Chapter V

MOTIVES, FORM, SUBSTANCE, AND SOURCES OF THE GEORGICS.
I. Original motives of the Poem 174-180
Desire to treat of rural life in the spirit of Hesiod 175
Influence of Maecenas on the choice of the subject 177
Virgil’s sympathy with the old class of husbandmen 178
II. Form of poetry adopted by Virgil 180-184
What forms of poetry available for Virgil’s purpose? 180
Character of didactic poetry among the Greeks 182
New type of didactic poetry introduced by Virgil 183
III. National interest and substance of the Poem 185-190
Italian character of the subject 185
Connexion of the subject with national history 187
Exceptional character of the concluding episode 189
IV. Sources of the Poem 190-198
Materials derived by Virgil from his own life 191
From Greek and Roman writers on agriculture 191
Relation of the Georgics to the ‘Works and Days’ 193
" " to the Alexandrine Metaphrastae 195