XIX TO MAECENAS WRITING Shortly before the publication of this book, in 20 B.C., Horace replies to the adverse criticism which had been levelled against his Epodes and Odes (Books i.-iii.). These, it was claimed, lacked originality and were mere imitations of Greek exemplars. Horace therefore contrasts the rude and servile imitation, to which he has himself been subjected, with his own generous use of noble models, according to rules followed by the great Greek poets themselves (1-34). But the real reason why Horace has been assailed lies in the fact that the poet has not tried to please the general public or his offended critics. He refuses to resort to the usual methods of winning approval, and is therefore supposed to be arrogant. This is a charge which he declines to face (35-49). XIX. Prisco si credis, Maecenas docte, Cratino, nulla placere diu nec vivere carmina possunt, quae scribuntur aquae potoribus.1 ut male sanos adscripsit Liber Satyris Faunisque poetas, vina fere dulces oluerunt mane Camenae. laudibus arguitur vini vinosus Homerus ; Ennius ipse pater numquam nisi potus ad arma prosiluit dicenda. "Forum Putealque Libonis mandabo siccis, adimam cantare severis : hoc simul edixi,2 non cessavere poetae nocturno certare mero, putere diurno. quid? si quis voltu torvo ferus et pede nudo exiguaeque togae simulet textores Catonem, virtutemne repraesentet moresque Catonis ? rupit Iarbitam Timagenis aemula lingua,4 dum studet urbanus tenditque disertus haberi. 1 potioribus ERT. 3 ex ore o extore R. 2 edixi E, Porph.: edixit a. cena aE. 5 10 15 a On Cratinus see Index. In his IIurivn he jested upon his own intemperance. * Cf. Iliad, vi. 261 ἀνδρὶ δὲ κεκμηῶτι μένος μέγα οἶνος ἀέξει, and the use of epithets applied to wine, such as εὐήνωρ, ἡδύποτος, μελιηδής, μελίφρων. Ennius says of himself, " podager." numquam poetor nisi si EPISTLE XIX If you follow old Cratinus," my learned Maecenas, no poems can please long, nor live, which are written by water-drinkers. From the moment Liber enlisted brain-sick poets among his Satyrs and Fauns, the sweet Muses, as a rule, have had a scent of wine about them in the morning. Homer, by his praises of wine, is convicted as a winebibber. Even Father Ennius never sprang forth to tell of arms save after much drinking. "To the sober I shall assign the Forum and Libo's Wall; the stern I shall debar from song." Ever since I put forth this edict, poets have never ceased to vie in wine-drinking by night, to reek of it by day. What, if a man were to ape Cato with grim and savage look, with bare feet and the cut of a scanty gown, would he thus set before us Cato's virtue and morals? In coping with Timagenes, his tongue brought ruin to Iarbitas f; SO keen was his aim and effort to be deemed a man of a Cf. Sat. ii. 6. 35. The expression forum putealque Libonis denotes a life of business. • For the terms used cf. Sat. ii. 2. 51. The precise meaning of rupit is uncertain. Porphyrio takes it literally, as if the attempt to rival the eloquence of Timagenes (a rhetorician of the day) made Iarbitas "burst asunder." More probably the word has the general sense of ruined." 66 decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile: quod si quod timui mutare modos et carminis artem, temperat Archilochi Musam pede mascula Sappho, temperat Alcaeus, sed rebus et ordine dispar, nec socerum quaerit, quem versibus oblinat5 atris, 30 nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. hunc ego, non alio dictum prius ore, Latinus volgavi fidicen. iuvat immemorata ferentem ingenuis oculisque legi manibusque teneri. Scire velis, mea cur ingratus opuscula lector laudet ametque domi, premat extra limen iniquus : non ego ventosae plebis suffragia venor impensis cenarum et tritae munere vestis ; non ego, nobilium scriptorum auditors et ultor, 35 • A pale complexion was supposed to result from drinking cummin. bi.e. in the Epodes. Sappho was worthy to rank with men. M. B. Ogle argues (against Bentley) in favour of construing_Musam with Archilochi, and of interpreting temperat as "moderates' (A.J.P. xliii. (1922) pp. 55 ff.). d A reference to Neobule and her father Lycambes, who were assailed by Archilochus; cf. Epod. vi. 13. wit and eloquence. A pattern with faults easy to copy leads astray. So if by chance I lost my colour, these poets would drink the bloodless cummin." O you mimics, you slavish herd! How often your pother has stirred my spleen, how often my mirth! 21 I was the first to plant free footsteps on a virgin soil; I walked not where others trod. Who trusts himself will lead and rule the swarm. I was the first to show to Latium the iambics of Paros, following the rhythms and spirit of Archilochus, not the themes or the words that hounded Lycambes. And lest you should crown me with a scantier wreath because I feared to change the measures and form of verse, see how manlike Sappho moulds her Muse by the rhythm of Archilochus; how Alcaeus moulds his, though in his themes and arrangement he differs, looking for no father-in-law to besmear with deadly verses, and weaving no halter for his bride & with defaming rhyme. Him, never before named by other lips, I, the lyrist of Latium, have made known. It is my joy that I bring things untold before, and am read by the eyes and held in the hands of the gently born. с 35 Would you know why the ungrateful reader praises and loves my pieces at home, unjustly decries them abroad? I am not one to hunt for the votes of a fickle public at the cost of suppers and gifts of worn-out clothes. I am not one who, listening to The poet referred to in hunc (1. 32) is Alcaeus, not Archilochus, and Horace is now boasting, not of his Epodes, but of his Odes. The poet here contrasts himself with the politician seeking votes. He does not invite people to come together to hear his poems, and then by unworthy means seek to win their approval. |