EEK!

I went to an AWESOME book reading by Carole Maso (read her works! They are AWESOME!!) Ms. Maso manages to combine poetry and a great story all in one, and touches on interesting topics.

In much the same way, Horace is able to combine a fascinating story, and occasionally advice, with poetry. I loved, for instance, how Horace was able to create a fine poem about his and Pompeius' friendship and time in the military; I also liked the dialogue between Horace and Lydia in 3.9.

All in all, props to both poets/writers :)

(B)romance in the Ancient World

I liked the poem about Horace's and Pompieus' "bromance" (guy friends who hang out together). I found it amusing that male bonding such as this existed in the ancient world.
In addition, I liked, as K Roache put it in class today, the "blue instead of pink" poem as well. Love is universal and can be expressed in so many ways. I find it interesting that men could express their love (lust?) for men and women in basically the same way.
Incidentally, what was with the Romans and the "If you're male and a Roman citizen you can sleep with whomever you want so long as it's not another man's wife or you're the passive partner" rule? I don't get it. I think it's a preceived manliness issue and a matter of subservience. WE ARE MANLY ROMANS! WE ARE NEVER PASSIVE!!

Still Relevant

I like how Horace's poetry touches on timeless themes like grief and soured love affairs and love and war. I can use these quotes for inspiration today!

Makeup Blog

Sorry. Skipped Thursday's blog. Nothing new to translate.
Well, this week's translations weren't too horrible. Some of the diction was a bit...but it wasn't too bad. I don't really remember them. However, I didn't think they were too bad.
Horace is a great poet. His poems are a bit difficult (I was really tired; I had to look up "villa"), but generally speaking good. I like how he uses various themes, ranging from mourning to erotic to insulting to just liking nature. I MISSED SO MANY WORDS ON THE SIGHT TRANSLATION:( The word order and diction Horace uses is really nice. He's not too difficult, and his hyperbaton isn't too extreme. All in all, I like him :)

Erm...

I liked the poetry so far. It's nice. Good luck tomorrow guys!

I made a link on the Lepidus Blogellus site to an excellent BBC show on Roman Satire that may answer some of your questions about how Satire 1.9 operates-- check it out if you have 42 minutes to spare for the podcast:  "Roman Satire".  As for the Odes, I'm glad you don't hate Horace; he grows on one over the years because he is so incredibly, meticulously clever-- you note the importance, for example, of the name Chloe as part of the overall imagery.  Similarly, the name Pyrrha (fiery) is important for 1.5, as it is the trigger for latent fire imagery conveyed by color words (she has flavam comam, she is in a bed of roses, she is aurea) that contrasts with the metaphorical sea imagery that culminates with the image of Horace as a naked survivor of the shipwreck of his Love Boat (you are too young to have seen this dreadful TV show, but you can google it) hanging up his dripping clothing-- all conveyed without anything as obvious as a simile!

Ode to the Odes (and Satire 1.9)

I am a little confused about this week's satire. For anyone who's seen English satire-the writings of Jonathan Swift and  South Park are but two examples-the goal of satire is to exaggerate a problem to prove a point. Good old Trimalchio is another fine example. Is Satire 1.9 an exaggeration of legal proceedings and social customs? Just wanted to check.
I like the odes. They're pretty. There are a few difficulties, but not too horrible. I like the images of nature in a lot of them. I particulaly like the one about Chloe. The imagery in there is quite nice. Horace was clever, using wordplay in his poem (Chloe = green bud; images of spring). I think I'll like Horace a bit.

Hmm...

I must say, this week's translation is interesting. I like the odes. They're so...well, the word order isn't too horrible most of the time, so translating the odes aren't too bad. I like the imagery in the odes and relating them to love/erotic love (I don't really remember any references to fire in the first ode). All in all, I kind of like Horace (once you figure out the satires, of course).