Horatius, Odes I,6

[Katarina]

Hey!

I would need some help wit the menanig of the word alite. Here is the phrase:

Scriberis Vario fortis et hostium
victor Maeonii carminis alite,
quam rem cumque ferox navibus aut equis
miles te duce gesserit.

The dictionary suggest only an imperative of alo which can not be. And I somehow managed to find the word ales but I think it doesn't fit to the context.

 

[Pacifica]

Ales is indeed the right word, but used in an unusual way. Here's what L&S says about it:

D. Ales canorus, a swan, for a poet, Hor. C. 2, 20, 15.
Also absol. ales: Maeonii carminis ales, of the singer of a Mæonian (Homeric) song, Hor. C. 1, 6, 2 Jahn.