By examining the relationship of the iambic tradition with ritual, this book studies how Horace’s Epodes are more than partisan (consolidating Octavian’s victory by projecting hostilities onto powerless others) but a meta-partisan project (forming fractured entities into a diversified unity).

This book explores how Horace's poems construct the literary and social authority of their author. Bridging the traditional distinction between 'persona' and 'author', Ellen Oliensis considers Horace's poetry as one dimension of his 'face' - the projected self-image that is the basic currency of social interactions. She reads Horace's poems not only as works of art but also as social acts of face-saving, face-making and self-effacement. These acts are responsive, she suggests, to the pressure of several audiences: Horace shapes his poetry to promote his authority and to pay deference to his patrons while taking account of the envy of contemporaries and the judgement of posterity. Drawing on the insights of sociolinguistics, deconstruction and new historicism Dr Oliensis charts the poet's shifting strategies of authority and deference across his entire literary career.

Horace's Epodes rank among the most under-valued texts of the early Roman principate. Abrasive in style and riddled with apparent inconsistencies, the Epodes have divided critics from the outset, infuriating and delighting them in equal measure. This collection of essays on the Epodes by new and established scholars seeks to overturn this work's ill-famed reputation and to reassert its place as a valid and valued member of Horace's literary corpus. Building upon a recent surge in scholarly interest in the Epodes, the volume goes one step further by looking beyond the collection itself to highlight the importance of intertext, context, and reception. Covering a wide range of topics including the iambic tradition and aspects of gender, it begins with a consideration of the influences of Greek iambic upon the Epodes and ends with a discussion on their reception during the seventeenth century and beyond. By focusing on the connections that can be drawn between the Epodes and other (ancient) works, as well as between the Epodes themselves, the volume will appeal to new and seasoned readers of the poems. In doing so it demonstrates that this smallest, and seemingly most insignificant, of Horace's works is worthy of a place alongside the much-lauded Satires and Odes.

This is by far the most detailed commentary yet on Horace's Epodes. The line-by-line commentary on each epode is prefaced by a substantial interpretative essay which offers a reading of that poem and synthesises existing scholarship. These essays, the first of their kind, will provideessential critical orientation to undergraduates approaching the Epode-book for the first time. Moreover, the scale and density of the commentary will make it an invaluable resource for scholars of Latin poetry. A particular feature is the first in-depth treatment of the two lengthy magical Epodes 5and 17. The author draws extensively on ancient magical texts preserved on papyrus and lead, as well as the recent flood of publications on Greek and Roman magic, to cast light on countless details in these epodes which reveal a marked familiarity on Horace's part with authentic magical belief andpractice.

By examining the relationship of the iambic tradition with ritual, this book studies how Horace’s Epodes are more than partisan (consolidating Octavian’s victory by projecting hostilities onto powerless others) but a meta-partisan project (forming fractured entities into a diversified unity).

A collection of recent articles representing some of the best recent writing on Horace's Odes and Epodes. Several classic studies in French, German, and Italian appear in English for the first time, while the Introduction surveys the state of current scholarship and offers guidance on the interpretation of Horatian lyric today.