ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the solutions to the various problems in Horace's Odes to see whether an analysis in terms of ancient rhetorical theory can be given. Ancient rhetorical theorists recognised the basic distinction between metaphor and metonymy. The relationship of the myths to the major context purports to be paradigmatic, and so to function as a form of metaphor within the context. The basic distinction between metaphor as a substitution by similarity, and metonymy as a substitution by contiguity is also the basis of modem analysis—though, instead of the contrast between similarity and contiguity, some may substitute one between analogy and association or one between what is paradigmatic and what is syntagmatic. The ode of Horace simply and flatly contradicts all that speculation and asserts a system of values that is based on life in this world and on man's respect for fellow human beings.
