The poets Horace and Albius Tibullus knew each other well, so when
Tibullus complained that his Glycera has left him for a younger man, Horace
consoles him by pointing to the vicissitudes of Love. It is still a prominent
subject: the pub I visit is often frequented by young women, talking to each
other about who has left whom, and who has a new relationship. Sometimes they
seek comfort with each other once a relationship has been broken and I have
witnessed some dramatic scenes. In my observation men are far less likely to do
the same in public.
Back to this poem: there is a problem: no Glycera is known from
Tibullus love elegies. Nemesis and Delia were the women he loved and both these
names are pseudonyms. What Horace does is making fun of pseudonyms and – I
think – making fun of love elegies. This is a light hearted poem in which he
both takes Tibullus and himself not too serious in rebus Veneris.
Meter: third asclepiad: - - -
uu- -uu-ux (3x) and the last line - - -
uu - ux
Horace Odes 1.33
Albi, ne doleas plus nimio memor
inmitis Glycerae neu miserabilis
decantes elegos, cur tibi iunior
laesa praeniteat fide.
Insignem tenui fronte Lycorida 5
Cyri torret amor, Cyrus in asperam
declinat Pholoen: sed prius Apulis
iungentur capreae lupis,
quam turpi Pholoe peccet adultero.
Sic uisum Veneri, cui placet imparis 10
formas atque animos sub iuga aenea
saeuo mittere cum ioco.
Ipsum me melior cum peteret Venus,
grata detinuit compede Myrtale
libertina, fretis acrior Hadriae 15
curuantis Calabros sinus.
ne doleas plus nimio: be not in pain too much
memor –oris (+ gen.): mindful, remembering
inmitis –is: not soft, harsh (contrary to Glycera,
which means `sweet’)
miserabilis elegos = miserabiles elegos (It
was thought that elegi was derived
from Greek e legein `to lament’)
decanto: to sing (time and again, as the prefix de suggests)
elegi –orum (only plural): elegy
cur tibi iunior laesa
praeniteat fide:
because a younger man is more attractive than you (praeniteo + dat.), now love has been broken.
laesa fide = litt. faith being hurt
torret amor: Amor makes x (acc,) burn for y (dat.)
insignis –is: noted
tenui fronte: Lycoris was thus noted for her small forehead i.e a small distance
between eyebrows and hair, which was a sign of beauty. The name, as the others,
is fictitious.
Cyrus in asperam declinat
Pholoen: Cyrus turns away (from Lycoris) to cruel
Pholoe
caprea: a wild she-goat
Apulis lupis: Horace was born in Venusia, which is in Apulia. (Note the comma!
The sentence continues.)
turpis: shameful
uisum Veneri: it pleases Venus. The expression is rather pompous and has a
sacral-religious touch, which makes what follows even more funny.
imparis formas: `The predilection of tall men for short women and vice versa is
supposed to be an established fact.’ Thus T.E. Page in his commentary of 1895.
But why have girls of about 1,80 – not that uncommon here in the Netherlands – mostly
taller boy friends? So far the established facts of the Victorian age.
sub iuga aenea: a yoke of bronze is even more unpleasant than a yoke of wood Of
course in reality no yoke of bronze exists .
melior Venus: a higher mistress (in opposite to libertina: a freedwoman)
peto: to strife for
grata detinuit compede
Myrtale libertina: Myrtale held me with a pleasing chain. (A compes
was a feet-chain worn by slaves.)
libertine fretis acrior
Hadriae curuantis Calabros sinus: a feedwoman more tempestuous than the Adriatic Sea curving the Gulf
of Calabria. (i.e. the Gulf of Naples.)
Translation by John Conington (1863):
What, Albius! why this
passionate despair
For cruel Glycera? why
melt your voice
In dolorous strains, because the perjured
fair
Has made a younger
choice?
See, narrow-brow'd
Lycoris, how she glows
For Cyrus! Cyrus turns
away his head
To Pholoe's frown; but
sooner gentle roes
Apulian wolves shall
wed,
Than Pholoe to so mean a
conqueror strike:
So Venus wills it;
'neath her brazen yoke
She loves to couple forms
and minds unlike,
All for a heartless
joke.
For me sweet Love had
forged a milder spell;
But Myrtale still kept
me her fond slave,
More stormy she than the
tempestuous swell
That crests
Calabria's wave.
