Canidia, Romes First Witch [Paperback]

Canidia is one of the most well-attested witches in Latin literature. She appears in no fewer than six of Horace's poems, three of which she has a prominent role in. Throughout Horace'sEpodesandSatiresshe perpetrates acts of grave desecration, kidnapping, murder, magical torture and poisoning. She invades the gardens of Horace's literary patron Maecenas, rips apart a lamb with her teeth, starves a Roman child to death, and threatens to unnaturally prolong Horace's life to keep him in a state of perpetual torment. She can be seen as an anti-muse: Horace repeatedly sets her in opposition to his literary patron, casts her as the personification of his iambic poetry, and gives her the surprising honor of concluding not only hisEpodesbut also his second book ofSatires.

This volume is the first comprehensive treatment of Canidia. It offers translations of each of the three poems which feature Canidia as a main character as well as the relevant portions from the other three poems in which Canidia plays a minor role. These translations are accompanied by extensive analysis of Canidia's part in each piece that takes into account not only the poems' literary contexts but their magico-religious details.

In seeking to understand this literary figure on her own terms in each of her major appearances, Paule strengthens our understanding of Horace's poetic intent and enriches our appreciation of the complexity of the poet's engagement with witches and demonic figures. Paule's prose style is clear and strives to engage the reader. The combination of clarity and insightful analysis in this monograph makes the positions offered engaging. Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The discussions of individual poems are unfailingly rich ... Paule's book provides the perfect complement to ... broad-ranging diachronic surveys, focusing in on one witch, one poeticcorpus, and engaging in close reading. Classics for All Reviews