Horace also
celebrates
Varius as a poet of sublime genius.
Tacitus
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
But after all, the question put by Maternus, is, can any of their
orations be compared to the _Medea_ of Ovid, or the _Thyestes_ of
Varius? Those two tragedies are so often praised by the critics of
antiquity, that the republic of letters has reason to lament the loss.
Quintilian says that the _Medea_ of Ovid was a specimen of genius,
that shewed to what heights the poet could have risen, had he thought
fit rather to curb, than give the rein to his imagination. _Ovidii
Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum vir ille præstare potuisset, si
ingenio suo temperare, quam indulgere maluisset. _ Lib. x. cap. 1.
The works of Varius, if we except a few fragments, are wholly lost.
Horace, in his journey to Brundusium, met him and Virgil, and he
mentions the incident with the rapture of a friend who loved them
both:
Plotius, et Varius Sinuessæ, Virgiliusque
Occurrunt; animæ quales neque candidiores
Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter.
Lib. i. sat. 5.
Horace also celebrates Varius as a poet of sublime genius. He begins
his Ode to Agrippa with the following lines:
Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium
Victor, Mæonii carminis alite,
Quam rem cumque ferox navibus, aut equis
Miles te duce gesserit.
Lib. i. ode 6.
Varius, who soars on epic wing,
Agrippa, shall thy conquests sing,
Whate'er, inspir'd by thy command,
The soldier dar'd on sea or land.
FRANCIS'S HORACE.
A few fragments only of his works have reached posterity. His tragedy
of THYESTES is highly praised by Quintilian. That judicious critic
does not hesitate to say, that it may be opposed to the best
productions of the Greek stage. _Jam Varii Thyestes cuilibet Græcorum
comparari potest. _ Varius lived in high favour at the court of
Augustus. After the death of Virgil, he was joined with _Plotinus_
and _Tucca_ to revise the works of that admirable poet. The _Varus_ of
Virgil, so often celebrated in the Pastorals, was, notwithstanding
what some of the commentators have said, a different person from
Varius, the author of Thyestes.
Section XIII.
[a] The rural delight of Virgil is described by himself:
Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes;
Flumina amem, sylvasque inglorius.
