HORACE / 121

prevailing usage] makes language seem more elevated; for people feel the
same in regard to lexis as they do in regard to strangers compared with citi-
zens. As a result; one should make the language unfamiliar, for people ate
admirers of what is far off, and what is marvelous is sweet. Many [kinds of
words] accomplish this in verse and are appropriate there; for what is said
[in poetry] about subjects and characters is more out of the ordinary, but in
prose much less so; for the subject matter is less remarkable, since even in
poetry it would be rather inappropriate if a slave used fine language or if a
man were too young for his words, or if the subject were too trivial, but in
these cases, too, propriety is a matter of contraction or expansion. As a result,
authors should compose without being noticed and should seem to speak
not artificially but naturally. (The latter is persuasive, the former the oppo-
site; for [if artifice is obvious] people become resentful, as at someone plot-
ting against them, just as they are at those adulterating wines.) An example
is the success of Theodorus'l voice when contrasted with that of other actors;
for his seems the voice of the actual character, but the others' those of
somebody else. The "theft" is well done if one composes by choosing words
from ordinary language. Euripides 2 does this and first showed the way.
.. p ..

ca. 340 B.C.E.

I. Renowned Athenian tragic actor (active ca. 370 2. Greek tragedian (ca. 485-co. 406 H.C.E.).
H.C.E.).

HORACE
65-8 B.C.E.

It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of Horace's An Poetica (Art

of Poetry) for the subsequent history of literary criticism. Since its compositi<?QJn the
first century H.C.E., this epigrammatic and sometimes enigmatic critical poem has
exerted an almost continual influence over poets and literary critics alike-perhaps
because its dicta, phrased in verse form, are so eminently quotable. Horace's injunc-
tion that poetry should both "instruct and delight" has been repeated so often that it
has come be to known as the Horatian platitude. His practical approach to poetry as
a craft, or an, contrasts markedly with the more theoretical bent of his predecessors,
especially ARISTOTLE and PLATO. In fact, unlike Plato, Horace holds the poet in very
high regard, as his "Epistle to Augustus" suggests: "The poet forms the young child's
stammering mouth, and turns his ear at a timely hour from obscene discourse; next
he also shapes his heart with friendly precepts, castigating harshness, resentment,
and wrath. He tells of deeds honorably done, Instructs rising generations by the exam-
ples of famo'us men, and consoles the sick and helpleu."
Horace describes himself In his youth III the impoverished son of a freed slave, yet
he rose to great prominence in Rome, becoming both a leading member of the illus-
trious circle of poets patronized by the emperor Augustus (63 8.C.E.-14 C.E.) and one
of Rome's greatest poets and satirist's. Quintus Horatius Flaccus was .horn in Venusia,
a Roman military colony in southeastern Italy on the border between Apulia and
122 I HORACE

Lucania. His father worked as an auctioneer and had a small landholding. Iti!l pos-
sible that il) his p.oetry (our main source .for his biography) exag-
gerates his family's poverty. His fat.her· was apparently wealthy enough to send his
son to Rome for his schooling. At the ,age of nineteen Horace weQ.! to to the
Marcus Brutus conVinced him ·in his to re-
establish the Republic. He accompanied' to. Asia Minor and was appointed to
the high post of military tribune. After the defeat of'Brutus arid Cassius at Philippi
in 42 B.C.E. at the hands of Octavian-'the future Augustus who would one day be
the poet's patron-Horace returned to Rome, to'find that his father's home and'lllnd
had been confiscated. Despite this setback, he was able to obtain· a pardon for his
part in the rebellion and to purchase a position as scriba quaestorius,a·keeper of
records in the treasury. At this time, he also began his career. as a poet. His abilities
were recognized by Gaius Maecenas, a wealthy aristocrat and the most
literary patron in Rome, to whom he was introduced by the poet Virgil. He maintained
a close friendship with Maecenas latter's death. Around 38,B.C.E., through
Maecenas, Horace became a member of the small circle of writers who enjoyed the
patronage of Octavian, now the emperor. Though he declined an offer to become the
emperor's secretary, the emperor's support enabled Horace to do' nothing but write
poetry for the rest of his life. He died of a sudden illness on November 27,8 B.C.E.,
only two months after the death of his patron and friend Maecenas, next to whose
tomb he was buried.
Horace is celebrated for his poetry; between 39 and 10 B.C.E., he produced numer-
ous epodes (lyric poems), odes, satires, and verse epistles (letters). Many of the epis-
tles deal with the subject of poetry: the best-known are the "Epistle to Florus" (19);
the "Epistle to Augustus" (12), which, examines the role of poetry in the state and
asserts the merits of contemporary (that is, Augustan) poetry; and the famous "Epistle
to the Pisones."
QUINTILIAN was the first to give the title an poetica (art of poetry) or fiber de' arte
poetica (book of the poetic art) to Horace's letter to the Pisones, a prominent Roman
family with interests in poetry and literary criticism. The An Poetica. was.written
perhaps as late as 10 B.C.E., although the date remains controversial, as 'do the iden-
tities of the members the Piso family-father and sons-whom the poem addresses.
Most likely the senior Piso is Lucius Calpurnius Piso (48 B.C.E.-32 C.E.); the sons
have not been identified. The An Poetica, is less;a formal verse epistle, however-the
trappings of the letter form are superficial at a long conversational poem
about poetry, written by an experienced and famous poet of the day. This form was
widely imitated by later iJOets...;w.;most notably by GEOFFREY OF VINSAUF in the 'twelfth
century, PIERRE DE RONSARD In the abcteenth"j Nicolas· Boileau In the seventeenth,
ALEXANDER POPE In the eighteenth, Lord Byron'n the nineteenth, and Wanace Ste-
vena In the twentieth. The genre of literary theory in verae form preaent. many chal·
lenges. Because of the requirements of versification, the structure of Horace's text-.;.
its organization and transitions-'--is often dictated less' by logical argumentation than
by verbal association and rhetorical tone; Translation of the An ·Poetica (476 linell
long) is notoriously difficult. Many English translations imitate Horace's hexameter
lines by using rhymed couplets, which tend to reduce Horlice's urbane Wit at·best to
a string of epigrammatic statements held together by the meter, at worst to doggerel.
For this reason, we have chosen a prose translation here.
While heavily indebted to Greek literature, and in particular to Aristotle (espeCially
the Poetics and Rhetoric), the An Poetica is neither a systematic exposition of a coher-
ent theory of poetic composition nor a comprehensive textbook for aspiring writers.
Instead, it is an argument for poetry as a craft. Poetry is not merely inspired madness
(as in Plato) or genius; it is an art and, as such, has rules and conventions that require
both instruction and practice. Horace understands the concept of an in three ways:
as a practiced mastery of a craft, as a systematic knowledge of theory and technique,
and as a capacity for objective self-criticism. His urbane text counsels 'the aspiring
 HORACE I 123

