XXXXXX This page intentionally left blank The Georgics has for more than twenty years been a source of Werce controversyamongscholarsof Latinliterature.Is theworkoptimisticor pessimistic,pro-oranti-Augustan?Shouldwereaditasaeulogyorabitter critiqueofRomeandherimperialambitions?Thisbooksuggeststhatthe ambiguityof thepoemistheproductofacomplexandthorough-going engagementwithearlierwritersin the didactictradition:Hesiod,Aratus and – above all – Lucretius. Drawing on both traditional, philological approaches to allusion, and modern theories of intertextuality, Monica Gale shows how the world-views of the earlier poets are subjected to scrutinyandbroughtintoconXictwitheachother.Detailedconsideration ofverbalparallelsandofLucretianthemes,imageryandstructuralpatterns intheGeorgicsformsthebasisforareadingofVirgil’spoemasanextended meditationontherelationsbetweentheindividualandsociety,thegods andthenaturalenvironment. monica galeisaLecturerinClassicsatTrinityCollege,Dublin.Sheis theauthorofMythandPoetryinLucretius(1994). XXXXXX R VI GIL ON R THE NATU E OF THINGS The Georgics, Lucretiusand the Didactic Tradition Monica R. Gale TrinityCollege,Dublin           The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom    The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org ©Monica R. Gale 2004 First published in printed format 2000 ISBN 0-511-03071-1 eBook (Adobe Reader) ISBN 0-521-78111-6 hardback formyparents quipotueruntrerumcognoscerecausas Iamwaryofthewordspessimismandoptimism. Anoveldoesnotassertanything;anovel searchesandposesquestions. milan kundera CONTENTS Preface ix Listofabbreviations xiii 1 Introduction:inXuence,allusion,intertextuality 1 2 Beginningsandendings 18 3 Thegods,thefarmerandthenaturalworld 58 4 Virgil’smetamorphoses:mythologicalallusions 113 5 Laborimprobus 143 6 Thewondersofthenaturalworld 196 7 ThecosmicbattleWeld:warfareandmilitaryimagery 232 8 Epilogue:thephilosopherandthefarmer 270 Bibliography 275 Indexofpassagescited 288 Generalindex 314 vii XXXXXX