Eclogues

This scholarly commentary on the "Eclogues" contains ten pastorals - among the best known poems in Latin literature. They have inspired numerous poets, and they have fascinated scholars for their sophisticated and allusive blend of "Arcadian" idyll with contemporary Roman history. The commentary provides a comprehensive guide to both the poems and the scholarship surrounding them, and should be of interest to all serious students of Virgil. Special attention is paid throughout the commentary to the important question of Virgil's use of Theocritus and the Hellenistic poets, with translations provided of all Greek passages. There are observations on Virgil's poetic style and vocabulary, often with reference to his Latin predecessors - Lucretius, Catullus and Plautus. A third feature of the comentary is a new examination of the plants and trees in the poems - both their exact identification and their significance, which has so far been barely recognized by scholars. There are short introductions to each poem, as well as a comprehensive general introduction to the "Eclogues" as a whole, in which Wendell Clausen discusses the central topics of debate such as the nature of ancient pastoral poetry, structure and the composition of a pastoral landscape. The text is that of R.A.B. Mynors - "Oxford Classical Texts".Table of ContentAppendix: the fourth "Eclogue" and Horace's 16th "Epode".