Odes

Odes and Epodes, of Horace, short Latin poems in various lyric metres. For the dates when they were written and published see HORACE. The Epodes, which Horace referred to as iambi, ‘iambics’, were professed imitations of Archilochus. They consist of seventeen poems, eleven in iambic metre (where Horace does not observe Porson's Law; see METRE, GREEK 5 (i)), and six in a combination of iambics and dactyls. Their name denotes the form of the metres: an epode is, metrically speaking, the second, shorter, line of a couplet, and thence is applied to short poems written in this way. Horace tells us himself (Epistles 1. 19. 23) that he followed the metres and spirit of Archilochus but not the latter's subject-matter or words. Some of the Epodes are on political themes (notably 16, a lament over the fate of Rome, now apparently about to be destroyed by civil strife), some are lampoons on personal enemies, some on love and miscellaneous subjects. Epodes 1 and 9 are notable poems expressing the poet's feelings at the time of the battle of Actium (31 BC), when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra. Epode 13 is a fine poem on a theme—drink as a remedy against bad weather, with symbolic undertones—that was to become familiar with the Odes.

Horace declares that his models for the four books of Odes were the early Greek lyric poets Sappho and Alcaeus. Books 1–3 comprise eighty-eight poems; book 4, published later, comprises another fifteen. Thirty-seven poems are in the alcaic metre (see METRE, GREEK 8 (i)), twenty-five in the sapphic, and the rest in a variety of asclepiads and other forms. The first six odes of book 3 are sometimes referred to as the Roman Odes, written in stately alcaics in elevated style on patriotic themes. These grander odes owed something to the inspiration, if not the form, of the Greek poet Pindar, who also had had to evolve a style in which he could address powerful rulers intimately. There are many odes which touch on political themes, as did the lyrics of Alcaeus. They reflect the transition of Roman feeling from anxiety for the safety of the state to security and triumph under the guidance of Augustus, whom Horace sincerely admired.

Overall the Odes cover a variety of subjects, private as well as public, incidents in the poet's own life or the lives of his friends, their departures on voyages or happy returns, their love affairs and his own, the changing seasons, the joys of the countryside and of wine; the poet sometimes treats these last subjects as symbolic of the brevity of human life with its ephemeral pleasures. Mostly the poems address individuals, as did early Greek lyric poetry, or start out with a personal reference. Many of them show Horace's keen sense of situation and his sharp observation of the human comedy; they are full of wit and charm and cleverness, often with a surprise at the end. The Odes are the product not of immediate, intense emotion, but of meditation, not lyric in a modern sense nor yet in the original Greek sense (see LYRIC POETRY). They are characterized by faultless economy of phrasing, perfect control, balance and harmony of thought and expression; their euphony and intricate word order have proved inimitable. The moderation and urbane good sense they express, in an often ironic and self-deprecating tone, have endeared them to readers of all periods.