8.2) Horace Epistle 1.16: Intro
1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Epistle 1.16 is one of the longer poems in Book 1 of the Epistles. This poem is addressed to Quinctius Hirpinus, a friend of Horace. He is also the addressee of Ode 2.11, which bears some thematic similarities to this poem. Just as Horace’s farm and pastoral life become the subject of much of this poem, Ode 2.11 concerns itself with the charm and benefits of rural life amongst a more general carpe diem message.
2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 Horace begins his letter to Quinctius by describing his farm, gifted to him by his patron, Maecenas, who is the addressee of many other Epistles. Despite his detailed account of his farm’s forma and situs (1-13), the poet makes it clear to his friend that he does not assume an active role in the maintenance of the farm. Rather, he enjoys the benefits produced by it, without contributing to the labor involved (8-10). He goes on to describe the healing properties of his farm, the seclusion of which protects him from the fever season of September and which has a spring (also mentioned in Ode 3.13) with waters whose medicinal purposes rival that of the Hebrus (12-16).
3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 He then begins to juxtapose life on his farm with that of city life, which Quinctius enjoys. He praises Quinctius’s good reputation (17-19), but warns him of the duplicitous nature of the Roman public and their often-misleading words. He advises him not to take praise from others too much to heart, because the public can retract favor as quickly as they bestow it, and society is as apt to believe false rumors, whether positive or negative, as it is to reward or punish people for their actual behavior (33-35). Instead, Quinctius should rely on his introspective moral compass in order to determine whether he is behaving as a proper vir bonus.
4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 Horace then debates and discusses the qualities of a vir bonus by providing examples of those who do not fit this description. He first discusses an influential senator who holds the qualities ascribed to virtuous individuals (40-43). He then refutes the idea that this makes him good by showing that one can perform acts of piety in public and undermine these ideas in private, referencing one of Aesop Fables, “The Ass in The Lion’s Skin,” (44-45). Then, switching the subject of discussion from a senator to a slave in order to show that this debate applies to men from all walks of life, Horace provides another example of “virtuous” behavior – a slave who claims to be good on account of not doing evil (46-49). However, Horace dismantles this school of thought as well by arguing that one may avoid sin purely to escape punishment, and that such behavior does not constitute true virtus (52-53). Finally, he rejects the idea that a man always seeking recognition and renown can have good character, because his motivations will always be tainted by greed (63-68).
5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 The final lines of the poem have a sustained allusion to Euripides’ Bacchae (73-79). Throughout this allusion, Horace writes the vir bonus as the god Bacchus himself, locked in a confrontation with King Pentheus of Thebes. The two exchange a series of back and forth dialogue wherein the vir bonus is prepared to surrender his material possessions to the King, only protesting when Pentheus begins to threaten his freedom itself (76-77). It has been suggested that a parallel exists between Pentheus and Maecenas (Stephanie McCarter: Horace Between Freedom and Slavery). Just as Penthus here seeks to infringe upon the freedoms of Bacchus, so is Horace chafing under the authority of his patron. The poem ends with a strong quasi-Stoic sententia (mors ultima linea rerum est), which puts a twist on the tragedy as it is written by Euripides. By writing that death is the ultima linea, Horace interrupts the allusion of Bacchus as the vir bonus. While Bacchus is an immortal figure, Horace reminds the reader that vir bonus is only a man and that with his death, all earthly matters discussed in the preceding lines (the pecus, rem, lectos, argentum) will simply cease to matter.