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  • Essay / Breaking Down Poetry for an Emperor: Ovid and Horace

    Ovid and Horace, Roman poets of the time of Augustus, collectively captured a very wide range of feelings and atmospheres in the empire at that time. Horace wrote odes, satires, and epistles that glorified Augustus himself, his reforms, and his intentions for Rome. Ovid, on the other hand, in his poetry before A.D. 8, chose to write about the most universally intriguing subject of love, and he did so in a way that made disregarded the Augustan moral reforms and Augustus himself. His bold content and style, as well as his accidental knowledge of a mysterious error by a member of Augustus's family, led to his being exiled to Tomis in 8 AD. There he continued to compose verses, including Tristia, but his once loving and quick-witted voice transformed into one characterized primarily by supplication and flattery. While Horace maintains his oft-used persona of serious observer who ultimately emphasizes deference and praise of Augustus in his Epistle II.1, In Defense of Modern Poetry, Ovid's poetry d he exile, as Tristia testifies, takes on the tone of a dejected Horace. no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Augustus's main goal during his reign as princeps of Rome was to create an image of himself in as a bringer of peace, prosperity and fertility to Rome. By extolling Augustus as the source of such goodness, Horace gained great favor with Augustus and was given the honor of composing the anthem for the Secular Games, the Carmen Saeculare. In this ode, Horace celebrates the dawn of a new generation under the aegis of Augustus: “There is now trust and peace, honor and chastity;/ the ancient virtue, long neglected,/ dare to return, and rich abundance is among us with full horn” (Horace, Secular Hymn, 57-60). Even in his satires where he takes on a more laughable character, Horace underlines his verses with praise of Augustus. For example, in Satire 1.8, Horace uses Priapus, the god of masculinity and fertility, to express Augustus' life-giving power over the Roman Empire: Priapus, who represents life, and his timely flatulence, frighten the witches intrusive, which represent death, of a garden of which he is the guardian, symbolizing fertility (Horace, Satire 1.8.46-50). In Epistle II.1, however, Horace makes it clear that Augustus is considered a god in his time and forever. Distinguishing Augustus from heroes such as Romulus and Hercules, deified only after death (Epistle II.1.5-12), Horace writes: “But you are honored in due time while you are still among us./ We build altars on which swear by your divinity. ,/ declaring that your fellow man never was and never will be” (Epistle II.1.15-17). He praises Augustus by speaking of the closed doors of the temple of Janus, signifying the peace he has obtained: "For my part,... I would prefer to celebrate great deeds,... the end of conflicts in the world by your command./ Janus, guardian of peace locked behind his bars” (Epistle II.1.250-55). Thus, Horace portrays Augustus in the light that Augustus himself wishes to be seen, thereby gaining the blessings of Augustus's friendship. Horace in Epistle II.1 and Ovid in his Tristia explain the necessary qualities of poetry during the reign of Augustus --- Horace enumerating the virtues. of the poet and his art, and Ovid using his own earlier writings as a negative example of what Augustan poetry should be. Horace declares that this modern poetry is the most beautiful of writings due to the influence of Augustus: "It is true: among the Greeks, the oldest writing in all.