Vinous Voices: Horace's Ninth Epode
In recent years Horace's Epodes have become increasingly topical, being the recipient of comÂmentaries by Cavarzere, Mankin and Watson. Horace's ninth epode is one of his most famous poems and has as its subject the battle of Actium, one of the most decisive and irifluential battles of antiquity; yet one has only to glance at these commentaries to see that scholars cannot agree on where the poem is set (in the city of Rome or at the battle itself?) or on when it is set (before, during, or after the battle?). Is the poem a prelude to a drinking party, as Nisbet thinks, or is there a drinking party already in progress, as Fraenkel believed? In this paper it will be argued that the opening of the poem is deliberately ambiguous and that readers are challenged to work out the dramatic context as they read through the poem. It is gradually revealed that an off-shore drinking party is in progress, and one can account for the very different phases of the naval enÂgagement described in the poem if one assumes that Horace is not the only speaker.
This event is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome.
Sponsored by GCAH, CWCTP, and the Department of Classics.
Results:
In his well-attended talk, Professor Woodman gave a brilliant new reading of the dramatic context of Horace’s Ninth Epode: the various mysterious references of the poem are fully explained by a series of clues indicating that an off-shore drinking party is in progress and that the poem contains a series of speaker changes. This was a tour-de-force: one rarely sees an argument as meticulous or as masterfully presented as this. It was a privilege for all present to hear Professor Woodman speak.
Professor Woodman is a game-changing academic, now at the end of his career: his visit to Boulder was the final one he made in the US before retiring back to the UK in May. We were very honoured by his visit, and it gave our graduate students, especially the ones whose primary focus is Roman historiography and/or the intersection between poetry and historiography, a chance to meet and speak in some detail with a senior academic with a strong hand in shaping the field as they are encountering it today. In particular, Professor Woodman took the time to meet with four of our doctoral students and discuss their projects with them, as well as to meet individually with the faculty whose work is most closely connected to his (Jackie Elliott, Isabel Köster, Carole Newlands). The dinner after his talk included faculty at all ranks as well as two postdoctoral lecturers and was a very engaging affair. We are extremely grateful to the CWCTP for the opportunity to host Professor Woodman at the 11th hour of his time on this side of the Atlantic and look forward to maintaining contact with him through what will doubtless be a very active and professionally engaged retirement.
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