Wiener Studien 129/2016, pp. 281-298, 2016/08/05
Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition
It is often said that in the first book of his epistles, Horace turns his back on poetry and converts to philosophy. However, as a freethinker, he does not subscribe to one single philosophical school, but rather expounds an autonomous eclecticism instead. – Beginning from an examination of the opening verses of Epistle 1, 1, the present article subjects this idea to a critical analysis and rejects it. In a second part, an alternative reading of Horace’s book of poetical letters is put forward.
