Horace after Horace

Abstract This chapter illustrates the afterlife of Horace in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and beyond, identifying salient features of his tradition such as the emphasis on his Odes and Epistles, the strong association of the poet with notions of intellectual retirement, the memorability of much of his poetry, and the international, though broadly European, extent of his popularity. Attempts to set his poetry to music are also considered, and the particular use made of the Carmen Saeculare by the Fascist regime in Italy. The overwhelmingly masculine character of Horace’s poetry and tradition is partly corrected, and the point made more forcefully that a tradition inevitably misshapes a Classical poet, emphasizing some aspects, suppressing others—but in that resides much of the vitality of his afterlife.