HORACE: Odes 1.37: Cleopatra Flashcards
Now’s the time…
Now’s the time for drinking deep
And now’s the…
And now’s the time to beat the earth with unfettered feet
It would have…
It would have been wrong, before today, to broach the Caecuban wines
While a maddened…
While a maddened queen was still plotting the Capitol’s and empire’s ruin
with her crowd…
With her crowd of deeply-corrupted creatures
Sick with…
Sick with turpitude, she, violent with hope
Caesar reduced the…
Caesar reduced the distracted thoughts, bred by Mareotic win, to true fear
Out to capture…
Out to capture that deadly monster, bind her
As the sparrow…
As the sparrow-hawk follows the gentle dove
Or the swift hunter…
Or the swift hunter chases the hare, over the snowy plains of Thessaly
But she, intending…
But she, intending to perish more nobly, showed no sign of womanish fear at the sword
Nor did she…
Nor did she even attempt to win with her speedy ships to some hidden shore
And touch the…
And touch the poisonous asps
Now’s the time for drinking deep:
- Could hint at Antony drinking and indulging at the wrong ties
To beat the earth with unfettered feet:
- References the Salian Priests- the Priest’s of Mars who used song and dance to worship
- Could suggest at celebration and honouring of gods for their victory
- The Salian Priest’s religious song added Augustus’ name at some point in his life- almost worshipping him as if he were a god
It would have been wrong, before today, to broach the Caecuban wines:
- Roman stoicism, knowing the right time to celebrate
- Caecuban wines are traditionally Roman, expensive wines.
While a maddened queen was still plotting the Capitol and empire’s ruins:
- Horace doesn’t name Cleopatra, which is indicative of a lack of respect
- Cleopatra described as maddened distances her from the Roman ideal of stoicism
- It also portrays her as the main one in charge, trying to not make it seem like a civil war, more a foreign war fought for the good of Rome
- The war being Cleopatra’s also makes Antony seem like he’s failing in his masculinity, to be following a foreign woman in war- lacking in virtus
With her crowd of deeply corrupted creatures:
- Animalistic imagery used for the Egpytian people- deeply corrupted makes it seem like the Romans are doing them a favour through their destruction
- Also idea that monarchy is bad is reinforced here, as they’re ‘corrupted’, presumably by their leader… a monarch
Sick with turpitude, she, violent with hope:
- Suggests at Cleopatra being unpatriotic- whilst her people suffer she’s only focusing on further conquest.
- No moral standards in Egypt
Scarcely a single ship escaped the flames:
- Reiterates Octavian’s success whilst placing emphasis on Cleopatra’s immense defeat
Caesar reduced the distracted thoughts, bred by Mareotic wine, to true fear:
- Distracted by luxuria, further showing monarchy as bad which makes Octavian look good as he’s fighting against it
- Mareotic wine is strong Egyptian wine
Out to capture that deadly monster, bind her:
- Presents Cleopatra as a formidable opponent for Rome
As the sparrow-hawk follows the gentle dove:
- Reiteration of Octavian’s supreme strength- although she was earlier described as a monster she’s still no challenge or danger to him
- Sparrow-hawk is a strong, predatory animal
- Cleopatra being described as a dove makes her appear weak
- Dove could also link to Venus, suggesting that this war is driven by her lust for Antony
- This comparison to Venus is also relevant, as she is not a very strong fighter, e.g she was wounded by a mortal in the Iliad, which suggests Cleopatra is an easy target
- Venus link also feeds into the idea of her seducing everyone- this is how she holds power over men
Or the swift hunter chases the hare, over the snowy plains of Thessaly:
- Connection to Achilles- he’s from Thessaly and was renowned for being swift. This links Octavian to heroes and warriors
- Idea of Octavian being human whilst Cleopatra is an animal- she is lesser than him
- Thessaly is also the site of the battle between the Titans and the Olympians- this location is therefore symbolic of a start of a new age, and of the triumph of order over chaos, as the Titans were seen as chaotic.
But she, intending to perish more nobly, showed no sign of womanish fear at the sword:
- Suicide was respected in Egypt, it was seen as stoic to take control of your own fate.
- Shows a more masculine side to Cleopatra but this is also reminiscent of Cleopatra- odd for her to be behaving like the most virtuous Roman woman
- This similarity with Lucretia could lead to a negative portrayal of Octavian- it would make him like the King in this story- suicide of a stoic woman causes big changes in politics- but they’re reverting back to monarchy instead of away from it. Basically suggests Octavian is causing political changes.
- However, Octavian exerts his power over her, which could be seen to ‘civilise’ her, which is why she suddenly possesses more Roman characteristics after she’s put under his control
Nor did she even attempt to win with her speedy ships to some hidden shore:
- Shows the futility of fighting back against Octavian
- ‘Speedy ships’- acknowledgement of her being a strong opponent
She dared to gaze at her fallen kingdom with a calm face, and touch the poisonous asps with courage’
- Reference to Cleopatra’s suicide- however Asps are also a symbol of royalty and monarchy, so could be suggesting the idea of ‘monarchy’ poisoning a country etc.
- Calm face, dared to gaze, with courage- highlights the many sides of Cleopatra- at the end she appears noble. Horace presents her as a formidable enemy brought down by the superior force of Octavian and thus he implicitly praises octavian for having defeated such a foe.
When was this poem written?
23BC
What is this poem about?
- Focuses on Cleopatra’s role in and after the Battle of Actium
- The majority of the poe is focused on demonising Cleopatra, emphasising the danger that she posed to Rome and her lack of self control
