The imagery associated with glass in the other poems by Horace is sometimes evocative of darker thoughts.
"Indiscreet trust" is "as clear as glass and ready-charged with secrets to repeat" in Ode 18 of Book I.
Circe, in contrast to the faithful Penelope, is "like glass" in Ode 17 of Book I.
So too, in the visual imagery of Roman art there is a darker side to the portrayal of one quality of glass, at any rate:
Its quality of reflection.
In every culture, mirrors are laden with associations of deep psycho-social significance. Rome was certainly no exception.
A mirror could be any reflecting surface.
In the Pompeiian wall paintings, imagery of reflection seems always to be of a foreboding kind:
Narcissus with his face reflected in the dark pool of water.
Thetis reflected pensively in the gleaming shield of Achilles.
The enigmatic scene of a woman in the Villa of the Mysteries whose image is reflected in a hand mirror.
This last scene is puzzling on two counts. The image we are shown in the mirror is not the proper image that would be depicted if the painter's aim had been to show a rendition of actuality. Rather, we see a strange scene in which the standing companion looks down into the mirror; and in the mirror she sees the same view of the seated woman that we see from outside the picture.
Furthermore, the form of the mirror is unusual, and perhaps unique. It must be either of silver or glass set into a folding, square "compact."
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