David K Shelley and Professor William Tortorelli, Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature
In 23 B.C. Horace published three books of Odes. The longest of these poems, Odes 3.4, has been the object of much scholarly attention, largely because of its complexity. In approaching this closely-studied poem I have sought to examine a facet which has gone virtually untouched by the scholarly literature thus far: the poem’s allusions to the mythological figure Orpheus. A musician and poet of legendary power, Orpheus was able to control nature and even overpower death with his bewitching song. Though he is never explicitly mentioned in the text, a number of ideas and themes associated with Orpheus are strewn throughout the poem. I believe, therefore, that we may profitably read the poem with an eye to its Orphic undertones.
Odes 3.4 begins with an invocation of the Muse Calliope (1-4). In the second stanza (5-8) Horace claims that he is being overcome by an ecstatic trance. From there he sets off in a new direction, recounting miraculous events from his childhood which demonstrate how he has been chosen and protected by the Muses (9-20). In the following section (21-36) Horace expresses his confidence in the watchful care of the Muses; he recalls occasions when he was saved from death and asserts that he will fearlessly brave any danger with them. Then, at the poem’s center, Horace turns his attention to politics; Caesar, he says, was renewed by the Muses after he completed his labors (37-42). Horace then recounts the mythical battles in which the Olympian gods defeated their rivals (42-64). One stanza makes a moralistic statement on the danger of relying on force without wisdom (65-68). In the remainder of the poem (69-80), Horace illustrates the consequences of disregarding this advice by mentioning people who suffer eternal punishment in the underworld.
Before discussing the Orphic allusions themselves, I must address a few points which will have significance in my analysis of the implications of the poem’s Orphic elements. Horace appears to be drawing on the archaic Greek poet Hesiod, whose Theogony provides a sort of framework for Odes 3.4. Hesiod says that the Muses furnish inspiration to both poets and kings. A similar idea runs through Horace’s poem, which discusses the gentle counsel (lene consilium) which Augustus receives from the Muses. Steele Commager argues that Odes 3.4 is not merely a song of praise to Caesar, but rather an admonitory sermon, in which Horace seeks to persuade Augustus to establish peace by putting an end to the civil conflict that had racked Rome for decades.
From beginning to end, Odes 3.4 offers numerous points of convergence with the Orpheus myth. Calliope, who is invoked at the outset, is the mother of Orpheus. The ecstatic trance Horace describes in the second stanza calls to mind the practices of shamanistic cultures from which the Orpheus myth is derived. Horace tells of how he, as a child, slept in the woods unmolested by bears and vipers, and watched over by birds; this recalls Orpheus’s power over nature. In lines 29-31 Horace says that he will gladly pass through the raging Bosphorus under the watchful care of the Muses. This is a noteworthy detail, for the Bosphorus was part of the voyage of the Argo, in which Orpheus played an important role. Line 40 of Odes 3.4 is believed to have reference to an occasion on which Virgil read his Georgics to Augustus. If this is correct, it may constitute another Orphic allusion, because Orpheus figures prominently in the final book of the Georgics. Orpheus was believed to have sung often of the battles between the Olympians and the giants, and it is therefore significant that Horace devotes several stanzas to this theme. Finally, the concluding stanzas, in which Horace speaks of the underworld, echo Orpheus’s mythical descent into Hades to retrieve Eurydice.
If we can infer from these Orphic resonances that Horace is deliberately alluding to Orpheus, we are left with the question of how these allusions are intended to influence our understanding of the poem. The implied presence of Orpheus subtly alters the poem’s discussion of the relationship between political authority and the Muses. In the Theogony, Hesiod assigns roughly equal prestige to kings and poets, affirming that both are blessed by the Muses. Odes 3.4 seems, at first, to endorse this view, but because Orpheus’s spectacular powers far outstrip those of any king, the repeated allusions to Orpheus can be taken to mean that Horace believes poets to be ultimately superior to kings.
In reality, though, Horace clearly lacked the raw power of Augustus, and fully understood that. The superior power of poets, then, resides in the wisdom of the Muses, which Horace recommends to Augustus. The myth of Orpheus suggests that this wisdom consists of a certain philosophy of governing. In one frequently-repeated myth, Orpheus’s song enchants the surrounding countryside, compelling even rocks and trees to crowd around Orpheus and listen to him. In Horace’s account of the battle between the Olympians and the giants, the giants use mountains and trees as weapons, uprooting them and throwing them from their natural places (49-58). Horace points out the futility of such violence, and through his Orphic subtext suggests that by eschewing coercion and using gentle persuasion a ruler can bring his people under his sway, just as Orpheus’s song persuaded trees and boulders to uproot themselves and come to him.
The mythological figures Horace refers to in the final stanzas correspond allegorically to the defeated parties in the Roman civil wars. Commager notes that Horace’s language in these lines betrays sympathy for those who are suffering eternal punishment in the underworld, notwithstanding the justice of their punishments. The implied presence of Orpheus deepens this compassionate strain. During his descent into the underworld, Orpheus brought temporary respite to the spirits there through his song; by invoking Orpheus Horace suggests that he wishes to similarly comfort his fallen countrymen.
I presented my findings on April 7, 2006 at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South (CAMWS) in Gainesville, Florida. I plan to continue my research, implementing feedback I received at the conference.
References
- Steele Commager, The Odes of Horace: A Critical Study. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962. 194-209.
- M. L. West, The Orphic Poems. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983. 3-5.
- Commager, 200-2.