the eclogues Flashcards
(7 cards)
how virgil distinguishes the literal landscape of his poem from that of theocritus
3.56: ‘nunc frondent silvae’ -> rather than theocritean shrubbery we have a sacred grove -> subtle intrusion of the divine into the poetic landscape, and when virgil often allegorises political figures or ideologies in his poetry, admittance of Augustan authority into the poetic sphere and still on his own terms
suetonius on the adoption of Octavian by Caesar
Caesar’s decision to adopt Octavian came after he refrained from cutting down the palm tree, which then outgrew its parent tree
interaction of nature, the divine and Augustus’ empowerment
compare with the gentle synergy between the shepherds and their environment, neither one out-competes the other
gentle synergy between shepherd and landscape
7.1 Daphnis sits beneath ‘arguta ilice’ - generally translated as ‘chattering’
8.22-4 - mountains listen to the shepherds singing
just as virgil and by extension the shepherd bards, observe and record nature in their poetry/song, nature looks straight back
5.20-1 the hazels and rivers watch the Nymphs grieve for Daphnis
instruments utilised both for song and for writing - the reed which can become a pipe or a pen (avena) - are given by nature (writing inscribed upon the tree - alluded too in book 1 and literalised when mopsus records his song on a tree)
significance of the ‘avena’ to divine intrusion
‘avena’ used in the eclogues to refer to an instrument, rather than literal oats - subverting the expectation of divine intrusion upon the text but still ceres comes to mind, divinity at the periphery
cultivation of the wild and augustus
the ‘avena’ is created from a cultivated plant rather than a wild one
land is cultivated and agricultural as much as it is wild and liberating -> 1.73 and 9.50 -> grafting trees is associated with peace and order, significant in the construction of Augustan political identity
gesturing at land seizures in eclogues 1 - lingering undercurrent of the violence of cultivation and perversion of nature
Daphnis is accompanied by the wild lion in his demise - wild and unpredictable world beyond -> compare with the barbarism of the lion in 3.2
cultivation of the wild and augustus: interpretation
virgil does not repress these elements, allows them to exist in discordance with the relative peace and prosperity of the landscape. Augustus’ violent land seizures are acknowledged but not pressed upon
Virgil allows Augustus to subtly enter his poetic world as an imposing but not entirely substantial force that lingers at the periphery
anonymity and abstraction in the eclogues
obscures the line between reality and the pastoral world
Book 8 - tangible boundary of the Trimavus River - and yet still a boundary in constant flux
Book 1 - establishes the ever-encroaching presence of shadows beginning with the tree in the opening lines and escalating through the shadow of the mountains - the mountains are a combination of the physical barrier of the mountain and the impalpable presence of it’s shadows -> also shows passage of time, the shade of the tree and the imposing shadow of the mountain later in the day
book 4 - allusion to Octavian’s rise to power through omen - even this is insubstantial and open for interpretation, also filtered through nature, conflating contemporary politics with the unreality of the pastoral landscape
