Epodes (Horace): Difference between revisions

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.{{sfn|Watson|2007|p=94}} Since all poems except ''Epode'' 17 are composed in such an [[Epode|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.{{sfn|Mankin|1995|p=12}} Horace himself, however, referred to his poems as ''iambi'' on several occasions.,<ref>The name is used at e.g. ''Epod.'' 14.7 and ''Carm.'' 1.16.24.</ref> Thebut nameit is uncertain if this was intended as a title or as a generic descriptor, derived from the dominant metre used in the collection: the [[Iamb (poetry)|iamb]]. In the ancient tradition of associating metrical form with content, the term had by Horace's time become a [[Metonymy|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.{{sfn|Watson|2007|p=94}}