The distinction between Horace's two Books of Satires: how is this gap justified?

Abstract

Starting from the differences between the two Books of Horace's Satires, the present dissertation focuses on featuring Horace's evolution as a satirist moving from the first to the second Book. Chapter 1 touches on the city-country contrast with the purpose of investigating why and how Horace relocates satire to the countryside. This is a way for the satirist to challenge maybe the most recognisable quality of his genre, i.e. urbanitas. The father-figures who approach Horace aiming to "educate" him are discussed in Chapter 2. The protagonists of the second Book assign themselves the role of the mentor, both for morals and satiric poetry. In his turn, Horace represents his persona as a passive figure and a target, uttering no criticism even when verbally attacked. This is a new didactic method, a method that does not rely on the moralist's instruction, but leaves more work for the reader to do in judging right from wrong.

Date of Award	31 Dec 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Andrew Morrison (Supervisor) & Ian Goh (Supervisor)