The Eclogues

Written by Virgil

Narrated by LibriVox Community

This book of poems, written between 42 en 39 BC, was a bestseller in ancient Rome, and still holds a fascination today. Held to be divinely inspired not only by the Romans themselves, but by the Medieval Catholic church, The Eclogues is one of the most beloved collections of Latin short poetry. (Summary by Caeristhiona)
The translator of this version is unknown. This recording is done in the form of a dramatic reading: in each eclogue, every character is read by a different Librivox volunteer.

Readers of the eclogues that were done by multiple readers:

Eclogue 1
Meliboeus: Denny Sayers
Tityrus: Kara Shallenberg
Eclogue 3
Menalcas: Leni Ribeiro
Damoetas: Rosalind Wills
Palaemon: Kara Shallenberg
Eclogue 5
Menalcas: Leni Ribeiro
Mopsus: Anna Simon
Eclogue 7
Meliboeus: Denny Sayers
Corydon: Leni Ribeiro
Tityrus: Anna Simon
Eclogue 8
Pollio: Anna Simon
Damon: Ruthie Golding
Alphesiboeus: Squid Varilekova
Eclogue 9
Lycidas: Greg Elmensdorp
Moeris: Leni Ribeiro

Also available: a Librivox recording of The Eclogues in their original Latin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LibriVox
• Release date: Aug 25, 2014

Virgil

Virgil (70 BC-19 BC) was a Roman poet. He was born near Mantua in northern Italy. Educated in rhetoric, medicine, astronomy, and philosophy, Virgil moved to Rome where he was known as a particularly shy member of Catullus’ literary circle. Suffering from poor health for most of his life, Virgil began his career as a poet while studying Epicureanism in Naples. Around 38 BC, he published the Eclogues, a series of pastoral poems in the style of Hellenistic poet Theocritus. In 29 BC, Virgil published his next work, the Georgics, a long didactic poem on farming in the tradition of Hesiod’s Works and Days. In the last decade of his life, Virgil worked on his masterpiece the Aeneid, an epic poem commissioned by Emperor Augustus. Expanding upon the story of the Trojan War as explored in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the hero Aeneas from the destruction of Troy to the discovery of the region that would later become Rome. Posthumously considered Rome’s national poet, Virgil’s reputation has grown through the centuries—in large part for his formative influence on Dante’s Divine Comedy—to secure his position as a foundational figure for all of Western literature.