Vergil's Eclogues

Best remembered for his unfinished epic, the Aeneid, the poet Vergil was celebrated in his time both for the perfection of his art and for the centrality of his ideas to Roman culture. The Eclogues, his earliest confirmed work, were composed in part out of political considerations: when the Roman authorities threatened to seize his family's land, Vergil's appeal in the form of Eclogue IX won a stay. Eclogue I appears to be a thank-you for that favor. Barbara Hughes Fowler provides scholars and students with a new American verse translation of Vergil's Eclogues. An accomplished translator, Fowler renders the poet's words into an English that is contemporary while remaining close to the spirit of the original. In an introduction to the text, she compares the treatment of the pastoral form by Vergil and Theocritus, illuminating the ways in which Vergil borrowed from and built upon the earlier poet's work, and thereby moved the genre in a new direction.

Author: Barbara Hughes Fowler
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 03/03/1997
Pages: 65
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.27lbs
Size: 9.07h x 6.03w x 0.27d
ISBN: 9780807846537

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 04/01/1997 pg. 93

About the Author
Barbara Hughes Fowler is a well-known poet, classicist, and translator whose translations include "Love Lyrics of Ancient Egypt" and "Songs of a Friend: Love Lyrics of Medieval Portugal." She is John Bascom Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.