Horace, Odes 1.30

This brief poem (Hor. Carm. 1.30) is by turns enigmatic (what is the purpose of Horace's prayer to Venus?) and slightly incoherent (why should both Horace and Glycera be praying to Venus? Are they praying for the same thing or for different things? Either has its problems). A further problem is that, if Horace intended uocantis in line 2 for a genitive, the text as it stands misleads the first-time reader, contrary to Horace's normal practice of authorial kindness toward such readers. The way to deal with this is to take uocantis as accusative (‘those calling on you with much incense’) and to insert an ‘and’ in the text to connect sperne and transfer : sperne dilectam Cypron et uocantīs | ture te multo Glycerae decoram | transfer in aedem (‘reject your beloved Cyprus and your incense-offering devotees and move to Glycera's beautiful shrine’). If this is right, it addresses the incoherencies under which the usual interpretation labours

Art · Incense · Interpretation (philosophy · Kindness · Linguistics · Literature · Poetry · Prayer · Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Historical and Literary Studies · Philosophy

• Generic composition in Greek and Roman poetry

  Francis Cairns•Generic composition in Greek and…•2008

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