young poet, in this case probably the elder Piso son, that the 'craft of poetry will
require painstaking work and self-sacrifice to acquire.
Another key principle that dominates the whole of the An Poetica is decorum.
Briefly defined, decorum is the discernment and use of appropriateness, propriety,
proportion, and unity in the arts, whether in painting, sculpture, or poetry. This is
the Horatian principle that most appealed to later French and English neoclassical
critics (see, for example, Pope, below), who often applied standards of decorum more
rigidly than Horace himself would have. For Horace, decorum required that the poet
fit the part to the whole, the subject to the appropriate genre, and meter and language
to both character and circumstance. A skillful poet, knowledgeable in the craft of
poetry and observant of the principles of decorum, would produce the kind of poetry
able to "delight and instruct" its audiences.
Among the many dicta for which Horace's text is most famous are the warning
against the "purple patch" (pu'l'ureus pannus) and the declarations that "poetry
resembles painting" (ut pictura poesis), "even Horner sometimes sleeps" (idem dor-
<nitat Homerus), and poetry should be "pleasing" and "useful" (dulce et utile). Purple
patches are inappropriately placed ornate passages that violate the' principle of deco-
rum and thus should be avoided by writers. Later critics have built on Horace's lik-
ening of poetry to painting to explore the spatial as well as the temporal dimensions
of literature (see below, for example, G. E. LESSING and Erich Auerbach). Because
sometimes even a poet as great as Homer errs, Horace counsels tolerance of occa-
sional small faults. The pleasures of poetry for readers and audiences ,should
be joined to practical and moral instruction embodied in the\oVork, ,th(mgh Horace
seems more preoccupied with delight and careful craft thari with moral uplift. It is
to these and other pithy and suggestive observations' that modern critics often turn
when considering Horace.
Horace's critics have complained that the long epistle is disorganized, that it some-
times sacrifices sense for the sake of wit, and that It lacks grandeur, being preoccupied
with audience response. Since its publication, however; ,the An Poetica has appealed
to those literary critics interested in codifying the principles:of poetic composition,
in arguing the relative merits of craft and genius in poetry, and in debating whether
the primary goal of literature is pleasure or instruction.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
The complete Latin works of Horace are collected In Q. Horat; Flacci Opera, edited
by D. R. Shackleton Bailey (I 985). The standard Latin edition of the An Poetica with
English commentary can be found in Episdss Book lIAnd EplstkJ to the Pisones,
by Niall Rudd (1989). This text also includea the important "Eplltle to AUgUltU8" and
the "Epistle to Florus." The Complete Works of HONce, edited by Charles E. Passage
(1983), offers an English translation of Horace's collected poetry, including the An
Poetica. Very readable prose translations are also provided by D. A. Russell in Ancient
Literary Criticism (1972) and by Leon Golden in O. B. Hardison and Leon Golden's
Horace for Students of Literature: The "An Poetica" and Its Tradition (I995), which
also includes a series of documents that demonstrate the influence of Horace's epistle
throughout the history of Western literary criticism. A Latin Lifo of Horace exists; it
is attributed to the Roman historian Suetonius (ca. 69-140 C.E.). A recent English
biography is Peter Levi's Horace: A Life (1997).
D. A. Russell's essay on the An Poetica in Horace (ed. C. D. N. Costa, 1973) pro-
vides a useful and brief introduction to the poem. Charles O. Brink's monumental
three-volume study, Horace on Poetry (1963-82), offers an indispensible advanced
study of Horace's critical principles; It includes texts and commentaries on the An
Poetica, the "Epistle to Augustus," and the "Epistle to Florus." Ross S. Kilpatrick, in
The Poetry of Criticism: Horace, Epistles 11 and the Poetica (1990), also focuses
on Horace's writing on literature in a format more accessible to the beginning student
124 I HORACE

of Horace. Bernard Frischer, in Shiftlng Paradigms: New Approaches to Horace's "Ars

Poetica" (1991), presents a detailed statistical analysis of the epistle's. many contro-
versies.
Volume 3 of Brink's Horace on Poetry (cited above) contains an extensive bibliog-
raphy of primary and secondary sources on Horace's literary criticism. For a more
general work, see the bibliographical essay in Homage to Horace: A Bimillenary Cel-
ebration (ed. S. J. Harrison, 1995) ..

Ars Poetical
Unity and Consistency
a painter who wanted to combine a horse's neck with a human head,
and then clothe a miscellaneous coliection of limbs with various kinds .of
feathers, so that what started out at the top as a beautiful woman ended in
a hideously ugly fish. If you were invited, as friends, to the private view,
could you help laughing? Let me tell you, my Pis()2 friends, a book whose
different features are made up at random like a sick man's dreams, with no
unified form to a head or a tail, is exactly like that picture .
. 'Painters and poets have always enjoyed recognized 3 tights to venture on
what they will.' [Ii] Yes, we know; indeed, we ask and grant this permission
turn and turn about. But it doesn't mean that fierce and gentle can be united,
snakes paired with birds or lambs with tigers.
Serious and ambitious designs often have a purple patch or two sewn ·on
to them just to. make a good show at a description of a grove and
altar of Diana," the meanderings of a stream running through pleasant
meads, the River Rhine, the rainbow: [19] but the trouble is, it's not the
place for them.
Maybe.you know how to 'do a picture of a cypress tree? What's the good
of that, if the man who is paying for the picture is a desperate ship-wrecked
mariner swimming to safety? The job began as a wine-jar: the wheel runs
round-why is that a tub that's coming out"? In short, let it be what you will,
but let it be simple and unified.

