The Satires ( or ) is a collection of satirical poems written in Latin dactylic hexameters by the Roman poet Horace. Published probably in 35 BC and at the latest, by 33 BC,Brown 1993: 3Gowers 2012: 4 (note 22) gives 36/35 for book 1, citing DuQuesnay 1984: 20–21. the first book of Satires represents Horace's first published work. It established him as one of the great poetic talents of the Augustan Age. The second book was published in 30 BC as a sequel.Brown 1993: 3; Muecke 1997: 1
In the first book of his (Latin for 'conversations') or (Latin for 'miscellaneousBritish encyclopaedia poems'), Horace combines Greek philosophy with Roman good sense to convince his readers of the futility and silliness of their ambitions and desires. As an alternative, he proposes a life that is based on the Greek philosophical ideals of autarkeia (Greek for 'inner self-sufficiency') and metriotes (Greek for 'moderation' or sticking to the Just Mean).Horace himself later coins the phrase aurea mediocritas (Latin for the "Golden Mean" in Odes 2.10.5.) In 1.6.110–131, Horace illustrates what he means by describing a typical day in his own simple, but contented life.
The second book also addresses the fundamental question of Greek Hellenistic philosophy, the search for a happy and contented life. In contrast to book I, however, many of this book's poems are dialogues in which the poet allows a series of pseudo-philosophers, such as the bankrupt art-dealer turned Stoic philosopher Damasippus, the peasant Ofellus, the mythical seer Teiresias, and the poet's own slave, Davus, to espouse their philosophy of life, in satiric contrast to that of the narrator.Muecke 1997: 6-7
Although the Satires are sometimes considered to be inferior to the Odes, they have been received positively in recent decades. In the Middle Ages, they were very popular and quoted more frequently than the Odes.
Poetic models Horace's direct predecessor as writer of satires was Lucilius, a poet of the late 2nd century BC who wrote partly in hexameters and partly in the trochaic septenarius metre.Brown 1993: 7-8; Muecke 1997: 2-5 Horace inherited from Lucilius the hexameter, the conversational and sometimes even prosaic tone of his poetry, and the tradition of personal attack. In contrast to Lucilius, however, the victims of Horace's mockery are not members of the nobility, but overly ambitious freedmen, anonymous misers, courtesans, street philosophers, hired buffoons, and bad poets. In accordance with the Epicurean principle Lathe biosas (Greek for 'Live unnoticed'), Horace consciously does not get involved in the complicated politics of his times, but advocates instead a life that focuses on individual happiness and virtue.
Probably equally important is the influence of Greek diatribe in the tradition of the philosopher Bion of Borysthenes ( 335–245 BC).Brown 1993: 4–5; Muecke 1997: 6 Horace's Satires share with this genre some of their themes, typical imagery, and similes, and the fiction of an anonymous interlocutor whose objections the speaker easily refutes.
Another inspiration was the poet Lucretius, whose didactic epic De rerum natura ('On the Nature of Things'), also written in hexameters, popularized Epicurean philosophy in Rome.Brown 1993: 91–92 For example, Horace's comparison of his satires with cookies that a teacher uses to encourage his students to learn their letters,Satire 1.1.14–25; elementa can refer both to the letters of the ABC and to the beginnings of philosophy. reminds one of Lucretius' more traditional comparison of his poetry with the sugar that sweetens the bitter medicine of philosophy. Moreover, Lucretian stock phrases such as ('now I return to the matter at hand') give Horace's philosophical (Latin for 'conversations') a subtly Lucretian flavor.
Structure Book 1 has ten poems, the same number as Virgil's Eclogues, which were published three or four years earlier.Leach, E. W. (1978). "Vergil, Horace, Tibullus: three collections of ten". Ramus, 7(2), 79–105. The poems are of differing lengths: 121, 133, 142, 143, 104, 131, 34, 50, 78, and 92 lines respectively (total 1029 lines). Thus there are six relatively long poems (average length 129 lines) followed by four shorter poems (average length 64 lines).
Book 2 has eight poems, with 86, 136, 326, 95, 110, 117, 118, and 95 lines respectively (total 1083 lines).
Unlike the Eclogues, no particular numerical patterns have been discovered in the Satires, except that the first half of book 1 (omitting line 1.2.13) has the same number of lines (643) as the first half of book 2.Zetzel, J. E. (1980). "Horace's : The Structure of Ambiguity". Arethusa, 13(1), 59–77: p. 76; p. 67.
As with the Eclogues, the first book of the Satires has been analysed by several scholars as having a triadic structure: 1,2,3 – 4,5,6 – 7,8,9, with 5 at the centre and the 10th poem concluding the whole. In satires 1, 2 and 3, Horace gives general philosophical advice on how to live and what vices to avoid; in 4 and 6 he discusses his reasons for writing satire in the style of Lucilius, with the 5th satire (the Journey to Brundisium) an imitation of one by Lucilius; and satires 7, 8 and 9 (the three shortest satires) are all amusing anecdotes.
