Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari: An Interpretation of Horace’s Ode 4.2.

Abstract

The paper focuses on Horace’s poetological metaphors: flying, the story of Daedalus and Icarus, the rushing river; the tiny, laborious Matinian bee and the mighty Dircaean swan; Iulus’ sacrificial cattle and Horace’s tender, colourful calf. An analysis of these images calls into question the apparent contradiction between Pindaric and Callimachean poetics. The article concludes with a brief discussion of Horace’s recusatio.