Skiil Needed to Avoid Faults

Most of 'us poets-father and worthy sons_are deceived by appearances of
correctriess. I try to be concise, but I become obscure; my aim is smoothness,
but sinews and spirit fail; professions of grandeur end in bombast; the over-
cautious who fear the storm creep along the ground. Similarly, the writer
who wants to give fantastic variety to his single theme [30] paints a dolphin
in his woods and a wild boar in his sea. If art is wanting, the flight from
blame leads to faults. The poorest smith near the School of Aemilius 5 will
reproduce nails and mimic s()ft hair in bronze, though he has no luck with
the over-all effect of his work, because he won't know how to organize the

1. Translated by D. A. Russell. In this prose trans- Identified.

lation of Horace'. verse, subheads have been added 3. Or "equal" (translator's note).
by the translator. 4. Roman goddess of the hunt, the morin, and'
2. Horace Is thought to have addressed the An to childbirth.
Lucius Calpurnius Plso (48 B.C.E.-32 c.'E.) and his 5. A schooi for gladiators, near the shops ofbron:r.e
sons, though none of the sons has been positively workers.
 ARS POETICA I 125

whole. If I were anxious to put anything together, I would as soon be that

. man as I would live with a mis-shapen nose when my black eyes and black
hair had made me a beauty. .
You writers 'must choose material equal to your powers. Consider long
what your shoulders will bear and what they will refuse. [40] The man who
chooses his subject with fulJ control will not be abandoned by eloquence or
lucidity of arrangement.
As to arrangement: its excellence and charm, unless I'm very wrong, con-
sist in saying at this moment what needs to be said at this moment, and
postponing and temporarily omitting a great many things. An author who
has undertaken a poem must be choosy-cling to one point and spurn
another.
As to words: if you're delicate and cautious in arranging them, you will
give distinction to your style if aI;J ingenious combination makes a familiar
word new. If it happens to be necessary to denote hidden mysteries by novel
symbols, [50] it will fall to you to invent terms the Cethegi in their loin-
cloths 6 never heard-and the permission will be granted if you accept it
modestly-and, moreover, your new and freshly invented words will receive
credit, if sparingly derived from the Greek springs. Is the Roman to give
Caeciliusand Plautus privileges dehied to Virgil and Varius?7 Why am I
unpopular if I can make a few acquisitions, when the tongue of Cato and
Ennius 8 so enriched their native language and produced such a crop of new
names for things?

Fashions in Words
It always has been, and always will be, lawful to produce a word stamped
with the currerit mark. [60] As wOQds change in leaf as the seasons slide op,
and tile first .leaves fall, so generation' of words dies ou t, and the
newly born bloom and are 'strQog like men. We and our works are a
debt. owed to death. Here sea protects fleets from the North
wind-:-:-a royal achievement; here an old.barren marsh where piled
feeds neighbouring cities and feels the weight of the plough; here again a
river gives up a course that damaged the crops and learns a better way. But
whatever they are, all mortal works will die; and still less can the glon.
..
and
charm of words endure for a long life. [70] Many words which have fallen
will be born again, many now in repute wiIJ fall if usage 9 decrees: for in her
hand is the power and the law and the canon of speech.

Metre and Subject

Histories of kings and generals, dreadful wars: it was Homer! who showed
in what metre these could be narrated. Lines unequally yoked in pairs2
6. I.e., primitive Romans [translator', note). R.C,E.), Roman statesman, stern moralist; and pro-
7. Roman poet (ca. 74-14 B.C.E.), friend of Virgil lific writer of treatises and history.
and Horace; author of the tragedy 'Thyesees. Cae- 9. Or "need" [translator's notel.
cilius Statius (d. ca. 168 B.C.E.), former slave from I. Greek epic poet (8th c. D.C.E.) to whom the
Gaul who wrote Latin comedies. Plautus (d. ca. IIUul and Odyssey are traditionally attributed.
184 D.C.E.), Roman comic dramalist whose plays 2., In elegiac couplet., formed by a dactylic hex·
were modeled on Greek New Comedy originals. ameter (a 6·foot line based on the syllabic pattern
Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.), Roman poet and friend of long.short.short) and a line replacing the 3d and
Horace. 6th foot with one long syllable. The shorter second
8. Roman tragic and epic poet (ca. 239-169 line gives the couplet a sen,e oFfalling off, thought
D.C.E.) who tried to refine the Latin language to impart melancholy.
according to Greek example. Cato (234-149
126 I HORACE

formed the setting first for lamentations; then for the expression bf a vow
fulfilled' though who first sent these 'elegies' into the world is a gram-
marians' quarrel and still sub judice. Madness armed Archilochus with itS
owri iambus;4 [80] that too was the foot that the comic sock and tragic buskin
held, because it was suitable for dialogue, able to subdue the shouts ·of the
mob, .and intended by: nature for il life of action. To the lyre, the Muse
granted the celebration of gods and the children of gods,victorious boxers,
winning race-horses, young men's love, and generous wine; If I have neither
the ability nor the knowledge to keep the duly assigned functions and tones
of literature, why am I hailed as a poet'? Why do 1 prefer to be ignorant.than
learn, out of sheer false shame'? A coniic subject will not be set out in tragic
verse; [90] likewise, the Banquet of Thyestes' disdains being told in poetry
of the private kind, that borders stage; Everything must keep
the appropriate place to which it was: allotted. .
Nevertheless; comedy does sometimes raise her voice, and angry Chremes6
perorates with swelling eloquence. Often too Telephus and Peleus 7 in trag-
edy lament in prosaic language, when ·they are both poor exiles and throw
away their bombast and words ·half a yard long,_ if they are anxious to touch
the spectator's heart with their complairit ..

