Horace shows in one of his later odes that propaganda and good poetry are not necessarily exclusive categories. In fine Pindaric style, he opens by comparing Drusus to the mighty eagle that swooped down on Mount Ida to abduct Ganymede to be Jupiter’s cup-bearer and bedfellow: in the illustration, Zeus and Ganymede appear in a fifth-century attic vase by the Penthesilea painter. Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
Poetry and propaganda
