Horace and his audience: the role of reception in the genesis of genres
Abstract
In the Augustan Age, Horace revived satire, invented the Latin iambus and gave lyric poetry an unprecedented place in Rome. During the last twenty years, conclusive studies have shown that for the meaning and impact of these poetic innovations to be understood, they have to be placed in their political, ideological and cultural context. Like any poet, Horace took into account what the public could/would or could not/would not hear, for political, ideological or cultural reasons: reception plays a role in the genesis of the Satires, the Epodes and the Odes. But inversely, Horace affected his audience and was not without influence on its expectations. This subtle dialogue between the poet and his contemporary readers is obviously difficult to reconstruct. We would however like to show, through some examples taken from the Satires, the Epodes and the Odes, that considering reception in all its complexity, and not merely as a constraint, makes it possible to throw some light on important aspects of Horace’s poetry.
Domains
Humanities and Social SciencesOrigin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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