Emotion ana. Character

It is not enough for poetry to be beautiful; it must also be pleasing and lead
the hearer's mind wherever it will. [101] The human face smiles in sympathy
with smilers and comes to the help of .those· that weep. If you want me to
mourn first yourself; dum .your hurt me, Telephus and
Peleus. If your words, are you.ineptIY, I shall fall asleep or lau$h. Sad
words. sui,t a mournful threatening words an angry (,me; spor-
tive words are for the .,Iaytul, for For nature first shapes
us within for any state of fortllDe"":"gives us pleasure or drives us to anger or
casts us down to the ground and pains us-[Ill] arid
then expresses the through the medium of the tongue. If the words
are out of tune with the speakees fortunes, the knights arid infantry of Rome
will raise a cackle. It will make a lot" of difference whether the speaker is a
god or a hero, an old man of ripe years' or a hot youth, an influential matron
or a hard-working nurse, a travelling merchant or the tiller of a green farm,
a Colchian or an Assyrian, orie nurtured.at Thebes or at ArgoS. 8 '.' . , •

Choict ana. Hana.ling of Myth

Either follow tradition or invent a consistent st,ory.[ 120] If as a 'writer you
are representing Achilles with· all his honours, let him be active, irascible,
3. Horace Is thinking of Inscription. accompany- (Roman dramatist, ca. 159 R.C.E.).
ing dedications to gods ,[translator's note]. 7. ·Father of th" Greek h",.., Achilles, the central
4. Metrical foot made of one short and .one long . character In th" Iliad. Telephus: son'of Heraeles
syllable; Iambic trimeter was the measure. used in and Auge, wounded bl' Achilles' spear and cured
dialogue In both Greek comedies and Greek trag- by Its rust. '
edies, Archilochus (ca. 7th c. B.C.E.), Ionian lyric 8. The ArgIve Agamemnon shows reServe and dig-
poet thought to be the earliest writer of Iambic nity, while the Theba" Creon Is' a heali.trong
verse. tyrant, The Assyrian would be effeminate, .s com-
5. In Greek mrthology, Atreus murdered his 'pared with the Colchian, but both would be bar-
brother Thye.tes son and served the boy to Thyes- barian. (Assyria was an ancient empire of west
les, who had seduced Atreus's wlf", Asia; Colchl. bordered the Black Sea).
6, Miserly character In the comedies of Terenc"
 ARS POETICA / 127

implacable, and fierce; let him say 'the laws are not'foi' me' and set no limit
to the claims that arms can make. Let Medea be proud and indomitable, Ino
full of tears, bion treacherous, 10 never at rest, Orestes full of g100m. 9 On
the other hand, if you are putting something untried on the stage and ven-
turing to shape a new character, let it be maintained to the end as it began
and be true to itself. It is hard to put generalities in an individual way: you
do better to reduce the song of Troy to acts than if you were the first to bring
out something unknown and unsaid. J [131] The common stock will become
your private property if you don't linger on the broad and vulgar round, or
anxiously render word for word, a loyal pr again, in the process
of imitation, find yourself in a tight corner from which shame, or the rule of
the craft, won't let you move; or, once agt)in, if you avoid a beginning like
the cyclic poet2-
Of Priam's fortune will I sing, and war
well known to fame.
If he opens his mouth as wide as that, how can the promiser bring forth
anything to match it? The mountains shall be in labour, and there shall be
born-a silly mouse. [140] How much better was the way of that poet whose
every endeavour is to the point!
Tell me, 0 Muse, of him who, Troy
had fallen, saw the manners and the towns
of many men.' ' '
His plan is not to turn fire to smoke, but smoke to light, so as to relate
magnificent wonders thereafter-Antiphates the Cyclops, Scylla and
Charybdis." He doesn't start the Return of Diomedes from the deat.,. of Mele-
ager,' nor begin the Trojan war from the twin egg;6 he. is always making good
speed towards the end of the story, and carries his hearer right into the thick
of it as though it were already known. [150] He leaves ,out. anything which
he thinks cannot be polished up satisfactorily by treatment, and tells his
fables and truth falsehood in such a way that the middle squares
with the beginning and the end with the middle. ,
Let me tell you what I and the public both want, if you're hoping for an
applauding audience that will wait for the curtain and keep its seat unt1t the
epilogue-speaker says 'Pray clap your hands'.? You must mark the manners

9, Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra who 2, That is, a poet of the epic cycle, writing poems
avenges his father's murder by killing his mother In Homeric style and usually about events of the
and her lover; he is gloomy because the Furies Trojan War,
hound him for the crime of matricide. Medea: 3. Odysseyl.lff. [translator's "ote].
enchantress of Greek myth who helps Jason gain 4. Characters from Homer'i Odyssey: Antiphateo,
the Golden Fleece, and, after he abandons her, king of the Laestrygones; Cyclops, Greek mytho-
murders their children in revenge. InDo daughter logical giant with one eye; Scylla, half-human sea
of Cadmus, 'wlfe of Athamas; pursued by her monster that takes men from passing ships; Cha-
enraged husband after plotting against her step- rybdis, a dangerous whirlpool in the waters
children, she leaped into the sea with her son. between Sicily and Italy, regarded as a female mon-
hiol1: king who slew his father-in-law and is bound ster.
to .. perpetually revolving wheel in the underworld 5. Uncle of Diomedes, a Greek hero in the Iliad,
as punishment for hi. attempted seduction of and therefore of an older generation,
Juno. 10: daughter of Inachus who wao loved by 6. The offspring of Leda and Zeus were twins, Cly-
Zeus and subsequently transformed into a cow, temnestra and Helen; Helen, taken from her hus-
goaded hy gadflies sent by the angry Hera, Zeus's band by the Trojan prince Paris, is usually
wife, considered by poet. to be the immediate cause of
1. I.e., to invent names and circumstances for B the Trojan War.
general theme is undeoirab!e; if YOll object that the 7. The comedies of the Roman playwrights Plau-
known myths are hackneyed, the remedy is in the tus and Terence close with p"'sul;,,, (applaud!) or
treatment of them in a new way [translator's note]. an eqUivalent phrase,
128 I HORACE

of each time of life, and assign the appropriate part to changing nat.ures and
ages. The child; just able .to. repeat words and planting his steps on. the ground
with confidence, js. to play.with his contempQJ;'aries, gets in and out of
a temper without much cause,.an.d:changes hOJ.lr byhour. [l61] The beard-
less youth, his tutor at last,out -fiJf·the way, enjoys-his horses and dogs and
the grass of the sunny Park.. 1vtoulded like wax into. vice,' he is sl,lrly to would-
be advisers, slow,to provid.e for'necessities, pr.odigalof mon.ey, up in. the air,
eager, and quick to abandon -the 'objects of. his sudden love. Soon interests
change: the grown man'.s mind pursues wealth and influe·ntial. connections,
is enslaved to honour, and. avoids doing anything he may soon be trying ·to
change. [169] Many distresses surround the oldman. He is acquisitive, and,
poor man, ·daren't put his hand on what he has laid up; he is afraid to use
it. He goes about his business timidly and coldly, procrastinating, letting
things drag on in hope, lazy greedy of his future; he is awkward and
grumbling, given to praising the' days when he was a boy and to criticizing
and finding fault with his juniors. Years as they coine bring many blessings
with them, and as they go take·many away. To save yourself'giving a young
man an old man's role or a boy a grown man's, remember that your character
should always remain faithful to what is associated with .his age and 'suits it.

