The last stanza of Horace’s Ode to Iccius (1.29.13-16) follows some adynata<\/em> \u2013 ‘Who will deny that anything is possible . . .'(<\/a>1<\/b><\/a>)<\/p>\n cum tu coemptos undique nobilis Commentators all note that domus<\/em> can mean ‘school’ of philosophers.(<\/a>2<\/b><\/a>) This is true, and important, but I think there is more to the word-choice than that.(<\/a>3<\/b><\/a>) Iccius’ erotic daydreams suggest an unsatisfactory personal life. This might naturally stem from poverty, caused or exacerbated by out-of-control spending on philosophical books: such an interpretation is compatible with the other poem Horace addresses to Iccius, Epistle<\/em> 1.12, in which he seems to have taken a job managing Agrippa’s estates in Sicily, still philosophizing, and still discontented with his lot.<\/p>\n I prefer a different solution. What if we take Socraticam et domum<\/em> literally as referring (secondarily, or even primarily) to his actual home? That would raise some interesting questions. Does he live alone, or is there a Mrs. Iccius? a nest of little Iccii? Is his obsessive book-collecting, or his avoidance of paying work to make time for philosophy, making a whole family miserable by lowering their standard of living? Does he ignore them all in favor of reading, writing, or long dialogues in the marketplace with his philosophical friends? A truly ‘Socratic’ home would include a nagging Xanthippe and three whining children, and such a home-life would explain Iccius’ eagerness to get as far away from Rome as he can, not returning without plenty of money \u2013 and some charming, submissive, and conveniently gender-varied captives.<\/p>\n Or perhaps Iccius is single and lives with his mother \u2013 all the nagging, with none of the sex. (By the way, the closest parallel I know in Horace for a collector of philosophical books is the wealthy vetula<\/em> of Epode<\/em> 8, with her Stoic booklets lurking among silken pillows (15-16):<\/p>\n quid quod libelli Stoici inter Sericos However, I would not go so far as to suggest that she, or anyone like her, is Iccius’ mother, wife, or lover: that would be going too far, even for me.)<\/p>\n I suspect a reinforcing pun on the name of Panaetius, who is ‘entirely to blame’ for Iccius’ discontent \u2013 or so at least his Xanthippe thinks. There is a similar pun in the one epigram in the Greek Anthology attributed to Apollonius of Rhodes (A.P.<\/em> 11.275):<\/p>\n \u039a\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03af\u03bc\u03b1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u1f78 \u03ba\u03ac\u03b8\u03b1\u03c1\u03bc\u03b1, \u03c4\u1f78 \u03c0\u03b1\u03af\u03b3\u03bd\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd, \u1f41 \u03be\u03cd\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6\u03c2\u00b7 Despite numerous difficulties of attribution and interpretation (for which see D. L. Page, Further Greek Epigrams<\/em>, 17-18), \u03b1\u1f34\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 here does seem to mean ‘to blame’ (the adjectival phrase, I mean, not the infinitive).<\/p>\n (<\/a>1<\/b><\/a>) I quote Shackleton Bailey\u2019s Teubner text (1985). The only variant (nobilis<\/em> \u2013 more likely genitive singular than accusative plural \u2013 vs. nobiles<\/em>) has no bearing on my argument.<\/p>\n (<\/a>2<\/b><\/a>) In this case, R. Mayer (Cambridge, 2012) says, “the term is used loosely of the followers of Socrates, e.g., Plato and Xenophon.”<\/p>\n (<\/a>3<\/b><\/a>) He might as easily have called them a grex<\/em>, as in the Epistle to Albius (1.4.16) \u2013 gregem<\/em> and domum<\/em> are metrically interchangeable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The last stanza of Horace’s Ode to Iccius (1.29.13-16) follows some adynata \u2013 ‘Who will deny that anything is possible . . .'(1) cum tu coemptos undique nobilis libros Panaeti Socraticam et domum mutare loricis Hiber\u00eds, pollicitus meliora, tendis? Commentators … Continue reading \n
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\nlibros Panaeti Socraticam et domum
\n mutare loricis Hiber\u00eds,
\n pollicitus meliora, tendis?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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\n iacere pulvillos amant?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
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\n \u03b1\u1f34\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03b3\u03c1\u03ac\u03c8\u03b1\u03c2 \u0391\u1f34\u03c4\u03b9\u03b1 \u039a\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03af\u03bc\u03b1\u03c7\u03bf\u03c2.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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