Tag: horace

Horace is telling his rich friend Grosphus about the things that money cannot buy: peace of mind is the main one, but he also reminds Grosphus that exemption from ageing and death is not for sale either. The example he uses of age is the myth of Tithonus. He was a beautiful youth with whom Eos, winged goddess of the dawn, fell in love. He was a mortal, but Eos successfully begged the Gods to grant him immortality. They did, but, unfortunately, she forgot also to ask for eternal youth, meaning that Tithonus’s fate was to grow ever older and older, but never to die.

Hear Horace’s Latin and follow in English here.

Close to the beginning of Horace’s first book of Odes, this ode is the first in which he develops the theme of carpe diem: spring is lovely, and the right time to  sacrifice to the country God Faunus, but time is short and death inevitable. All sombre enough, but this piece has some hidden meanings. Sestius and Horace are probably old acquaintances, and there may be some little jokes here at his expense – along with an implied compliment to Augustus and his readiness to let bygones be bygones. Read more, hear Horace’s poem performed in Latin and follow in English here.