Satires (Horace)

The Satires (Latin: Saturae or Sermones) is a collection of satirical poems written in Latin dactylic hexameters by the Roman poet Horace. Published probably in 35 BC and at the latest, by 33 BC,^[1][2] the first book of Satires represents Horace's first published work. It established him as one of the great poetic talents of the Augustan Age.^{[citation needed]} The second book was published in 30 BC as a sequel.^[3]

In the first book of his Sermones (Latin for "conversations") or Saturae (Latin for "miscellaneous poems"), Horace combines Greek philosophy with Roman good sense to convince his readers of the futility and silliness of their ambitions and desires. As an alternative, he proposes a life that is based on the Greek philosophical ideals of autarkeia (Greek for "inner self-sufficiency") and metriotes (Greek for "moderation" or sticking to the Just Mean).^[4] In 1.6.110–131, Horace illustrates what he means by describing a typical day in his own simple, but contented life.

The second book also addresses the fundamental question of Greek Hellenistic philosophy, the search for a happy and contented life. In contrast to book I, however, many of this book's poems are dialogues in which the poet allows a series of pseudo-philosophers, such as the bankrupt art-dealer turned Stoic philosopher Damasippus, the peasant Ofellus, the mythical seer Teiresias, and the poet's own slave, Davus, to espouse their philosophy of life, in satiric contrast to that of the narrator.^[5]

Although the Satires are sometimes considered to be inferior to the Odes, they have been received positively in recent decades.^[6] In the Middle Ages, they were very popular and quoted more frequently than the Odes.