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    The Georgics
    The Georgics
    The Georgics
    Ebook107 pages1 hour

    The Georgics

    By Virgil

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    LanguageLingua latīna
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1973
    The Georgics
    Author

    Virgil

    Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) was an ancient Roman poet who wrote during the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. In addition to his epic poem Aeneid, Virgil’s Ecolgues (Bucolics) and Georgics are recognized as major works of Latin literature, and have been studied, adapted, imitated, and copied by later poets and scholars. Virgil’s poetry has also had a lasting influence on Western literature, inspiring countless works including Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which Virgil guides Dante through Hell and Purgatory.

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    • 4/5
      The Works and Days by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod was written around 700 BC. At its center, the Works and Days is a farmer's almanac in which Hesiod instructs his brother Perses in the agricultural arts. It also contains an outline of the mythology of the gods of ancient Greece. In the poem Hesiod also offers his brother extensive moralizing advice on how he should live his life. I mention this because The Works and Days was the poet Virgil's model for composing his own didactic poem in hexameters known as The Georgics. Like many of the Roman writers and artists, Virgil looked to the Greeks for a model. Works and Days shares with the Georgics the themes of man's relationship to the land and the importance of hard work.The Georgics itself is a poem in four books, published in 29 BC. It is the second major work by the Latin poet Virgil, following his Eclogues and preceding the Aeneid. As its name suggests (Georgica, from the Greek word γεωργεῖν, geōrgein, "to farm") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example of peaceful rural poetry, it is a more complex work in both theme and purpose.The work consists of 2,188 hexametric verses divided into four books. Each of the books covers different aspects of the agrarian culture. Book One begins with a summary of the whole poem and typical obeisance to the gods and Augustus himself. In addition to Virgil's intention to honor Caesar he also honors his patron Maecenas. In the middle books he shares his lofty poetic aspirations and the difficulty of the material to follow. Mirroring Hesiod Virgil describes the succession of ages of man emphasizing the tension between the golden age of Jupiter and the age of man. The focus on the importance of Augustus is fascinating as it adds a political aspect to what is primarily an arcadian poem. Throughout the poem the theme of man versus nature is present as is the relation of man to animals. I found the discussion of Bees and the similarities with human society in the fourth Book one of the most fascinating sections of this marvelous poem.Always of interest to me are philosophical influences, and there were two predominant philosophical schools in Rome during Virgil's lifetime: Stoicism and the Epicureanism. Of these two, the Epicurean strain is predominant not only in the Georgics but also in Virgil's social and intellectual milieu. Both his friend,the poet Horace, and his patron Maecenas were Epicureans. The Georgics was also influenced by Lucretius' Epicurean epic De Rerum Natura, one of my favorite Roman texts. The combination of philosophy, arcadian poetry, mythology, and politics makes this work a beautiful compendium of Roman culture.
    • 4/5
      I knew going in that this wasn't going to be action packed, like, say, The Aeneid, and it isn't. Actually, that's not quite true. In some places there is plenty of action – where the plague is setting in and everything is dying, where the cattle and horses are going mad with desire (not for each other, thankfully), where the young bull is being pulverized so that he will spontaneously combust into a swarm of bees, where Orpheus is very nearly rescuing Eurydice from Hades... there is really quite a lot of drama here. The drama is broken up, though, by sections in which we are milking goats, arranging shrubberies for bees, and grafting fruit trees. Disease, muck, and war alternate with idyllic stretches of lambs frolicking, bees buzzing among the flowers, and happy farmers resting under shady trees. I picked this up looking for more of the beautiful nature imagery I loved in the Aeneid, and I definitely found that, but the back and forth, between farming lessons, country-living fantasies, myths, and death & destruction kept things interesting. The different sections did not hold together particularly well for me, but I only read this once, with no explanatory material aside from the introduction, and I expect I'd have gotten more out of it if I'd put more in.There were a few places where I found Fallon's modern colloquialisms and word choices jarring, but mostly the poetry was really lovely. Since I'm not competent to read Latin poetry, I've no idea how this is as a translation, but I do plan to keep an eye out for a different version – Fitzgerald's Aeneid had a more formal feel to it, and this felt a little to “folksy” to me, but maybe the two poems are just very different beasts. The language is very readable, anyway, and the footnotes are good (though I wish they'd been put at the foot of the pages).
    • 1/5
      This was the hardest book to read. I don't know why it was worse than any of the other classics, but it about killed me. Even illustrating the margins didn't help. Good luck
    • 4/5
      Onwaarschijnlijk mooie, krachtige vertaling van Ida Gerhardt. Leerdicht, maar niet helemaal: aanbeveling oudromeinse deugden, pleidooi voor orde en stabiliteit, duidelijke verwijzing naar het beleid van Augustus, maar veel minder ziekelijk-behagend als in de Aeneis. Ook oog voor de donkere kanten van het boerenbedrijf: het zware ploeteren, de misoogsten en ziektes.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful didactic poem, especially attractive section on bee-keeping

    Book preview

    The Georgics - Virgil

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Georgics, by Virgil

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

    Title: The Georgics

    Author: Virgil

    Release Date: April 3, 2008 [EBook #231]

