Abstract
A sequential reading of Horace’s Odes shows that the Pyrrha poem (1. 5) is connected with various others by means of subject matter, structure, choice of words, and metre. In the centre of this complex of allusions we find the figure of Achilles in the transvestite disguise he used to hide on the island of Scyrus, where, according to Hyginus, he was known by the name of Pyrrha. In the epic tradition, Scyrus seems to have been counted among the Cycladic Isles, while at the same time, that particular episode in the hero’s life belongs to the period narrated in the epic cycle. Through this connection, the Scyrian Achilles may shed light on the meaning of Horace’s warning against travelling the sea that extends between the Cyclades in ode 1. 14, the first ode written in the same metre as 1. 5. In the final part of the article, Horace’s allusive technique, described by him in metaphors of weaving and spinning, is compared to the modern concept of the leitmotif.
© by Akademie Verlag, Berlin, Germany
