Horace Book II

As the reader works through the passages of Book II, many different subjects arise; Horace speaks about war, love, poverty, pride, and humility. Initially, it seems that nothing links the subjects except a consistently dark tone. However, upon closer reading, I noticed that a unifying theme indeed exists. Destruction is the prevailing theme in Book II of Horace’s Odes. 

Horace begins book II by explaining destruction through war. In Motum ex Metello Horace details the destruction of cities and men brought about through the influence of a prominent and sinful Roman family. He Describes blood stained battlefields, cities in ashes, and the abandonment of the muses. Through his description, Horace displays both his disdain for destruction, and his belief in its superfluity. The lack of leadership causes the destruction, but with a firmer leader it could have been avoided

 His next few poems center on destruction through love. Unlike the lovesick Greek poets Sappho or Ibycus, Horace does not emphasize his longing for love, but rather reveals its downfalls. His poems examine men too prideful to love those without means, and young and fool hearty women unready to bear the “the weight/of an amorous bull plunging into love” (Horace, 60). Though perhaps not as explicit as corporal destruction experienced in war, these love injustices still causes destruction of the spirit. 

Finally, Horace generally examines destruction through greed. His later poems emphasize the purity one can achieve by living simply. He scoffs at those who wear ” robes of Laconian purple” (Horace, 72), and extolls Romulus and Remus for they had” small private wealth/ but their public wealth was great”(Horace, 69). By contrasting these figures, Horace reveals the destruction brought about through greed. Indeed, these people have fine clothes and houses, but he emphasizes that these things are temporal. Death, comes to everyone, so it is far better to live humbly and nobly than lavishly and sinfully.