Blog post 9: Horace book I

Horace book I

The first them that show up in the first poem is the theme of “praise.” The theme of “praise” is constantly showing up throughout Horace’s poems. Considering that Horace was commissioned by Maecenas or Caesar, it is not unusual to see Horace praising Maecenas and Caesar. We can also see that they were in good relationships because Horace does not criticize Maecenas or Caesar in his poems. However, Horace does criticize some people, especially those who seek wealth too much. The theme of money/wealth is another theme that pops up often in his poems (also appeared in the first poem in book I). Horace often emphasizes the beauty of simple life and how he is satisfied by his simple life. It seems like he wants to be seen as a humble, noble, and skilled person by others. (He is definitely a skilled poet so I can’t say much about that, but the way he emphasizes his simple life, while criticizing others pursing wealth, makes me think he is not that humble.) His pride as a poet is very strongly shown in many of his poems (especially in poem 8). He also concerns about society and culture. Later in his book Horace talks more about how the younger generations should do, showing his great interest in preserving and protecting well-contained noble society. He uses the figure of ship to describe the state of the society. Horace often uses purple dye as a symbol of affluence/fame/prosperity.

1) praising Maecenas, bravery, conquest, wealth not necessarily good

2) praises simple life, how he enjoys his simple possessions, purple dye

3) expresses his hatred for garlic

4) criticizes wealth without noble

5) innocent victim, witch, curse at the end

6) showing off his bravery. Pride.

7) concerning society. Worries about Roman ppl, war

8) pride. Criticizing sexually. Mentions wealth in a negative way

9) praising Caesar, color purple

10) ship, fight

11) love

12) criticizing sexually

13) war, gods, wine, song, hopeful

15) love, easily changeable wealth/fate

16) second generation, advice. Marching and conquering

17) witch, praising witch, poetry