Horace tells Xanthias the Greek that it’s absolutely fine to be in love with a slave, but does he mean it? Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here; see the illustrated blog post here.
In this second selection of poems on a theme, love is not going so smoothly. Dido is being consumed by a passion for Aeneas which as yet is unrequited: Dido Continue Reading
This is the first of a new series of Pantheon Poets Latin medleys – a selection of Latin poems which share a common theme. The first is love, and specifically Continue Reading
Pyrrha the femme fatale has a new lover, who has yet to find out that the experience is not destined to be all calm weather and plain sailing. Horace speaks as someone who has survived shipwreck in Pyrrha’s stormy waters, and in gratitude for his escape has hung his wet clothes on the temple wall as a thank-offering to the God of the sea (Neptune, or Cupid?)
In the illustration a more famous siren, Cleopatra, awaits a visit from Mark Antony.
Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
The Emperor Augustus felt that Roman virtues and values were being undermined by indulgence and luxury: Horace, in his most outspoken poem on a theme to which he often returned in the Odes, agrees. Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.
In the illustration, a later Emperor, Heliogabalus, takes luxury to unparalleled and dangerous lengths.