"Absalom and Achitophel" has inspired a great deal of discussion regarding satire: how satire was defined when Dryden wrote, and how this poem contrasts with the ancient models of Horace, Virgil, and Juvenal. Dryden himself is considered a father of the modern essay, and one of literature's most important critics of the literary form, particularly in his essay "A Discourse Concerning the Original and Progress of Satire", where he writes a history of satire "from its first rudiments of barbarity, to its last polishing and perfection". He also offers a definition of satire: