Product Description

Pastoral poetry was probably the creation of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus, and he was certainly its most distinguished exponent in Greek. Vergil not only transposed the spirit of Greek pastoral into an Italian setting, blending details from the life of his native countryside into the subsequent history of the genre. On publication the Eclogues won immediate acclaim and Vergil's reputation as a major poet was established. In this edition Robert Coleman describes the earlier pastoral tradition, sets Vergil's poems in historical perspective and evaluates the poet's distinctive contribution to the genre. In the commentary difficulties of interpretation are elucidated. Theocritean influences are examined in detail and points of interest in the language, style and subject-matter discussed. This is the fullest edition of the Eclogues to have appeared in any language and the first in English since the end of the nineteenth century. It is intended primarily for university students and sixth-formers but will be valuable to anyone interested in Latin poetry and the development of the pastoral genre.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #923802 in Books
• Published on: 1977-05-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 312 pages

Review
' ... Coleman's edition, interpretative notes, and analyses are obviously the product of scrupulous scholarship and imaginative reflection. His commentary is an elegant, flexible synthesis designed for students who cherish clarity, enlightened argument, and fruitful interpretation.' Phoenix

Language Notes
Text: English, Latin (translation)

About the Author
Virgil (70-19BC) studied rhetoric and philosophy in Rome where he became a court poet. As well as The Aeneid, his Eclogues earned him the reputation as the finest Latin poet.

Customer Reviews

Apology for the English Alexandrine
No reading of the Eclogues is complete without a reading of the Idylls of Theocritus.

Having said that, and having (re-)read that, I find myself commenting on the other review, which was excellent (though it was written for a different edition). I disagree that Virgil "slavishly imitated" Theocritus. My impression is that the Eclogues are more of an artful (and extensive) adaptation. The fear of plagiarism and insistence on originality is a modern phenomenon. Ancient literature depended upon the recasting of existing works to suit the poet's purpose and taste. Appropriation provided a cultural continuum that preserved and transmitted the beauty, values, and ideas of one's predecessors. In Virgil's case, poetic license would not have referred to a deviation from form or tradition as it does today; it would have meant knowing the rules and biding by them.

If anything was slavishly imitated by Virgil, it would have been the characters created by Theocritus. Daphnis, Thyrsis, Amaryllis, Tityrus, Corydon, Damoetas and Menalcas all make somewhat more than cameo appearances in the Eclogues. They have in fact re-emerged as Virgil's main cast of characters. In some cases they appear as the poet himself!

The Idylls as an art form only superficially affected Virgil. Of course he adapted the singing contests to his own settings and themes. The prizes still included cups, heifers, girls, banes and boons. While the Idylls were a collection of poems written at various times and for various purposes, the Eclogues appear to be (and there is ample evidence to support this) composed as a coherent set. They are the equivalent of a modern-day popular music album. Cohesive devices link one poem to another; matching numbers of lines provide internal balance; there is an introduction and a conclusion.

Good for students of literature, but too much for others
This edition of Vergil's ECLOGUES comes in Cambridge University Press' "Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics" series, and is a typical entry. The Eclogues were Virgil's first literary creation, ten pastoral poems that are often a slavish imitation of the bucolic poetry written by Theocritus, but occasionally show striking originality. The fourth eclogue, a foretelling of a golden age brought in by the birth of a miraculous child, is historically significant as it was appreciated by some in the early Church.

The Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics series combines the text with an introduction and extensive commentary. Here these materials are prepared by Robert Coleman, a fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The introduction consists of four sections: "The pastoral before Vergil", "The chronology and arrangement of the Eclogues", "Vergil's achievement as a pastoral poet", and "Text, Note on orthography". These are interesting, but as with the introductions of so many works in this series, one feels that the author already expects you to know all about the work in question already. The commentary takes up 227 pages of this 303-page work, and deals many with explicating the historical allusions and poetic devices of the Eclogues. Regrettably, the commentary does not touch much on Virgil's use of archaic Latin diction, for it would be interesting to explore how much earlier these forms had passed from colloquial speech.

If you are interested in the literary themes, this is a good edition to have. Those who would rather read the book out of linguistic interest (like this student of comparative Indo-European linguistics) might rather go with the Oxford Classical Text edition.