Dear List, about the message below from L. H-S, I'll stick my neck out again:
Yes, I think there is a point to the Horace "misquotation" of Cicero and I think it might meet the description of "facetiae": it is my contention (not mine really, I just mean I agree with those who have said it) that Augustus "adopted" Cicero when he wanted to be seen as a good republican. The term "princeps" he found in Cicero's de re publica. Both Cicero and Augustus were "pater patriae". Catiline is a prominent figure amongst the miscreants on Aeneas' shield. On 13 September 30 Cicero's son was made consul suffectus, so as to be in a position to announce the defeat and death of Antony in Rome. So, I would say that the Horace quotation was a gentle political allusion. Horace is saying "we know, Augustus, that you are the new Cicero, qua political thinker and qua saviour of the state; qua poet, I would be a new but equally bungling Cicero if I were to try to write your praises". And since I have stuck my head above the parapet, I shall leave it there a while: Just before the passage quoted by L.H-S, Horace, addressing Augustus and contrasting Vergil and Varius , Augustus' poets, with Choerilus, Alexander's poet, and contrasting the written with the visual arts writes: at neque dedecorant tua de se iudicia atque munera quae multa dantis cum laude tulerunt dilecti tibi Vergilius Variusque poetae; nec magis expressi uultus per aenea signa quam per uatis opus mores animique uirorum clarorum apparent. There are some who will say that AENEA SIGNA just happens to sound like AENEAS, the hero of Vergil's poem and avatar of Augustus. Of their number I am not. I shall now take cover. Yours, yn --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 18:08:42 +0000 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: Leofranc Holford-Strevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: VIRGIL: Aeneid Jokes > Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Indeed; there is a parallel in Horace's _recusatio_ to Augustus at > _Epist._ 2.1/250-7: I would much rather write an epic in your honour > than these earth-bound _sermones_ if I had the talent. > > nec sermones ego mallem 250 > repentes per humum quam res componere gestas > terrarumque situs et flumina dicere et arces > montibus impositas et barbara regna tuisque > auspiciis totum confecta duella per orbem > claustraque custodem pacis cohibentia Ianum 255 > et formidatam Parthis te principe Romam, > si quantum cuperem possem quoque. > > Hands up anyone who can say what verse 255 reminds him or her off. Yes, > that's right, Cicero's infamous line > > O fortunatam natam me consule Romam. > > Subversion? A sly but friendly jest? Inadvertence? Or was _O fortunatam_ > not yet the stock example of bad verse it had become by Silver times? > > Leofranc Holford-Strevens > *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* > > Leofranc Holford-Strevens > 67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone > Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? > OX2 6EJ > > tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/267865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) > > *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. > Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message > "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You > can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub > Yvan Nadeau [EMAIL PROTECTED] 0131-650-3575 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
