Eclogues

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For the poetic form, see Eclogue.

The Eclogues, also called Bucolics, is one of three major works by the Latin poet Virgil.

Published most likely around 39-38 BC, the "Eclogues" consist of ten short poems in dactylic hexameter, all in a pastoral setting. The original title Bucolica (from the Greek ta bukolika) was a clear indicator of the rural setting of these poems, as they are based in large part on the Idylls of Theocritus in terms of style and content and share some common names. However, there are political undercurrents in Virgil not present in Theocritus, who maintains his rustic detachment theme throughout. Most of the individual poems are in the form of conversations and singing contests between shepherds and goatherds with names such as "Tityrus" (supposedly representing Virgil himself), "Meliboeus", "Menalcas" and "Mopsus". The poems are all carefully arranged, both as a whole and individually.

The most famous of them is Eclogue 4 (PP Ecl.4), which contains a prophecy of a future 'golden age', which will be heralded in by the birth of a boy. While the identity of the child in question is uncertain, later Christians read this as a Messianic prophecy - one reason why Dante later chose Virgil as his guide through the underworld. Some modern scholars have pointed to Virgil's knowledge of Roman Jewish families as a possible route for his near quotations of Isaiah in the poem.

Eclogue 10 (PP Ecl.10) is in praise of Virgil's near-contemporary, the poet Gallus.