P. Vergili Maronis Georgicon, Vol. 4

by Virgil

Excerpt from P. Vergili Maronis Georgicon, Vol. 4: Edited for the Use of Schools, With Vocabulary
NO one can edit this Book of the Georgics without some feeling of wonder that it is not more frequently read in comparatively low forms. The first half is perfect in style, most interesting in matter, and, with the exception of a few lines, extremely simple. In the second half the story of Aristaeus, although out of proportion to the size of the Book, is yet an excellent example of Virgil's narrative power, complete in 'tself, almost free from difficulties, and exhibiting in' the account of Orpheus and Eurydice the highest poetic merit. In addition, the whole Book is short, so that even young boys can read it in a moderate time, nor does its study need any previous acquaintance with other of Virgil's writings. It would be impossible to find a better subject for those who already know a little Latin.
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Genres: Poetry

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 30

About the author

born 15 October 70 BC
died 21 September 19 BC

Roman poet Virgil, also Vergil, originally Publius Vergilius Maro, composed the Aeneid , an epic telling after the sack of Troy of the wanderings of Aeneas.

Work of Virgil greatly influenced on western literature; in most notably Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

Reviews

[Martin]

Perhaps the best poem I've ever read, and unquestionably the finest poem in Latin literature, Virgil's fourth book of the Georgics is typically selected for the Orpheus and Eurydice epyllion. I'd posit that the O&E mini-epic is an epyllion within an epyllion. There's an unquestionable distinction demarcating G. 4 from books 1-3, and it's not wrong to read it as its own work; Virgil wanders from his theme, turning to apiculture, which takes the reader on a tour-de-force, headlong along the ancient world from Rome to Aristaeus' wanderings, to his journey into the sea—where Virgil paints an underwater world as vivid as <>. There's Proteus, there's Orpheus, and the reader goes to the lowest thesauri of Hell, then northward to the Rhodopes and Hyperborean mountains—from Thrace to Egypt—from corner to corner. It's marvellous. The spondees slow the reader thoughtfully, the dactyls excite. There's nothing like it. It's worth learning Latin just to read this book. And if all of Latin literature were to burn in a fire (should it?), I would suggest rescuing this poem alone, should one have time.

I like to think of Virgil as a 1960s rock group that released three Beatles records. The Bucolica are his Help. We see the flowering genius here, but it's still not quite what we'd expect. The Aeneid is his White Album: it wanders, it's not sure what it wants to be, it has profound moments and dull moments. (It's certainly not, in my estimation, the greatest poem in Latin.) But here we have his tender mid-career. He's established enough to be self-referential (n.b. those final lines), and he's trying every tool in his kit to do something previously impossible. He succeeds. Books 1-3 of the Georgics are his Rubber Soul, but Book 4 of the Georgics is pure Revolver.

[Crimson reads?]

I would say Virgil loves bees a LOT. I enjoyed stories here and I mostly read it for Orpheus and Eurydice. tho I am saddened, I am also at relief I got the whole story about what happened. Who Proteus is or who Aristaeus is, Or what role he had in death of Eurydice.

[Gabbi Lübben]

optime

[Bethany Fisher]

Having read this more slowly, I can appreciate it a lot more. I think it would read far better in Latin but in English it's still worth a go

[Rick Lindeman]

Great remixed version of Virgil's Georgia poem (part 4) about the bees, the authors and modern bee-knowledge...