Of the religious life represented by these, Horace is
no more tempted to make light than he is tempted to delineate the
Italian rustic as De Maupassant does the French,--as an amusing animal,
with just enough of the human in his composition to make him ludicrous.
_iv_. THE INTERPRETER OF THE POPULAR
WISDOM
Finally, in the homely, unconventional wisdom which fills _Satire_ and
_Epistle_ and sparkles from the _Odes_, Horace is again the national
interpreter. The masses of Rome or Italy had little consciously to do
with either Stoicism or Epicureanism. Their philosophy was vigorous
common sense, and was learned from living, not from conning books.
Horace, too, for all his having been a student of formal philosophy in
Athens, for all his professed faith in philosophy as a boon for rich and
poor and old and young, and for all his inclination to yield to the
natural human impulse toward system and adopt the philosophy of one of
the Schools, is a consistent follower of neither Stoic nor Epicurean.
Both systems attracted him by their virtues, and both repelled him
because of their weaknesses. His half-humorous confession of wavering
allegiance is only a reflection of the shiftings of a mind open to the
appeal of both:
And, lest you inquire under what guide or to what hearth I look for
safety, I will tell you that I am sworn to obedience in no master's
formula, but am a guest in whatever haven the tempest sweeps me to.
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