Horace's Epodes

Horace's Epodes rank among the most under-valued texts of the early Roman principate. Abrasive in style and riddled with apparent inconsistencies, the Epodes have divided critics from the outset, infuriating and delighting them in equal measure. This collection of essays on the Epodes by new and established scholars seeks to overturn this work's ill-famed reputation and to reassert its place as a valid and valued member of Horace's literary corpus. Building upon a recent surge in scholarly interest in the Epodes, the volume goes one step further by looking beyond the collection itself to highlight the importance of intertext, context, and reception. Covering a wide range of topics including the iambic tradition and aspects of gender, it begins with a consideration of the influences of Greek iambic upon the Epodes and ends with a discussion on their reception during the seventeenth century and beyond. By focusing on the connections that can be drawn between the Epodes and other (ancient) works, as well as between the Epodes themselves, the volume will appeal to new and seasoned readers of the poems. In doing so it demonstrates that this smallest, and seemingly most insignificant, of Horace's works is worthy of a place alongside the much-lauded Satires and Odes.

Philippa Bather is Teaching Fellow and Honorary Research Fellow at University College London.
Claire Stocks is Assistant Professor for Classics at Radboud University, Nijmegen.

- Preface - Editions and Abbreviations - List of Contributors - Introduction - 1: Andrew Morrison: Lycambae spretus infido gener/ aut acer hostis Bupalo: Horace's Epodes and the Greek Iambic Tradition - 2: Ian Goh: Of Cabbages and Kin: Traces of Lucilius in the First Half of Horace's Epodes - 3: Michael B. Sullivan: Poetic Justice: Iambus, Fable, and Horace's First Epode - 4: Emily Gowers: Girls will be Boys and Boys will be Girls, Or: What is the Gender of Horace's Epodes? - 5: Elena Giusti: Dithyrambic Iambics: Epode 9 and its General(s') Confusion - 6: Claire Stocks: Monsters in the Night: Hannibal, prodigia, and the Parallel Worlds of Epode 16 and Ode 4.4 - 7: Tom Hawkins: The Underwood of Satire: Reading the Epodes through Ovid's Ibis - 8: Phillipa Bather: Horace's noxiosissimum corpus: Horatian impotence (Epodes) and Moderation (Satires, Epistles 1) at Petronius Saytricon 130 - 9: Ellen Oliensis: Scenes from the Afterlife of Horace's Epodes (c.1600-1900) - Bibliography - Index Locorum - General Index