In 29 B.C.E. the Roman poet Vergil published a long poem in four books entitled

Georgica

, or “arm Work”. As a didactic poem ostensibly designed to provide instruction in agriculture, the

Georgics

may have seemed to its first readers an item of limited interest, especially when compared to Vergil’s previous work, the pastoral

Bucolics

, with its hapless shepherds in love. Yet within a year Vergil gave a reading of the poem – over the course of four evenings, one for each of its books – which included in its audience Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome. The work won over many other of Vergil’s contemporaries and remained popular after his death, as numerous echoes of it in the works of subsequent Roman poets show. Centuries later the

Georgics

garnered praise from such…

1744 words

Citation: Thibodeau, Philip. "The Georgics". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=772, accessed 29 March 2024.]

772 The Georgics 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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