity”. (O’Rourke, 53) The irony of Keats’s Urn is he likens
In his pioneering work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon writes that “the poetical fame of Ausonius condemns the taste of his age.” Indeed, Ausonius’s work may seem uncomplicated on the surface: he borrows heavily from previous literature and uses straightforward syntax. However, his work contains depth beyond its ostensible simplicity: it blends genres and uses consistent themes as narrative foci to guide the reader. In two of his most prominent poems, liquid (as water and drink) is the key interpretive control: In the Bissula, alcohol provides wisdom that counters the confining seriousness of sobriety, while in the Moselle the river provides calm comfort that contrasts with the hectic unnatural world. Throughout both poems, Ausonius consistently uses liquid to contrast the serenity and clarity provided by water and drink with the chaos of the dry world.