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Epodes

Horace

Christopher Smart's literal prose translation (1756).

The Epodes (published c. 30 BCE), Horace's early book of seventeen poems in iambic meters, take their bite from the Greek iambus of Archilochus—by turns invective, erotic, political, and reflective. Composed amid the civil wars that preceded the Battle of Actium, they range from savage lampoons and scenes of witchcraft to the famous 'Beatus ille' idyll praising country life. They are given here in Christopher Smart's literal prose (1756).

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Contents

  1. Epode I. To Maecenas
  2. Epode II. The Praises of a Country Life
  3. Epode III. To Maecenas
  4. Epode IV. To Menas
  5. Epode V. The Witches Mangling a Boy
  6. Epode VI. Against Cassius Severus
  7. Epode VII. To the Roman People
  8. Epode VIII. Upon a Wanton Old Woman
  9. Epode IX. To Maecenas
  10. Epode X. Against Maevius
  11. Epode XI. To Pectius
  12. Epode XII. To a Woman Whose Charms Were Over
  13. Epode XIII. To a Friend
  14. Epode XIV. To Maecenas
  15. Epode XV. To Neaera
  16. Epode XVI. To the Roman People
  17. Epode XVII. Dialogue Between Horace and Canidia