Throughout the books of Horace’s odes there is a variety of approaches to the divine and to the composition of religious poetry. Horace, learning much from his Greek predecessors, is able to adapt Archaic Greek meter, motifs and themes into contemporary Latin verse that could be utilized by educated Romans in a variety of ways. In poems ten and thirty-one of the first book two of these ways are displayed. Poem ten is written in such a way as to provide the reader with an eloquent way of invoking the various aspects of Mercury. Whereas poem thirty-one is a guiding ode, instructing one what not to pray for and ends with a stanza that could also be extracted from the poem as a whole and used independently as a private-prayer.

Prior to beginning a study on any poet, it would be prudent to first discuss their life before discussing their work. Quintus Horatius Flaccus was born 8 December 65 B.C.[1] The background of Horace is unique because he tells us so much about his upbringing and the great gratitude he felt towards his father. As such, no survey of the life of Horace would be complete without proper tribute to his father. In book one satire six, Horace tells us both of his father’s good nature and his motivations for sending his son to Rome for school.