Epodes (Horace)

The Epodes (Latin: Epodi or Epodon liber; also called Iambi) are a collection of iambic poems written by the Roman poet Horace. They were published in 30 BC and form part of his early work alongside the Satires. Following the model of the Greek poets Archilochus and Hipponax, the Epodes largely fall into the genre of blame poetry, which seeks to discredit and humiliate its targets.

The 17 poems of the Epodes cover a variety of topics, including politics, magic, eroticism and food. A product of the turbulent final years of the Roman Republic, the collection is known for its striking depiction of Rome's socio-political ills in a time of great upheaval. Due to their recurring coarseness and explicit treatment of sexuality, the Epodes have traditionally been Horace's least regarded work. However, the last quarter of the 20th century saw a resurgence in scholarly interest in the collection.

The modern standard name for the collection is Epodes. Deriving from the Greek epodos stichos ('verse in reply'), the term refers to a poetic verse following on from a slightly longer one. Since all poems except Epode 17 are composed in such an epodic form, the term is used with some justification. This naming convention, however, is not attested before the commentary of Pomponius Porphyrion in the second century AD. Horace himself referred to his poems as iambi on several occasions, but it is uncertain if this was intended as a title or only as a generic descriptor, referring to the dominant metre used in the collection: the iamb. In the ancient tradition of associating metrical form with content, the term had by Horace's time become a metonym for the genre of blame poetry which was habitually written in iambic metre. Both terms, Epodes and Iambi, have become common names for the collection.

Horace began writing his Epodes after the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. He had fought as a military tribune in the losing army of Caesar's assassins and his fatherly estate was confiscated in the aftermath of the battle. Having been pardoned by Octavian, Horace began to write poetry in this period. His budding relationship with the wealthy Gaius Maecenas features in several poems, which locates most of the work on the Epodes in the 30s BC. The finished collection was published in 30 BC.

The dramatic date of the collection is less certain. Two poems (Epodes 1 and 9) are explicitly and respectively set before and after the Battle of Actium (31 BC). The remaining poems cannot be placed with any certainty. However, it emerges that they are all set in the tumultuous decade between the death of Caesar and Octavian's final victory. As such, the Epodes are considered a crucial witness to Rome's violent transition from a republic to an autocratic monarchy.

The Epodes situate themselves in the tradition of iambic poetry going back to the lyric poets of archaic Greece. In the following quotation from his Epistles, Horace identifies the poet Archilochus of Paros as his most important influence:

Dating to the seventh century BC, the poems of Archilochus contain attacks, often highly sexualised and scatological, on other members of society. Two groups in particular are targets of his abuse: personal enemies and promiscuous women. The above-mentioned Lycambes features in many of Archilochus' poems and was thought to have killed himself after being viciously slandered by the poet. Horace, as is indicated in the above passage, largely followed the model of Archilochus with regards to metre and spirit, but, on the whole, the Epodes are much more restrained in their verbal violence. While Horace does not borrow extensively from him, Archilochian influence can be felt in some of his themes (e.g. Epod. 8 and 12 as a variation on the Cologne Epodes) and poetic stances (e.g. addressing fellow citizens or hated enemies).

Another significant iambic predecessor of Horace was Hipponax, a lyric poet who flourished during the sixth century BC in Ephesus, Asia Minor. Writing in the same vein as Archilochus, his poems depict the vulgar aspects of contemporary society. In contrast to the previous iambic tradition, he has been described as striking a discernibly satirical pose: through the use of eccentric and foreign language, many of his poems come across as humorous takes on low-brow activities. His influence is acknowledged in Epode 6.11–4. The Hellenistic scholar and poet Callimachus (third century BC) also wrote a collection of iambi, which are thought to have left a mark on Horace's poems. In these poems, Callimachus presented a toned-down, less aggressive version of the archaic iambus. Horace avoids direct allusions to Callimachus, a fact which has sometimes been seen as a strategy in favour of the style of Archilochus and Hipponax.