8.) Horace Epistles 1.15: Intro
1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 This letter is written to Numonius Vala, who may have lived near Paestum (an inscription has been found there with his name), and it mimics a “real” letter in myriad ways. Horace models in this letter how the comfort he finds in writing to his friends can be therapeutic. He reveals more about himself in this letter and the act of writing the letter allows him to reveal (to himself and the reader) his own true nature. Horace wonders about the amenities in the area because he has been forbidden by his doctor, Antonius Musa, from wintering in Baiae. He asks about the food, water, and wine of the region, admitting that he is hoping for some of the creature comforts of home. The chattiness of the opening, including a long digression, reveals his own mental inconsistency (after all he is looking for some sort of cure). The exemplum of the “parasite” Maenius reflects the conventions of Roman comedy and the fact that there were hangers-on that were dependent on their patrons for their daily bread. For more on parasites in Roman culture, see the work of Damon 1998. Horace admits his own tendency to praise moderation when he is unable to live it up, but if there’s the possibility for luxury, he’ll praise the luxurious life then. Is Horace like a character from comedy? How does that stereotyped character lead to Horace’s own identification of himself? It turns out Horace himself (or the “Horace” of this letter) is no less a character than Maenius (i.e. he is making himself into an exemplum), and he shows his awareness of the genre and its possible application to the very letter he is writing. His inconsistency and self-indulgence finds literary expression in this way and is given a patina of self-deprecation and comedy. We shouldn’t discount the ways that Roman comedy influences Horace here and elsewhere in his poetry, as Leach 1971 reminds us.