SOURCE: McNeill, Randall L. B. “The Horaces of Horace.” In Horace: Image, Identity, and Audience, pp. 1-9. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

In the following essay, McNeill examines the history of critical debate on Horace, the man. Although there has been considerable contention in the past with respect to whether the Horace in the poetry is or is not the result of careful self-presentation, McNeill (and other critics cited by him) now focus on the depictions in the poetry rather than the poet.

Although many ancient authors have suffered through long periods of disfavor and neglect, their literary stars rising and falling according to the vagaries of changing tastes, Quintus Horatius Flaccus has remained consistently popular through the centuries. He has stood as a cornerstone of classical education for countless generations of students; poets from Pope to Hölderlin to Brodsky have read and admired his works...