In these odes Horace creates lyric poetry in Latin which stands comparison with anything written by his brilliant predecessors in Greek. Of the three books published together in 23 BC the second is in many ways the most rewarding. The first ode, for instance, looks back at the civil wars fought by Caesar and Pompey, and by Octavian and Antony, from the point of view of Horace and his friend Pollio who both took part in them. There are also poems of friendship which give insight into the social and intellectual tone of the age of the first Roman emperor Augustus, and Horace's unique, elusive sense of humour is in evidence throughout. This book contains the Latin text (from the Oxford Classical Text), a translation which attempts to be close to the Latin while catching as much as possible of the flavour of the original, and a commentary which tries to suggest how these poems work as poetry.

About the Author
Professor of Latin at Newcastle (1969-92), Chairman of the board of Greece and Rome (1975-92), President of the Virgil Society (1992), President of the Classical Association (1995). Frequent contributor to Friends of the Classics and Classical Association newsletters, and The Times.

Reviews
David West takes a refreshing approach insofar as academic questions are sobered by looking at how the poems work as poems. * Quadrant No.405 *
The translation is characteristically clear and vivid, the commentary lucidly exegetical, providing almost all the historical, philosophical and literary information the reader (however general) needs for the interpretation of these densely allusive poems ... no reader of Horace's 'Odes' from scholar to school student will fail to gain a good deal from this book. * Stephen Harrison, Times Literary Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198721635
Author Horace
Format Paperback
Page Count 180
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 252g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 138mm * 11mm