horace odes 1.37 - cleopatra

• written in 23 bc
• addressed to the reader
• "now's the time" - echoes the work of Alcaeus, a Greek poet and one of Horace's idols
• Salian feast - Salian people linked to Mars, the god of war and celebration
• Mareotic wine - Egyptian wine, typically stronger
• "gentle dove" - compares Cleo to Venus who is famously useless in war; Iliad she is wounded by Diomedes
• Thessaly - birthplace of Achilles and site of the Gigantomachy
• Giants represent an unbridled force of nature whilst Olympians have controlled sectors
• the Gigantomachy is a story of order triumphing chaos
• cyclical structure of celebration - begins with the Romans' celebrating their victory and ends with Cleopatra's private celebration at her suicicde
• Egyptians othered - "maddened queen", "deeply-corrupted creatures", reference to much stronger Mareotic wine
• Cleopatra brave in death - "proud triumph" "no sign of womanish fear" "courage" "nobly", "no ordinary woman"
• Roman dominance - Rome a "sparrow hawk" chasing the "gentle dove" of Cleopatra, the hare and hunter metaphor over Thessaly