Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition PDF
Preview Virgil on the Nature of Things: The Georgics, Lucretius and the Didactic Tradition
XXXXXX This page intentionally left blank The Georgics has for more than twenty years been a source of Werce controversyamongscholarsof Latinliterature.Is theworkoptimisticor pessimistic,pro-oranti-Augustan?Shouldwereaditasaeulogyorabitter critiqueofRomeandherimperialambitions?Thisbooksuggeststhatthe ambiguityof thepoemistheproductofacomplexandthorough-going engagementwithearlierwritersin the didactictradition:Hesiod,Aratus and – above all – Lucretius. Drawing on both traditional, philological approaches to allusion, and modern theories of intertextuality, Monica Gale shows how the world-views of the earlier poets are subjected to scrutinyandbroughtintoconXictwitheachother.Detailedconsideration ofverbalparallelsandofLucretianthemes,imageryandstructuralpatterns intheGeorgicsformsthebasisforareadingofVirgil’spoemasanextended meditationontherelationsbetweentheindividualandsociety,thegods andthenaturalenvironment. monica galeisaLecturerinClassicsatTrinityCollege,Dublin.Sheis theauthorofMythandPoetryinLucretius(1994). XXXXXX R VI GIL ON R THE NATU E OF THINGS The Georgics, Lucretiusand the Didactic Tradition Monica R. Gale TrinityCollege,Dublin The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©Monica R. Gale 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-03071-1 eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-78111-6 hardback formyparents quipotueruntrerumcognoscerecausas Iamwaryofthewordspessimismandoptimism. Anoveldoesnotassertanything;anovel searchesandposesquestions. milan kundera CONTENTS Preface ix Listofabbreviations xiii 1 Introduction:inXuence,allusion,intertextuality 1 2 Beginningsandendings 18 3 Thegods,thefarmerandthenaturalworld 58 4 Virgil’smetamorphoses:mythologicalallusions 113 5 Laborimprobus 143 6 Thewondersofthenaturalworld 196 7 ThecosmicbattleWeld:warfareandmilitaryimagery 232 8 Epilogue:thephilosopherandthefarmer 270 Bibliography 275 Indexofpassagescited 288 Generalindex 314 vii XXXXXX
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