But, just as with the Eclogues, the arrangement is also symmetrical, based around poem 5. Thus the 1st and 9th satires describe two sides to an approach to Maecenas; 2 and 8 are linked by their erotic themes and their concern with the less romantic aspects of love (prostitution, witchcraft); 3 and 7 both have jokes on the nature of kingship and both have the word (Latin for 'king'), in the last line; 4 and 6 tell of Horace's relationship with his father. There are other links also between the poems, for example, the name Fabius occurs in 1.14 and 2.124; the name Tigellius in 2.3 and 3.4; Maecenas is addressed in 1.1. and 3.64; and Crispinus is mentioned in 1.120 and 3.139, linking up 1, 2, and 3.
Book 2 is constructed on a different plan. In this book, in poems 1 and 5 a famous figure gives advice; 2 and 6 praise simple life in the country; 3 and 7 give precepts of Stoic philosophy; and 4 and 8 are concerned with gastronomy and fine dining.
Content of book 1 Satire 1.1, ('How come, Maecenas')
This satire targets avarice and greed. Most people, the satirist argues, complain about their lot yet do not really want to change it. Our insatiable greed for material wealth is just as silly. The true basic human needs, food and water, are easily satisfied. A person who recognizes the natural limit (modus) set for our desires, the Just Mean between the extremes, will in the end, leave the Banquet of Life like a satisfied guest, full, and content.
Satire 1.2, ('The colleges of Syrian music girls')
This satire deals with adultery and other unreasonable behaviour in sexual matters. Horace claims that there is also a natural mean with regard to sex. Our basic sexual urges are easily satisfied (any partner will do), so it seems silly to run after married noblewomen when freedwomen are available.
Satire 1.3, ('All singers have this vice')
Horace demands fairness when we criticise other people’s flaws. In the case of friends, we should be especially lenient.
Satire 1.4, ('Eupolis and Cratinus')
In a programmatic declaration of Horace's poetic views, he applies these same critical principles to poetry and shows that his own satires follow them.
Satire 1.5, ('Having left great Rome')
Horace describes a journey he made from Rome to Brundisium in the spring of 36 BC, in the company of the poet Virgil, his patron Maecenas, and others. Alluding to a famous satire in which Horace’s predecessor Lucilius described a trip to his estates near Tarentum, this poem offers a comic self-portrait of Horace as an insignificant member in the retinue of his powerful friend Maecenas when the latter negotiated one last truce between Antony and Octavian, the Peace of Brundisium (36 BC). A highpoint of the satire is a verbal contest that, as in Satire 1.4, distinguishes scurrility from satire. Here, Horace pitches a scurra (buffoon) from the capital, the freedman Sarmentus, against his ultimately victorious local challenger, Messius Cicirrus ('the Fighting Cock').
Satire 1.6, ('Not because, Maecenas')
With the same modesty with which he just depicted himself in Satire 1.5, Horace explains why he is not interested in a career in politics although, during the Civil War, he once served as the tribune of a Roman legion (48). People would jeer at him because of his freedman father, and his father taught him to be content with his status in life (85–87) although he made sure that his son could enjoy the same education as an aristocrat (76–80).
Satire 1.7, ('The pus and poison of the proscribed Rupilius Rex')
This satire deals with a court case that Persius, a Greek merchant of mixed birth, won against the Roman Rupilius Rex. Following the account of Horace's youth in 1.6, this satire tells a story from his service under Brutus during the Civil War. As in 1.5, it features a verbal contest in which two different types of invective are set against each other. Initially, Greek verbosity seems to succumb to Italian acidity, but in the end, the Greek wins with a clever turn of phrase, calling on the presiding judge, Brutus the Liberator, to do his duty as his ancestor had done and dispose of the (Latin for 'king'), Rupilius Rex (33–35).
Satire 1.8, ('Once I was a tree trunk')
Priapus, a wooden garden fertility god, narrates the visit of two terrible witches to Maecenas' garden that he is supposed to protect against trespassers and thieves. Maecenas' garden on the Esquiline Hill used to be a cemetery for executed criminals and the poor, and so it attracts witches that dig for magic bones and harmful herbs. The god is powerless until the summer heat makes the figwood that he is made of explode, and this divine "fart" chases the terrified witches away.
Satire 1.9, ('I happened to be walking on the Sacred Way')
Horace is accosted by an ambitious flatterer and would-be poet who hopes that Horace will help him to worm his way into the circle of Maecenas' friends. Horace tries in vain to get rid of the boor. He assures him that this is not how Maecenas and his friends operate. Yet he only manages to get rid of him when finally a creditor of the boor appears and drags him off to court (74–78).
Satire 1.10, ('I did indeed say that Lucilius' verses hobble along')
This satire functions as an epilogue to the book. Here Horace clarifies his criticism of his predecessor Lucilius, jokingly explains his choice of the genre ('nothing else was available') in a way that groups him and his Satires among the foremost poets of Rome, and lists Maecenas and his circle as his desired audience.
Content of book 2 Satire 2.1, ('There are those to whom I seem too harsh in satire')
Horace, who is anxious his satires are making him unpopular, pretends to consult the famous jurist Gaius Trebatius Testa, who advises him to give up writing, or else to write an epic poem in honour of Augustus. Horace replies that epic is beyond him, and that just like his predecessor Lucilius he can still enjoy the friendship of great men while writing satire.
Satire 2.2, ('How great a virtue it is to live on little')
Horace writes about the virtues of living on simple fare. He claims to be quoting a certain Ofellus, who lost his land in the confiscations following the civil war.
Satire 2.3, ('If you write so rarely')