Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- CHAPTER I GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II VIRGIL'S PLACE IN ROMAN LITERATURE
- CHAPTER III LIFE AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRGIL
- CHAPTER IV THE ECLOGUES
- CHAPTER V MOTIVES, FORM, SUBSTANCE, AND SOURCES OF THE GEORGICS
- CHAPTER VI RELATION OF THE GEORGICS TO THE POEM OF LUCRETIUS
- CHAPTER VII THE GEORGICS A POEM REPRESENTATIVE OF ITALY
- CHAPTER VIII THE ROMAN EPIC BEFORE THE TIME OF VIRGIL
- CHAPTER IX FORM AND SUBJECT OF THE AENEID
- CHAPTER X THE AENEID AS THE EPIC OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
- CHAPTER XI THE AENEID AS AN EPIC POEM OF HUMAN LIFE
CHAPTER VII - THE GEORGICS A POEM REPRESENTATIVE OF ITALY
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- CHAPTER I GENERAL INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II VIRGIL'S PLACE IN ROMAN LITERATURE
- CHAPTER III LIFE AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRGIL
- CHAPTER IV THE ECLOGUES
- CHAPTER V MOTIVES, FORM, SUBSTANCE, AND SOURCES OF THE GEORGICS
- CHAPTER VI RELATION OF THE GEORGICS TO THE POEM OF LUCRETIUS
- CHAPTER VII THE GEORGICS A POEM REPRESENTATIVE OF ITALY
- CHAPTER VIII THE ROMAN EPIC BEFORE THE TIME OF VIRGIL
- CHAPTER IX FORM AND SUBJECT OF THE AENEID
- CHAPTER X THE AENEID AS THE EPIC OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
- CHAPTER XI THE AENEID AS AN EPIC POEM OF HUMAN LIFE
Summary
The consideration of the motives which influenced Virgil to undertake the composition of the Georgics, of the form of art adopted by him, of the national interest attaching to his subject, of the materials used by him and the sources from which he derived them, of the author who most influenced him in speculative idea and in the general manner of treating his subject, leads to the conclusion that, in its essential characteristics, the poem is a genuine work of Italian art and inspiration. If the original motive influencing him was the ambition to treat of rural life in the serious spirit of Hesiod, as he had done in the lighter vein of Theocritus, that motive was soon lost in the strong impulse to invest with charm and dignity that kind of life in which the Italian mind placed its ideal of worth and happiness. By thus identifying himself with a great national object Virgil raised himself to a higher level of art than that attained by poets whose interests are purely personal and literary.
Next to satire, there was no form of poetry which had more of a Roman character than didactic poetry. By becoming a province of Roman art, this form acquired all its dignity and capacity of greatness.
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- Roman Poets of the Augustan AgeVirgil, pp. 258 - 276Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1877