The Eclogues

10,493 words (39 minutes) with a reading ease of 67.69 (average difficulty)

Part of theEncyclopædia Britannica’s Great Books of the Western Worldset.

Poetry

Description

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Virgil’sEclogues, also known as theBucolics, is a collection of ten pastoral poems written in Latin during the first century BC. It’s among the most famous cycles of poetry in Latin literature. TheEclogues were written at a time of political and social upheaval in Rome, and they reflect Virgil’s concerns about the state of the Roman Republic under Augustus’s rule.

The poems are set in an idealized, rural landscape and feature shepherds engaging in conversations about love, politics, and the natural world. The characters and themes are often allegorical, representing contemporary political figures and events in a veiled manner. The poems also draw on the pastoral tradition established by earlier Greek poets like Theocritus.

The first eclogue introduces two shepherds, Tityrus and Meliboeus, who discuss the impact of recent land expropriations on their lives. Other eclogues explore themes such as unrequited love, the idyllic rural life, and the effects of political turmoil on the countryside.

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