Sus and Mus in Lucretius (De rerum natura 5.25), Vergil (Georgics 1.181), and Horace (Ars poetica 139)

Abstract

This note argues that the Lucretian hexameter-final monosyllable Arcadius sus (5.25) stands at the beginning of a Roman hexameter tradition of satiric final-monosyllable animals, echoed by Vergil’s exiguus mus at Georgics 1.181 and Horace’s ridiculus mus at Ars poetica 139. Lucretius’ sus, in context, deflates and deglamorizes the boarish Labor of Hercules; Vergil’s mus makes the satiric subtext explicit, and playfully suggests that pest control is a Herculean task; Horace’s mus folds the satiric epic pattern in on itself, by using it to satirize epic.