: Some Rules for. Dramati$ts8 •

Actions may be on: the stage 01;" whert performed.

[180] What comes in through the ear is less' e(fective in stirring the mind
than what is our faithful eyes and told by thespectator-to himself.
However; you are not, -to' bring on, to the stage events which ought to be
carried out within; you Ilre to· remOve: many thing9 from Sight; and let them
be related in dl,le ooutse by the eloquence of an eye-witness. Don't Medea
murder the children before the' people's gaze, or Wicktd Atreus cook human
offal in publiCi or Procne be metamorphosed into a bird or Cadmus9 into a
snake. Anythirig you"show me like that earns my incredulity and disgust.
A play that wants to be in demand and to be revived must not be shorter
or longer than five acts. 1 . '.

[191] There be no god to intervene. unless the problem merits such

a champion. 2 , . .

No fourth character should attempt to speak.."

The chorus should play an actor's part, and doa man's duty. It should not
sing between 'the acts anything which has no to or cohesion with
the plot. It should side with the good and give them friendly counsel, restrain
the angry, and approve those who scruple to go astray. It should praise a
frtigal table's fare, sound justice, law, and times of 'peace when the town's
gates stand open. [200] It should keep secrets entrusted to it, and beg 'and
pray the gods that Fortune may return to the Wretched and abandon the
proud.
8. Most of the precepts enumerated in Ihls section I. Not ArIstotelian; but Menander seems normally
may be found .in ARISTOTLE'S Poetics (see above). to have 'composed his In five acts, sepa-
9. Founder of Thebes; in Ovid's Metamorphose., rated by choral interlude. [translator's. note].
Cadmus and his wife are changed Into serp.ep.ts. Menander. (ca. 342,-ca. 292 B_C.E.), a leading
Atreus: father of Agamemnon and Menelaus; he wl'iter of Greek NeW-Comedy.
arranged the feast of Thyestes. I1rocne: wife of 2. The de ... ex machl.... was a divine character
Tereus, who punished him for raping her sister by lowered from above the stage to conveniently
killing her own child and serving him to her hus- resolve the action at the end of a play.
band; later all three were turned into birds.
 ARS POETICA / 129

Development of T,ragedy
The flute used not to be, as it is bound with copper and a rival to the
trumpet. It was slight and simple, with few apertures, but serviceable to
accompany and aid the chorus and to fill with its music the still not too
crowded benches, where a population of no great size gathered in numbers
easily counted, honest and decent and'inodest. But when that same popu-
lation won wars arid began to ,extend its territory, when longer walls came to
embrace the cities, and people indulged themselves on holidays by drinking
in the daytime I and nobody blamed them, [211] ·then rhythm and tunes
acquired greater licence. For what. taste could. the uneducated show, the
holiday crowd. of .countrymen and to'r"sm,en, honest folk and rogues, all
mixed up together? This is how the musician came to add movement and
elaboration to his art, and to trail his robe as 'he roamed the stage. This is
how even the austere lyre gained a stronger voice, while lofty eloquence
produced strange utterance and thought that shrewdly grasped practical
needs and prophesied the future grew indistinguishable from the oracles of
Delphi. 3

Scityr- Plays4
[220] The competitor in tragic poetry, who strove for a worthless goat, S next
showed the rustic Satyrs, naked ..Preserving his despite his keen
wit, he made an attempt at a joke,. because the audience, drunk and lawless
at the end of the festival, had to be prevented from going away by tricks and
pleasing innovations. But the Way t6 recommend your laughing, joking satyrs,
the way to turn serio¥sness to Jest,. is this: no god or hera you bring on the
stage, if he was seen not long ago .in. royal gold and purple, must lower his
language and move into a humble cottage; not, on the other hand, must his
efforts to get off the ground lead him: to try to grasp clouds. Bnd void. [231]
Tragedy does not deserve to blurt out trivial lines, but she will modestly
consort a little with the forward satyrs, like a respectable lady dancing
because she must on a feast day.
As a Satyr-writer; my Piso friends, I shall not limit my liking to plain and
proper terms, nor yet try to be so different from the tone of tragedy tHat there
is no difference between Davus talking or bold Pythias, when she's just
tricked Simon out of a talent,6 and Silenus, at once guardian and servant of
the god he has brought up. [240] I shall niake up my poem of known ele-
ments, so that anyone may hope to do the same; but he'll sweat and labour
to no purpose he ventures: such is the forte of arrangement and com-
bination, such the splendour that commonplace words acquire. Your wood-
land Fauns, if you take my judgement,' should beware of behaving as if they
were born at the street corner and were creatures of the Forum-they

3. The oracle of Apollo, and the most important note). Silenus: male spirit associated with Diony-
oracle in ancient Greece. sus, later represented. ali ·a . drunken' old man.
4. These featured Silenus and satyrs in burlesque "Satyrs", woodland spirits, usually ilart hbman,
episodes of myth; style and meter were those of part goat.
tragedy, not comedy.·The piece was commonly per- 5. Horace believes that the Greek term
formed as 'a. fourth play after three tragedies. Iiterall),; "goat oong," took its name from the prize
Euripides' eye,.",. [ca. 410 B.C.E.)I. the only com- of a goat. . .
plete extant example; Aristotle believed satyr-plays 6. Typical New Comedy name.: slave,. maid or
were at the origin of tragedy; others, a. Horace prostitute, old man [translator's note).
here, that they were a later refinement [translator's
130 I HORACE

shouldn't play the gallant in languishing verse or crack dirty and disreputable
jokes; possessors of horses 7 or or property take offence at this sort
of thing and don't look kindly on work approved by the fried-peas-and-nuts
public, or give it the prize.

