What does it mean to be human? We could turn to science or philosophy for an answer, but there is another, more adventurous path open to us: poetry that reveals the human condition, in all of its vexing complexity. Nowhere is this exploration of humanity more apparent than in the great odes, which began in classical times as celebrations of important events – as in Pindar’s odes on the Olympic Games. Soon the Pindaric ode gave way to another form, which became the vehicle for revealing the deepest human thoughts and emotions. The Carmina (literally “songs,” but known as odes) of the Roman poet Horace show us this second way. These two strains -- the Pindaric and the Horatian -- move through the history of poetry and help to shape it, as well as to shape us. Poems such as Keats’s “Ode to A Nightingale” or Shelley’s “To a Skylark” are only superficially about birds. Far from just celebrating external nature, they present us with mirrors of the human soul. Studying the great odes helps us to uncover our deepest selves. I hope you will join me on this exciting voyage of discovery.