CHAPTER V.

MOTIVES, FORM, SUBSTANCE, AND SOURCES OF THE GEORGICS. I. Original motives of the Poem 174-180 Desire to treat of rural life in the spirit of Hesiod 175 Influence of Maecenas on the choice of the subject 177 Virgil’s sympathy with the old class of husbandmen 178 II. Form of poetry adopted by Virgil 180-184 What forms of poetry available for Virgil’s purpose? 180 Character of didactic poetry among the Greeks 182 New type of didactic poetry introduced by Virgil 183 III. National interest and substance of the Poem 185-190 Italian character of the subject 185 Connexion of the subject with national history 187 Exceptional character of the concluding episode 189 IV. Sources of the Poem 190-198 Materials derived by Virgil from his own life 191 From Greek and Roman writers on agriculture 191 Relation of the Georgics to the ‘Works and Days’ 193 " " to the Alexandrine Metaphrastae 195