Chapter IV

THE ECLOGUES.
I. The Eclogues examined in the order of their 130-152
composition
Character of the Eclogues indicated by expressions 130
used in them
Order and time of their composition 131
Imitative character of the second and third 132
The fifth founded on the death and apotheosis of 137
Julius Caesar
Purely Theocritean character of the seventh 138
The first and ninth Eclogues 139
Elements of interest in the sixth 143
The ‘Pollio’ 144
Questions discussed in connexion with that poem 146
The eighth and tenth Eclogues 148
II. Relation of the Eclogues to the Greek Pastoral 152-160
Theocritean origin of Virgil’s Eclogues 152
Primitive pastoral poem among the Greeks 154
The ‘woes of Daphnis’ 155
The love of the Cyclops for Galatea 156
Origin of the pastoral dialogue 157
Artistic form given to these primitive elements by 157
Theocritus
Difference between the pastoral life of Sicily and 159
rural life of Italy
III. Truth of feeling in the Eclogues 161-173
Inferiority of the Eclogues in truth and vividness of 161
representation
Allusive personal references in the Eclogues 161
Mythological and geographical allusions 162
The sentiment of Nature in the Eclogues 164
The love of home and of the land 165
The passion of love 167
Style and rhythm of the Eclogues 168
Their Italian character 172