Horace

Published: Nov. 15, 2018, 10:57 a.m.

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Horace (65-8BC), who flourished under the Emperor Augustus. He was one of the greatest poets of his age and is one of the most quoted of any age. Carpe diem, nil desperandum, nunc est bibendum \\u2013 that\\u2019s Horace. He was the son of a freedman from southern Italy and, thanks to his talent, achieved high status in Rome despite fighting on the losing side in the civil wars. His Odes are widely thought his most enduring works, yet he also wrote his scurrilous Epodes, some philosophical Epistles and broad Satires. He\\u2019s influenced poets ever since, including those such as Wilfred Owen who rejected his line: \\u2018dulce et decorum est pro patria mori\\u2019.

With

Emily Gowers\\nProfessor of Latin Literature at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John\\u2019s College

William Fitzgerald\\nProfessor of Latin Language and Literature at King\\u2019s College London

and

Ellen O\\u2019Gorman\\nSenior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Bristol

Producer: Simon Tillotson

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