Georgics
by Virgil · Georgica
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 29 BCE
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Short · 100 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Eclogues and Georgics, translated by C. Day LewisOxford World's Classics, 2009A poet's translation that keeps the pace of the Latin; David Ferry's version is the other strong choice.
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A didactic poem in four books on farming, addressed to Maecenas and finished as Octavian was consolidating power. Book one treats crops, weather and the signs of civil war; book two trees and vines, with the praise of Italy; book three cattle and horses, ending in a plague; book four bees and their society, closing with the story of the beekeeper Aristaeus and the descent of Orpheus to recover Eurydice. The poem's subject is labour, and the cost of the order it wins from nature.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Georgics are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
