TO AGRIPPA.
Horace
You shall be described by Varius, a bird of Maeonian verse, as brave,
and a subduer of your enemies, whatever achievements your fierce
soldiery shall have accomplished, under your command; either on
ship-board or on horseback. We humble writers, O Agrippa, neither
undertake these high subjects, nor the destructive wrath of inexorable
Achilles, nor the voyages of the crafty Ulysses, nor the cruel house of
Pelops: while diffidence, and the Muse who presides over the peaceful
lyre, forbid me to diminish the praise of illustrious Caesar, and yours,
through defect of genius. Who with sufficient dignity will describe Mars
covered with adamantine coat of mail, or Meriones swarthy with Trojan
dust, or the son of Tydeus by the favor of Pallas a match for the gods?
We, whether free, or ourselves enamored of aught, light as our wont,
sing of banquets; we, of the battles of maids desperate against young
fellows--with pared nails.
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