Classical World

In Epistles 1.2, Horace designs his summaries of the Iliad and Odyssey to function as critical exercises for someone who intends to read Homer's epics for moral insight. Horace models two approaches to reading Homer, one insufficiently self-reflective and the other excessively so. With allusions to metapoetically significant episodes in the epics, Horace points out the attractions and pitfalls of the readings he models, and implies that a moral reading of Homer requires a balanced and individualized approach.