The Need for Technical Perfection

[251] A long syllable following a short one makes an iambus. s He is a quick
foot; this is why he iambic lines t9 be although he
Was giving six beats to the line, and was the same in form from first to last.
Not all that long ago, wa;nting to fall rather more slowly and weightily upon
Qur ears, he admitted the stately spondees to family privileges-what com-
fortable; easy-going foot he isl-but without being quite so complaisant as
to give up the second and fourth positions in the line. Rarely does he appear
in Accius'9 noble trimeters, and his rarity in Ennius' [260] weighty lines as
they fly out on the stage damns them with the shocking accu!iationof hasty
and careless craftsmal1ship-or else sheer ignorance of the trade.
Of course, it's not every critic th,at notices lines that aren't tuneful, and
Roman poets have enjoyed undeserved licence. But does that entitle -me to
make mistakes and scribble away carelessly? Or should I rather expect every-
one to see my mistakes, and so play safe and cautious, keeping within the
bounds of what I can hope to be pardoned for? In that case, all I've done is
to avoid blame; I have not deserved praise.

Greek Models
Study Greek models night and day. [270] Your ancestors praised Plautus'
metre and his humour. On both counts their admiration was too indulgent,
not to say childish, if it's true that you and I know how to distinguish a witless
jest from a subtle one and if we've skill in our fingers and ears to know what
sounds are permitted. !

Inventiveness of the Greeks in Drama

The hitherto unknown genre of the tragiC Muse is said to be Thespis'l inven-
tion; he is supposed to have carried on a cart verses to be sung and acted by
performers whose faces were smeared with wine-lees. After him came Aes-
chylus, 2 the inventor of the mask and splendid robe; he gave the stage a floor
of modest boards, and taught the actors to talk big and give themselves height
by their high boots. [281] Next came Old Comedy,] much praised, though
its liberty degenerated into vice and violence deserving restraint of law; the
law was accepted, and the chorus fell silent, its right of shameful insult
removed.

7. In the Roman Republic, the (horsemen 9. Roman playwright and literary critic (170-90
or "knights") formed a wealthy class almost equal D.C.E.). .
to senators in social standing. 1. Pioneer of Greek traRedy (6th. c. D.C.E.) who
8. Horace', main theme in what preceded was Introduced the actor's reply to the chorus.
propriety; in the next section it i. perfection. He 2, Greek dramatist (525-456 R.C.E.) who Intro-
marks the transition by humorously giving some duced the third actor to the Greek stage.
very elementary metrical Instruction [translator's 3; The greatest writer of Old Comedy was Arls-
notel, A spondee is a metrical foot formed by two tophanes (ca. 45O-ca. 385 R.C.E.).
long syllables.
 ARS POETICA I 131

Inventiveness of the Romans

Our poets have left nothing unattempted. Not the least part of their glory
was won by venturing to abandon the footsteps of the Greeks and celebrate
our own affairs; some produced historical plays, some comedies in Roman
dress. [289) Latium 4 would have been as famous for literature as for valour
and deeds of arms if the poets had not, one and all, been put off by the labour
and time of polishing their work. Children of N uma, 5 show your disapproval
of any poem which long time and much correction have not disciplined and
smoothed ten times over, to satisfy the well-pared nail.

The Poet"
Democritus 7 thinks native talent a happier thing than poor, miserable art,
and banishes sane poets from his Helicon. s That's why so many don't bother
to cut their nails or beard, but seek solitude and keep away from the bath.
[299) For a man is sure to win the reward and name of poet if he never lets
barber Licinus get hold of that head that three Anticyras 9 won't make sound.
I'm a fool to purge my bile when spring comes round. I could write as good
poetry as any; but nothing is worth that price, and so I'll play the part of the
whetstone, that can sharpen the knife though it can't itself cut. In other
words, without writing myself, I will teach function and duty-where the
poet's resources come from, what nurtures and forms him, what is proper
and what not, in what directions excellence and error lead.
Wisdom is the starting-point and source of correct writing. [310) Socratic
books l will be able to point out to you your material, and once the material
is provided the words will follow willingly enough. If a 'man has learned his
duty to his country and his friends, the proper kind oflove with which parent,
brother, and guest should be cherished, the functions of a senator and a
judge, the task of a general sent to the front ....... then he automatically under-
stands how to give each character its proper attributes. My advice to the
skilled imitator will be to keep his eye on the model of life and manners, and
draw his speech living from there. .
[319) Sometimes a play devoid of charm, weight, and skill, but attractive
with its commonplaces and with the characters well drawn, gives the people
keener pleasure and keeps them in their seats more effectively than lines
empty of substance and harmonious trivialities.

Greek and Roman Attitudes

The Greeks have the gift of genius from the Muse, and the power of well-
rounded speech. They covet nothing but praise. Roman boys do long sums
and learn to divide their as into a hundred parts. 2

4. Area of central Italy that included Rome. 9. Hellebore, proverbially a cure for madness,
5. Numa Pompilius, half-I..gendary second king of came from Antlcyra (translator's note). .
Rome (traditional dates, 7) 5-673 R.C.E.). I. The Greek philosopher Socrates (469-399
6. From this point, the poem turns to topics con- D.C.E.) left no writings, but he was the most impor-
cerned with the poet himself: inspiratiun, moral tant speaker In the dialogues of his greatest pupil.
l<.l1nwledge, care for posterity, comlnitment. This PUl.TO (ca. 427-ca. 347 R.C.E.).
main theme continues to the end [tramdator's 2. Twelve unciae 1:= 1 as; 5 unciae = quincunJCj
note). one-third ns = trlens; one-half as = semis [trans-
7. Greek philosopher (460-370 II.C.E.). lator's note). An as was worth perhaps $3.
R. sacred to the Muses.
132 I HORACE

