Apodosis Essays

The title of this poem is a quotation from Horace. The sentence, which Owen quotes entirely at the end of his poem, means: “It is sweet and proper to die for your own country.” The Latin poet celebrated the war heroes who died on the battlefields, because they lost their lives fighting for the safety of their own countries. The honor proper of the warriors perished during a war is an ancient topos, which has been celebrated since Homer’s time. However, Wilfred Owen plays with the literary tradition