Source edition
Vergil. The Bucolics, Aeneid, and Georgics Of Virgil. Greenough, J.B., editor. Boston: Ginn and Company, 1881.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA (per Perseus's terms)
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This didactic epic by the great Roman poet Virgil explores the relationship between nature, human labor, and civilization through four central themes: agriculture, arboriculture, animal husbandry, and apiculture. Consisting of four books addressed to Octavian, the work adopts the tradition of Hesiodic poetry to paint a vivid picture of the Italian landscape and its rural life. Books 1 and 2 focus on soil cultivation, the astronomical signs guiding the seasons, and the techniques of growing trees and vines, contrasting the necessity of relentless toil against natural disasters with the serene happiness of rustic life. Book 3 shifts to the breeding and training of horses and cattle, portraying the destructive power of animal passions and culminating in a tragic, devastating plague. Finally, Book 4 examines the orderly society of bees and introduces the myth of Aristaeus, Orpheus, and Eurydice to explain the miraculous regeneration of a lost hive, reaching a profound resolution on death, rebirth, and the power of art.
Contents
28 chunks
Cited by poem.line
- §1.1-1.73
- §1.74-1.147
- §1.148-1.218
- §1.219-1.295
- §1.296-1.367
- §1.368-1.439
- §1.440-1.514
- §2.1-2.77
- §2.78-2.154
- §2.155-2.232
- §2.233-2.307
- §2.308-2.385
- §2.386-2.463
- §2.464-2.542
- §3.1-3.81
- §3.82-3.162
- §3.163-3.242
- §3.243-3.322
- §3.323-3.403
- §3.404-3.484
- §3.485-3.566
- §4.1-4.82
- §4.83-4.162
- §4.163-4.242
- §4.243-4.324
- §4.325-4.405
- §4.406-4.485
- §4.486-4.566