'Young Albinus,3 subtract one uncia from a quincunx: what'sleftr ... You
told me by now. . . .. .
'A triens.'
'Excellent. Youill be able to look after your affairs. Now add an uncia. What
is it nowr'
[330] 'A semis.'
Once this rust and care for cash has tainted the soul, can we hope for
poems to be written that deserve preserVing with cedar oil and keeping safe
in smooth cypress? .-'.
Poets aim either to do good or to give pleasure-or, thirdly, to say things
which are both pleasing and serviceable for life.
Whatever advice you give, be brief, so that the teachable mind can take
in your words quickly and retain them faithfully. Anything superfluous over-
flows from the full mind .
.Whatever you invent for pleasure, let it be near to truth. We don't want a
play to ask credence for anything it feels like, or draw a living. child from the
ogress's belly after lunch. [341] The ranks of elder citizens chase things off
the stage if there's no good meat in them, and. the high-spirited youngsters
won't vote for dry poetry. The man who combines pleasure with usefulness
wins every suffrage, delightirig the reader and also giving him advice; this is
the book that earns inoney fo.r the SOSii, 4 goes overseas and gives your cel-
ebrated writera· long lease of fame ..
However; there are some· mistakes we are ready to forgive. The string
doesn't always give the note that the hand and·mind intended: it often returns
a high note when you ask for·a low• .[350] The.bow :won't alwayS .hit:whal it
threatens to hit. But.when most features of a ·poem.are brilliant, I shan't be
offended by.a .few blemishes thrown 'around .bycaielessness or human neg-
ligence. Hut whattherir If a copyist goes on making the same·mistake how-
ever much .he is warned, he is notforgiveri; if· a lyre-player always gets the
same note 'wrong;' people laugh' at him; so, in my estimation, if a poet fails
to come off Q good deal, he's Choerilu9,' whom! admire with a smile
if he's good two or three 'times. Why; I'm angry·even if good Homer goes to
sleep, [360] though a doze is quite legitimate. in. a long piece of work. .
Poetry is .like' painting. Some attracts you more if you stand, near, some if
you're. further ofE One picture likes a dark place, one will need ·to be seen
in the light, because it's not afraid oHhe critic's sharp judgement. One gives
pleasure once, one will please if you look it over ten times,
Dear elder son of Piso, though your father's words are forming you in the
right way and you have wisdom of your own besides, take this piece of advice
away with you and remember it. In
some things, Ii tolerable mediocrity is
properly allowed. A mediocre lawyer oradvoc.ate [370] is a long from
the distinction ofleamed Messalla and doesn't know as much as Aulus Cas-
cellius,6 but he has his value. But neither men nor· gods nor shop-fronts allow
a poet to be mediocre. Just as music out of tune or thick ointment or Sar-
dinian honey with your poppy? gives offence at·a nice dinner, because the
3 .. Roman family name. 6 ... Famous Augustan lawyer.' M ess.. lla· ·C"tvlhus
4. Booksellers (the SasH were brothers and well- (64B.C;E.-8 C.E.), Roman politicilileader; brator.
known booksellers). .. author, .oldler, and a p·atron of the art.: . .
5. Minor poet of the .4th c. B.C.E. who accompa- 7.· Poppy seeds. When toasted and serveel with
nied Alexander the Great on his campaigns and horiiiy, were considered a delicacy; bunhey ",!Ore
was paid to celebrate him. spoiled if the honey had a bitter flavor.
 ARS POETICA / 133

. meal could go on without them, so poetry, which was created and discovered
fot the pleasure of the mind, sinks right to the bottom the moment it declines
··a·little from the top. The man who doesn't know how to play.keeps away
:. from the sporting gear in the park. [380] The man who's never been taught
ball or discus or hoop keeps quiet, so that the packed speCtators can't get a
free laugh. But the man who doesn't know how to' make verses still has a go.
Why shouldn't he? He's free, and of free birth, he's assessed at an equestrian
property·rate;and he's not got a fault iil the world.
You will never do or say anything if Minerva 8 is against you: your taste and
intelligence guarantee us that. But if you do write something some day, let
it find its way to critic Maecius'9 ears,' and your father's, and mine, and be
stored up for eight years in your notebooks' at home. You will be able to erase
what you haven't published; words once uttered forget the way home.

Poetry and Its Uses and Value

[391] Orpheus, I who was a holy man and the interpreter of the gods; deterred
the men' of the forests from killing and from disgusting kinds of food. This
is why.he was said·to tame tigers and rabid lions. This too is why Amphion,2
the founder of the city of Thebes,' was said to move rocks where he wished
by the sound of th¢ lyre and coaxing prayers. In <lays of old, wisdom consisted
in separating publ.c property froinprivate, the sacred from the secular, in
checking promiscuity, in layirtg down rules for the married, in building cities,
in inscribing laws on wooden tablets. [400] And. that is how honour and
renown came to divine poets and poetry. After them came the great Homer
and Tyrtaeus,' who sharpened masculine hearts for war by their verses. Ora-
cles were uttered in verse. The path of life was pointed out in verse. Kings'
favours were won by the Muses' tunes. Entertainment was found there also,
and rest after long labour. So there is no call·to be ashamed of the Muse
with her skill on. the lyre or of Apollo" the singer.

Art and
.00 goodpoems,:ome by nature or by art? This is a commoriquestion. For
my part; I don't:'see what study can· do without a rich vein Of tai@fil, [410]
nor what good can come of untrained genius. They need each. other's help
and work together in friendship. A boy. who wants to reach the hoped-for
goal in the race endures and does a lot; sweats and freezes, refrains from sex
and wine. The clarinetist who is playing in honour of Apollo learns his lesson
first and stands in awe of his master. But nowadays it's enough to say: 'I write
marvellous poems. The itch take the hindmost! It's a disgrace for me to be
left behind and admit I don't know something that,' to be sure, I never
learned.'
8. Roman goddess of handicrafts and war, whose the poet.
attributes became conflated with those of the 2. Son of Zeus and Antiope, responsible in part for
Greek goddess Athena. the . miraculous constrilction· of the walls tif
9. Roman author of 12 epigrams of whom nothing Thebes.
Is known except his name. 3. Poet of the 7th 'Co B.C.E,-accordlng to tradi-
I. A holy man because he founded the Greek reli- . titin, a lame Attic ichoblm .. composed
gion Orphlsm. His extraordinary musical power.- war song. and martial elegies for the Spartans, who
said to be able to charm not only wild beasts but sang them while marching.
also rocks and trees-made Orpheus a model of 4. Son of Zeus and Leto, god of music and poetry.
134 / HORACE

