Vergil´s Political Commentary: in the  Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid

Leendert Weeda

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Open Poland 2015

Vergil´s Political Commentary

in the Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid

Leendert Weeda

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110426427

Overview
Contents

About this book

In the book titled Vergil's political commentary in Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid, the author examines Vergil’s political views by analyzing the whole of the poet’s work. He introduces the notion of the functional model suggesting that the poet often used this instrument when making a political statement. New interpretations of a number of the Eclogues and passages of the Georgics and the Aeneid are suggested and the author concludes that Vergil’s political engagement is visible in much of his work. During his whole career the poet was consistent in his views on several major political themes. These varied from, the distress caused by the violation of the countryside during and after the expropriations in the 40s B.C., to the horrors of the civil war and the violence of war in general, and the necessity of strong leadership. Vergil hoped and expected that Octavian would establish peace and order, and he supported a form of hereditary kingship for which he considered Octavian a suitable candidate. He held Cleopatra in high regard, and he appreciated a more meaningful role for women in society. Vergil wrote poetry that supported Augustus, but he had also the courage to criticize Octavian and his policies. He was a commentator with an independent mind and was not a member of Augustus’ putative propaganda machine.

Author / Editor information

Leendert Weeda, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Preface And Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
1 Introduction, Political Opinions, Propaganda Publicly Available Download PDF	1
2 The Context Publicly Available Download PDF	22
3 The Eclogues And The Georgics Publicly Available Download PDF	54
4 The Aeneid: An Epic With A Commentary On Contemporary Affairs Publicly Available Download PDF	104
5 Vergil’s Political Views. Was He His Master’s Voice? Publicly Available Download PDF	142
Bibliography Publicly Available Download PDF	152
Index Publicly Available Download PDF	164

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Open Poland
Audience: classical scholars and students interested in ancient socio- political issues, teachers in upper forms
Pages
- Main content: 183
Keywords: Functional and literary model; Vergil; Commentary on contemporary political issues; Augustus and his policy

eBook

Published: June 16, 2015
ISBN: 9783110426427

Hardcover

Published: May 19, 2015
ISBN: 9783110426410