Epistles (Horace) of more serious and elevated conviction. Book 1 contains 20 Epistles. Book 2 consists of 3 "epistles." However, the third epistle – the "Ars Poetica" – is usually treated as a separate composition. (For further discussion, see the Wikipedia article on the "Ars Poetica"). Epistles (Horace) The Epistles (or Letters) of Horace were published in two books, in 20 BCE and 14 BCE, respectively. As one commentator has put it: "Horace's "Epistles" may be said to be a continuation of his Satires in the form of letters... But few of the epistles are [actually] letters except in form..." They do
Horace themes throughout his poetic career, including politics, love, philosophy and ethics, his own social role, as well as poetry itself. His "Epodes" and "Satires" are forms of 'blame poetry' and both have a natural affinity with the moralising and diatribes of Cynicism. This often takes the form of allusions to the work and philosophy of Bion of Borysthenes but it is as much a literary game as a philosophical alignment. By the time he composed his "Epistles", he was a critic of Cynicism along with all impractical and "high-falutin" philosophy in general. The "Satires" also include a strong element of