Horace: Odes Book III (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)

Book 3 of the Odes completes the lyric trilogy which Horace, who rivals Virgil as the greatest of all Latin poets, published in 23 BC. Arguably his most famous book, it opens with the six so-called 'Roman Odes', those defining texts of the Augustan Age, and concludes with the statement of his achievement: he has produced for his Roman readers a body of lyric poetry to rival the great lyric poets of Greece, a monument which will last as long as Rome itself. The present volume aims to place Horace's Odes in their literary and historical context, to explain his Latin, to articulate his thought, and to attempt to elucidate his brilliance. It presents a new text and adopts an approach independent of that of earlier commentators.- Contracubierta "Although the matter is the subject of scholarly controversy, it is remarkable to think that the poet Horace was almost certainly a member of Octavian's entourage on that early September day more than two thousand years ago. He owed his presence at the battle to his friendship with Gaius Maecenas, who was a member of Octavian's inner circle and may aptly be described as a 'minister' of the newly victorious leader. In his first collection of poems, Book 1 of the Sermones or 'Satires', published in 36/35 bc, the poet describes his first meeting with Maecenas two or three years earlier. His name had been mentioned to the great man by his friends and fellow poets Virgil and Varius, but, when he came into Maecenas' presence, overcome by the occasion, he was tongue-tied. Nevertheless, after nine months he was summoned back and 'ordered' to be counted among Maecenas' amici (S. 1.6.54-62)"-- Provided by publisher Aimed primarily at undergraduates and postgraduates but will also be useful to their teachers and to professional scholars. Its principal aims are to explain Horace's Latin and to elucidate the articulation of his odes. It presents a new text and adopts an approach independent of that of earlier commentators.