Horace’s ode Dianam tenerae… used to be interpreted with regard to Catullus’ Hymn to Diana. Through the analysis of the parallel motifs and the differences of both poems, the traditional elements and the “accessories” of the hymnic tradition adapted and rewritten by Horace are illustrated and clarified. While answering the questions concerning the genre, the “literary I” and the lexis of the ode, it becomes obvious, that Horace’s main intention was to utter his vocation as vates and the effect of his poem. Thus, it is not Apollo ἀλεζíκακgoς, but the self-conscious poet, who is in the centre of the carm . I 31. [http://www.akademiai.com/doi/abs/10.1556/AAnt.49.2009.4.8]