Eclogue 2 (''Ecloga'' II; ''Bucolica'' II) is a
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
poem by the Latin poet
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
, one of a series of ten poems known as the
Eclogues
The ''Eclogues'' (; ), also called the ''Bucolics'', is the first of the three major works of the Latin poet Virgil.
Background
Taking as his generic model the Greek bucolic poetry of Theocritus, Virgil created a Roman version partly by offer ...
. In this Eclogue the herdsman
Corydon laments his inability to win the affections of the young Alexis.
[Page (1898), p. 102.] It is an imitation of the
eleventh Idyll of Theocritus, in which the Cyclops
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and lege ...
laments the cruelty of the sea-nymph
Galatea
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white".
Galatea, Galathea or Gallathea may refer to:
In mythology
* Galatea (Greek myth), three different mythological figures
In the arts
* ''Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'', cantata by H ...
.
After a 5-line introduction, the rest of the poem consists of a single speech by Corydon. The poem has 73 lines, and is written in the
dactylic hexameter
Dactylic hexameter (also known as heroic hexameter and the meter of epic) is a form of meter or rhythmic scheme frequently used in Ancient Greek and Latin poetry. The scheme of the hexameter is usually as follows (writing – for a long syllable, ...
metre.
Eclogues 2 and 3 are thought to be the earliest of Virgil's ''Eclogues'' to be written, and so the poem dates to about 42 BC.
Summary
The subject of this poem is the complaint of a herder of sheep and goats, Corydon, who is in love with a handsome blond boy Alexis. Alexis, however, is the () (line 2) and Corydon realises that his quest is hopeless: "You are just a peasant, Corydon. Alexis does not care for gifts; and even if you were to try to win him with gifts, Iollas would not allow it" (lines 56–57). Having wasted the whole day singing, therefore, he realises that he could put his time to better use, telling himself "You will find another Alexis, if this one spurns you" (line 73).
The poem is said to represent the admiration of Virgil for a young slave whom he saw at the house of his patron
Asinius Pollio
Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4) was a Roman soldier, politician, orator, poet, playwright, literary critic, and historian, whose lost contemporary history provided much of the material used by the historians Appian and Plutarch. Poll ...
, and whose beauty he thus celebrates, in the conventional style of pastoral verse.
[Greenough (1883), p. 4.] The story further goes that Pollio, charmed with the poem, made a gift of the slave to the author; and that the slave, being carefully educated, became a celebrated
grammarian
Grammarian may refer to:
* Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE
* Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language
* Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...
under his real name Alexander.
According to
J. B. Greenough, "This story, though not certain, is natural and probable."
Some parts of the poem are imitations of Theocritus.
[''Idylls'' iii., xi.]
See also
*
Slavery in ancient Rome
Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labour, slaves performed many domestic services and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves ...
References
Sources and further reading
*
* (
Public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
)
*
* Nisbet, R. (1995)
Review of W V Clausen, ''A Commentary on Virgil, Eclogues'' The Journal of Roman Studies, 85, 320-321.
* Otis, B. (1964). ''Virgil: A Study in Civilized Poetry''. Oxford.
* (
Public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
)
*
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Poetry by Virgil
LGBT poetry
Love poems