[419] A poet who is rich in land and investments bids his flatterers 'come
and better themselves'-justlike an auctioneer collecting a crowd to buy his
wares. But if he's a man who can set out a good dinner properly and go bail
for a poor and impecunious client and get him out of a grim legal tangle, I
shall be surprised if the lucky fellow knows how to distinguish a false friend
from a true. If you have given a man a present, or if you want to, don't then
lead him, full of joy, to your verses. Be's bound tb,say 'Splendid, beautiful,
just right'; he'.1 grow pale here, he'll drip dew from loving eyes, he'll jump
about, he'll peat the ground with his foot. [431] Your mocker is more deeply
stirred than your true admirer, just as hired mourners at a funeral say and
do almost more than those who genuinely grieve. Kings are said to ply a man
with many cups and test him with wine if they are trying to discover if he
deserves their friendship. If you write poetry, the fox's hidden feelings will
never escape you. If you read anything aloud to Quintilius,' he'd say 'pray
change that, and that'. You would say you couldn't do better, [440] though
you'd tried two or three times, to no purpose. Then he'd tell you to scratch
it out and put the badly turned lines back on. the anvil. If you preferred
defending your error to amending it, he wasted no more words or trouble on
preventing you from loving yourself and your handiwork without competi-
tion. A wise and good man will censure flabby lines, reprehend harsh ones,
put a black line with a stroke of the pen besides unpolished ones, prune
pretentious ornaments, force you to shed light on obscurities, convict you of
ambiguity, mark down what must be changed. [450] He'll be an
He won't say, 'Why should I offend a friend in trifles?' These trifles lead to
serious troubles, if once you are ridiculed and get a bad reception.

The Mad Poet

Men of seIise are afraid to touch a mad poet and give a wide berth. He's
like a man suffering from a nasty itch, or the jaundice; or fanaticism, or
Diana's wrath.? Boys chase him and follow him round incautiously. And if,
while he's belching out his lofty lines and wandering round, he happens to
fall into a well or a pit, like intent on his birds, then, however long
he shouts 'Help! Help! Fellow citizens, helpl' there'll be no one to bother to
pick him up. [461] And if anyone should trouble to help and let down a rope,
my question will be, 'How do you, know that he didn't throw himself down
deliberately? Are you sure he wants to be saved?' And I shall tell the tale of
the death of the Sicilian poet. Empedocles8 wanted to be regarded as an
immortal god, and so he jumped, cool as you like, into burning Et!1a.9 Let
poets have the right and privilege of death. To save a man against his.will is
the same as killing him. This isn't the only time he's done it. If he's pulled
out now, he won't become human or lay aside his love of a notorio'us end.
[470] It's far from clear why he keeps writing poetry. Has the villain pissed
on his father's ashes? Or disturbed the grim site of a lightning-strike? Any-

5. Roman critic of the 2d c. D.C.E.; the name Is gests) was supposed to be caused by the moon god-
used here to denote someone with taste. dess, Diana.
6. The great Alexandrian scholar [2d c. D.C.E.] 8. Sicilian philosopher and statesman (5th c.
marked spurious or doubtful lines In Homer with 8.C.E.). The actual place and manner of his death
the sl8n which Horace here attributes to the good Is disputed.
critic [translator's note]. 9. Europe's highest active volcano, located In
7. Lunacy (as the word's derivation from luna sug- Sicily.
 LONGINUS I 135

way, he's raving, and his harsh readings put learned and unlearned alike to
flight, like a bear that's broken the bars of his cage. If he catches anyone, he
holds on and kills him with reading. He's a real leech that won't let go of the
skin till it's full of blood.
ca. 10 B.C.E.

LONGINUS
first century C.E.

Since the eighteenth century, the ancient Greek text On Sublimity has maintained a
reputation as one of the most influential classical work.'! in the tradition of European
criticism, despite the uncertainty that surrounds its authorship and date of compo-
sition. A distinctive feature of this famous treatise is its favorable commentary on the
role of emotion (pathos) in the practices of writing, oratory, and reading. According
to the author of On Sublimity (Peri Hupsous in Greek), whom critics refer to as
"Longinus," the presence of noble passion is essential for achieving sublimity (hup-
50S), by which he means an elevated and lofty style of.writing that rises above the
ordinary. From Longinus's author-centered perspective, writers and orators achieve
greatness not just by rhetorical techniques but also by deep feelings, profound
thoughts, and natural genius: "Sublimity is' the echo of a noble mind." Often the
experience of reading a great author or listening to a great speech leads us to a feeling
of ecstasy or transport (ekstasis), which is distinct from the more rational effects of
persuasion, the goal of rhetoric. For Longinus, sublimity uplifts the spirit of the
reader, filling him or her with unexpected astonishment and pride, arousing noble
thoughts, and suggesting more than words can convey.
The extant text of On Sublimity derives from a tenth-century medieval manuscript
that offers conflicting statements as to the identity of the treatise's creator. For
unknown reasons, the table of contents attributes the text.to either "Dionys'ius or
Longinus," while the title of the manuscript itself simply indicates that a certain
"Dionysius Longinus" is the author. The first attribution suggests that the author is
either the Augustan Age Dionysius of Halicarnassus or Cassius Longinus,
century pupil of PLOTINUS. For various detailed reasons, neither of these alternatives
has convinced scholars. The principal argument against Dionysius is that On Sublim-
ity does not comport with the style and general approach of his other works, whose
authorship is not in question. The main point of contention against Longinus, who
in the eighteenth century was universally held to be the author, is that textual evi-
dence taken from the concluding chapter on the decline of literature suggests a date
of composition no later than 100 C.E., thus ruling out a third-century author. The
title of the manuscript offcrs no solution either, for nothing is known of a Dionysius
Longinus. One of thc few things that can be determined with some certainty is that
the author must have heen a Hellenized Jew or at least in contact with Jcwish culturc,
since the opening of Genesis is cited as a worthy example of sublimity. Such a ref-
erence is quite distinctive: no other known pagan writer employs the Biblc in this
manner. While scholars continue to attribute On S",.blimity to Cassius Longinus, they
do so as a matter of convenience.
Despite seven lengthy gaps that make up approximately one-third of the original
text, the intended organization of On Sublimity is reasonably certain. After the formal
preface addressed to Postumius Terentianus (about whom we knoW nothing) and the