Comparing Horace and Catullus

By analyzing the introductions between Horace and Catullus, each poet’s characteristics could be clearly visualized through similarities and differences. Horace’s Book 1, Ode 1, Maecenas atavis edite, and Catullus’ Poem 1 both are the opening pieces for their series of work. In fact, they are in a form of dedication towards the patrons of these poets, Maecenas and Cornelius, to deliver the message of appreciation for recognizing the gifted talents of poetry writing. Even though the purposes of these pieces are similar, the tone and contents of these introductions differ greatly.

The tone of Catullus writing the introduction is playful and humorous. He begins with a rhetorical question of asking the “dedicatee of [his] new witty booklet, all fresh-polished with abrasive?” to point out Cornelius as a dedicatee with Catullus self-praising himself. In addition to that, Catullus refers to Cornelius’ recognition of “feel[ing] [his] trivia possess[ing] some substance” in order to thank Cornelius’ consistency in supporting Catullus’ poetry. Catullus also mentions Cornelius’ great accomplishment of arranging “three-decker treatment of past ages” that contains “scholarly stuff, my god, and so exhaustive.” Then, he concludes the piece by the reference to his Muse and somewhat intensively promoting his “little booklet” and “mere rifle” to last long.

The tone of Horace’s introduction is a bit more formal and stiff. Although Horace too begins the ode by praising his patron, Maecenas, by calling him as Horace’s “stronghold, pride, and delight,” Horace shows his uniqueness in contents by referring to nine different ways of lives of Roman citizens. Starting from farmers and landowners to merchants and huntsmen, Horace lists nine distinct lives of people and how they show contributions for Rome. The reason why Horace provides this list is that he desires to stand out among these citizens. Horace reiterates the phrase “as for me” in order to draw a clear distinction for himself. Then he specifically writes “Nymphs and Satyrs to set me apart from the people.” Similar to Catullus in terms of concluding these pieces, Horace refers to his Muses, “Euterpe and Polyhymnia,” and also shows his ambition by telling Maecenas that if Horace has an opportunity to publicize his fine work, he guarantees his success as a poet.