Question

think about the message of the poem. When Owen calls the Latin phrase an "old lie," what message is he communicating? Describe your answer in at least one or two sentences

Answer 1

The answer on Edgen is:

Soldiers will experience great hardships during war. Soldiers should not go to war expecting glory. It is not an honor to die in war.

Answer 2

"The lie Wilfred Owen refers to is the Latin sentence that comes at the very end of the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Translated into English, this sentence means "How sweet and fitting (or glorious) it is to die for one's country!" Owen calls it old because it is a line from an ode by Horace, a Roman poet who lived"