    Language: Latin

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GEORGICS ***

    PUBLI VERGILI MARONIS

    GEORGICON

    LIBER I

    LIBER II

    LIBER III

    LIBER IV

    LIBER I

    Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere terram

    vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adiungere vitis

    conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo

    sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis,

    hinc canere incipiam. Vos, o clarissima mundi

    lumina, labentem caelo quae ducitis annum,

    Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus

    Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista,

    poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis;

    et vos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni,

    ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae:

    Munera vestra cano. Tuque o, cui prima frementem

    fudit equum magno tellus percussa tridenti,

    Neptune; et cultor nemorum, cui pinguia Ceae

    ter centum nivei tondent dumeta iuvenci;

    ipse nemus linquens patrium saltusque Lycaei,

    Pan, ovium custos, tua si tibi Maenala curae,

    adsis, o Tegeaee, favens, oleaeque Minerva

    inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri,

    et teneram ab radice ferens, Silvane, cupressum,

    dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri,

    quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges,

    quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem;

    tuque adeo, quem mox quae sint habitura deorum

    concilia, incertum est, urbisne invisere, Caesar,

    terrarumque velis curam et te maximus orbis

    auctorem frugum tempestatumque potentem

    accipiat, cingens materna tempora myrto,

    an deus inmensi venias maris ac tua nautae

    numina sola colant, tibi serviat ultima Thule

    teque sibi generum Tethys emat omnibus undis,

    anne novum tardis sidus te mensibus addas,

    qua locus Erigonen inter Chelasque sequentis

    panditur—-ipse tibi iam bracchia contrahit ardens

    Scorpius et caeli iusta plus parte reliquit—-

    quidquid eris,—-nam te nec sperant Tartara regem

    nec tibi regnandi veniat tam dira cupido,

    quamvis Elysios miretur Graecia campos

    nec repetita sequi curet Proserpina matrem—-

    da facilem cursum atque audacibus adnue coeptis

    ignarosque viae mecum miseratus agrestis

    ingredere et votis iam nunc adsuesce vocari.

    Vere novo, gelidus canis cum montibus humor

    liquitur et Zephyro putris se glaeba resolvit,

    depresso incipiat iam tum mihi taurus aratro

    ingemere et sulco attritus splendescere vomer.

    Illa seges demum votis respondet avari

    agricolae, bis quae solem, bis frigora sensit;

    illius inmensae ruperunt horrea messes.

    At prius ignotum ferro quam scindimus aequor,

    ventos et varium caeli praediscere morem

    cura sit ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum

    et quid quaeque ferat regio et quid quaeque recuset.

    Hic segetes, illic veniunt felicius uvae,

    arborei fetus alibi, atque iniussa virescunt

    gramina. Nonne vides, croceos ut Tmolus odores,

    India mittit ebur, molles sua tura Sabaei,

    at Chalybes nudi ferrum, virosaque Pontus

    castorea, Eliadum palmas Epiros equarum.

    Continuo has leges aeternaque foedera certis

    inposuit natura locis, quo tempore primum

    Deucalion vacuum lapides iactavit in orbem,

    unde homines nati, durum genus. Ergo age, terrae

    pingue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni

    fortes invertant tauri glaebasque iacentis

    pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus aestas;

    at si non fuerit tellus fecunda, sub ipsum

    Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco:

    illic, officiant laetis ne frugibus herbae,

    hic, sterilem exiguus ne deserat humor harenam.

    Alternis idem tonsas cessare novalis

    et segnem patiere situ durescere campum;

    aut ibi flava seres mutato sidere farra,

    unde prius laetum siliqua quassante legumen

    aut tenuis fetus viciae tristisque lupini

    sustuleris fragilis calamos silvamque sonantem.

    Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenae,

    urunt Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno:

    sed tamen alternis facilis labor, arida tantum

    ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola neve

    effetos cinerem inmundum iactare per agros.

    Sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fetibus arva;

    nec nulla interea est inaratae gratia terrae.

    Saepe etiam sterilis incendere profuit agros

    atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis:

    sive inde occultas viris et pabula terrae

    pinguia concipiunt, sive illis omne per ignem

    excoquitur vitium atque exsudat inutilis humor,

    seu pluris calor ille vias et caeca relaxat

    spiramenta, novas veniat qua sucus in herbas,

    seu durat magis et venas adstringit hiantis,

    ne tenues pluviae rapidive potentia solis

    acrior aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat.

    Multum adeo, rastris glaebas qui frangit inertis

    vimineasque trahit cratis, iuvat arva, neque illum

    flava Ceres alto nequiquam spectat Olympo;

    et qui, proscisso quae suscitat aequore terga,

    rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro,

    exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat arvis.

    Humida solstitia atque hiemes orate serenas,

    agricolae; hiberno laetissima pulvere farra,

    laetus ager: nullo tantum se Mysia cultu

    iactat et ipsa suas mirantur Gargara messis.

    Quid dicam, iacto qui semine comminus arva

    insequitur cumulosque ruit male pinguis harenae

    deinde satis fluvium inducit rivosque sequentis

    et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis,

    ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam

    elicit. illa cadens raucum per levia murmur

    saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva.

    Quid qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis,

    luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba,

    cum primum sulcos aequant sata. quique paludis

    collectum humorem bibula deducit harena.

    Praesertim incertis si mensibus amnis abundans

    exit et obducto late tenet omnia limo,

    unde cavae tepido sudant humore lacunae.

    Nec tamen, haec cum sint hominumque boumque labores

    versando terram experti, nihil inprobus anser

    Strymoniaeque grues et amaris intiba fibris

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