Horace Carm. 4.7 and the Epic Tradition

The paper examines closely the last four lines (25–28) of Horace Carm. 4.7. Initial discussion centers on the connection between Horace's stanza and the simile at Aeneid 11.492–497 as well as on the latter's sources in Ennius and Homer. The paper turns to the irony in Horace's nomenclature—we find, for instance a Hippolytus who is confined rather than serving as a releaser—and then to the differences between Horace's treatment of Aeneas, Theseus, and Hippolytus and that of Vergil. Finally it looks at meter as metaphor, and asks why Horace used the second Archilochian, which combines epic and elegiac elements, only here.