Unity in the "Odes" of Horace

Abstract

Why, then, does he appear to contravene this principle in the Odes?' Consider, for example, 1. 22 which he introduces by philosophizing about the man who is integer vitae, but ends by singing of his sweetly-laughing, sweetly-prattling Lalage. Again, 1. 37 is a paean of joy occasioned by the defeat of Cleopatra, yet it ends in patent sympathy for her.2 At the beginning of 4. 2 Horace is expatiating upon the glories of Pindar; at the end he is describing a home-bred calf which he is going to sacrifice. We must either conclude that Horace was not including lyric in his opening remarks on the art of poetry, or we must suppose that it was some unity other than that of theme for which he strove in his lyric works. Although it is true that major emphasis throughout the Ars Poetica is upon drama, yet in the introduction reference is clearly made also to other types: epic, elegiac, iambic, and lyric (73-85). At this point Horace proceeds to indicate the necessity of keeping them distinct: