Browsing by Author "Thom, S."
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- ItemCelebrating the past : Horace's Odes as aide memoire(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2008) Thom, S.In Travels with Herodotus Ryszard Kapuscinski writes: "Herodotus admits that he was obsessed with memory, fearful on its behalf. He felt that memory is something defective, fragile, impermanent – illusory, even. That whatever it contains, whatever it is storing, can evaporate, simply vanish without a trace. His whole generation, everyone living on earth at that time, was possessed by that same fear. Without memory one cannot live, for it is what elevates man above beasts, determines the contours of the human soul; and yet it is at the same time so unreliable, elusive, treacherous. It is precisely what makes man so unsure of himself ... In the world of Herodotus, the only real repository of memory is the individual" (2008:75-76). In this discussion of memory, Kapuscinski does not ask what memory is. He simply assumes a very basic definition namely that memory’s primary function is to preserve what has gone before. However, Kapuscinki’s reflection on why an “unsuccessful process” such as memory is so fundamental, is more interesting. Memory provides a starting point. One cannot step into the same river twice, but at least the river of memory is there. Without memory no progress of any kind would be possible. Memory establishes what the past contained so that the present can move forward. This is the very basis for all human development. The fact is, as individuals and collectively, we cannot and do not have to start over all the time. Because it already contains the past – even though a fragmented past – memory provides us with a springboard into the future. Taking the importance of memory as a given, I would like to consider briefly why Horace would engage with and celebrate the past so consistently. Subsequently I would like to consider more carefully how this celebration of the past functions as an aide-mémoire for his audience.
- ItemClassics in post-colonial worlds(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2008) Thom, S.The volume grew out of a conference on Classics in Post-Colonial Worlds held at the Open University in the West Midlands Centre in Harborne, Birmingham in May 2004.
- ItemHorace on Augustus : fact or fiction?(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2004) Thom, S.Quot homines tot sententiae seems a good summary of the variety of critical readings of lyric poetry in general and of Horace’s position on Augustus in particular. This raises the interesting question of the position of factual information in poetry: does lyric as genre imply a choice for fiction as opposed to fact or can some references to contemporary personalities or incidents be taken as realistic? In this case specifically: can what Horace says about Augustus be taken as a realistic assessment of the emperor? To complicate matters, Augustus was a powerful personage who wanted and often managed to put his own stamp on things1 — in himself an embodiment of the opposition between fact and fiction. Given this undoubtedly heady mix, the paper will try to make some
- ItemHorace on Horace 'Odes' 4(Open Journal Systems, 2001) Thom, S.Horace’s fourth Book of Odes was published in 13 B.C.1 Ten years had passed since the publication of Odes 1-3. In Epistles 1.1.4 published 7 years before Odes 4 Horace already indicated that for him neither age nor mind was the same (non eadem est aetas, non mens, Epistles 1.1.17) and that a wise person (sanus) would turn the aging horse to pasture (solve senescentem mature sanus equum, Epistles 1.1.8). It is clear then that Horace would have needed some serious inducement to return from that pasture of retirement into the fray of committing himself to writing lyric poetry and especially odes again. This paper agrees with i.a. Putnam that critics have often underestimated the achievement represented by Odes 4. And if the artistic achievement of Odes 4 is accepted, then justification for the existence of the collection seems to be self-evident, in spite of Horace’s clear reluctance to write the poems contained in the collection. When we turn to Odes 4 it seems reasonable to assume that – amongst other things – the opportunity to reassess his stance on matters with which he had been preoccupied in Odes 1-3 posed a challenge which Horace in the end could not resist. For without very specific inducement to return to writing odes again Horace could have remained out to pasture as he indicated in Epistle 1.1. Why did it make good sense to add Odes 4 to the existing collection of odes – apart from giving further proof of artistic excellence?
- ItemHorace's claim to fame in Odes Book 1 : a question of expectations?(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2013) Thom, S.The first book of Odes introduces the reader to a carefully conceived sequence of poems. This article argues that with this sequence a larger more philosophical Sitz im Leben1 is suggested for the individual poems as well as for the collection as a whole. This article further proposes that the careful construction of an individual book of Odes has a significant impact on the frame of reference of the collection as a whole. Odes book 1 is taken as an example substantiating this argument.
- ItemMyth as historic benchmark in Horace Odes : 3:1-6(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2006) Thom, S.Can a lyric poet have anything valid to say about historic realities? In this paper I argue that by looking carefully at Horace’s use of myth as a larger frame of reference against which Odes 3.1 – 6 should be read, a case can be made for a lyric poet’s subtly critical assessment of the contemporary reality. In short I want to suggest that the poet uses myth as a means to comment (implicitly) on the contemporary historic reality concerned. Furthermore, if a reference to myth can operate as implied comment on the present, this reference can also include didactic purpose, or more specifically advice on how to act in the present reality.
- ItemSatiric lyric? Horace Odes 3.7-12(Stellenbosch University, Department of Ancient Studies, 2003) Thom, S.A cluster of six poems, Odes 3. 7–12, enhanced by their position in the collection of Odes (following as they do the Roman Odes, Odes 3. 1–6) seems to stake Horace’s claim as a poet of personal relationships to the same extent that the Parade Odes (Odes 1. 1–9) staked his claim as a master craftsman. Nowhere else in the collection do we have such a large group of poems dedicated exclusively to expressing aspects of personal relationships. In addition, it is striking that the group as a whole also seems to focus on ironic points of view on the situations concerned. The most obvious explanation for this special focus could lie in the fact that the poems are meant to be read as a group, which in turn requires that the perspective reflected by the group as a whole should be taken into careful consideration.