Vergil's Georgics and the Traditions of Ancient Epic

Download or read book Vergil's Georgics and the Traditions of Ancient Epic written by Joseph Farrell and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1991 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this important and original new book, Joseph Farrell argues that there is a detailed and extensive program of literary allusion in Vergil's Georgics, moving basically from Hesiod and Aratus in the first book, to Lucretius in the middle two, to Homer in the fourth. This program involves what he calls "analytic" allusion, namely a reconstruction or interpretation of the texts alluded to; and, he contends, the direction of the allusion, moving from Hesiod (and perhaps Alexandrian poetics) toward Homer and heroic epic, helps to clarify the development of Vergil's poetic career, which moves from the Callimacheanism of the Eclogues to the full-fledged epic of the Aeneid. Applying to the Georgics the full range of recent scholarly methodology, Farrell's pathbreaking book will be of great interest to all scholars and students of Vergil, classical literature, and literary allusion.