Book description
The Satires of Horace (65-8 BC), written in the troubled decade ending
with the establishment of Augustus' regime, provide an amusing treatment
of men's perennial enslavement to money, power, glory and sex. Epistles
I, addressed to the poet's friends, deals with the problem of achieving
contentment amid the complexities of urban life, while Epistles II and
the Ars Poetica discuss Latin poetry - its history and social functions,
and the craft required for its success. Both works have had a powerful
influence on later Western literature, inspiring poets from Ben Jonson
and Alexander Pope to W. H. Auden and Robert Frost. The Satires of
Persius (AD 34-62) are highly idiosyncratic, containing a courageous
attack on the poetry and morals of his wealthy contemporaries - even the
ruling emperor, Nero. Horace (65 BC-8 BC), or Quintus Horatius
Flaccus, was a Roman lyric poet, satirist, and literary critic. He is
generally considered one of the greatest lyric poets of the world. Aules
Persius Flaccus was born in AD 34 in Etruria. Rich and well connected,
he knew Lucan, Thrasea Paetus, and other members of the opposition to
Nero's rule. His friendship with the philosopher Cornutus began when he
was sixteen and remained a strong influence until his death at the age
of twenty-seven. Although the satires are concerned with moral
questions- a fact which endeared Persius to the Church Fathers and won
him admiration in the Middle Ages and Renaissance- their main interest
for us lies in their condensed, allusive, and highly metaphorical style.
