CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
I. Relation of the Augustan Age to other Literary Epochs[1–8]
Relation of the Augustan poetry to that of the preceding Age[1]
Parallel of the Augustan Age with other great literary Epochs[4]
—— especially with the Age of Louis XIV[5]
Chief conditions modifying the poetry of the Augustan Age[7]
II. Influence of the enthusiasm in favour of the Empire[8–21]
General longing for peace[8]
Revival of national sentiment and pride of Empire[10]
Moral and religious reaction[13]
Augustus the centre of the national enthusiasm[14]
Deification of the Emperor in the poetry of the Age[15]
—— illustrated by other extant works of art[19]
Direction given to national sentiment by Augustus[20]
III. Influence of Patronage on the Augustan Poetry[21–31]
Poetry employed in the interest of the Government[21]
Patrons of literature—Augustus[22]
Personal influence of Maecenas[23]
Pollio, Messala, Agrippa, Cornelius Gallus[26]
Causes of the connexion between literature and social eminence[28]
Effects of this connexion on the tone of literature[29]
IV. Influence of material conditions on Literature[31–37]
Wealth and luxury of Rome in the Augustan Age[31]
Liberality of Augustus and Maecenas to Virgil and Horace[33]
Effects of this on the art of these poets[34]
Reaction from the luxury of the Age apparent in literature[35]
V. General condition of literary culture as affecting the Augustan Poetry[37–54]
Intellectual character of the last years of the Republic and earlier years of the Empire[37]
Distinction between the earlier and later periods[38]
Appreciation of Greek art and literature in both[39]
Alexandrine influences on the Augustan poetry[41]
Characteristics of the Alexandrine poets[42]
Their treatment of mythological subjects[43]
Scientific and learned character of their poetry[44]
Their treatment of the passion of love[45]
Their treatment of external Nature[46]
Pictorial art of the later Greeks[48]
Superiority of the Augustan to the Alexandrine literature[49]
Friendly relations among the poets of the Augustan Age[51]
Influence of these relations on their art[52]
Hostility of other literary coteries[53]
VI. Causes of the special devotion to Poetry in the Augustan Age[54–58]
Effect of the Monarchy on the great forms of prose literature[55]
Poetry later in feeling the effects of Despotism[56]
The Augustan literature the maturest development of the national mind[57]
CHAPTER II.
VIRGIL’S PLACE IN ROMAN LITERATURE.
Virgil’s pre-eminence acknowledged till recent times[59]
Disparagement of his genius in the present century[60]
I. Estimate of Virgil in former times[60–68]
His former reputation as a great Epic Poet[61]
Estimate of the Aeneid among the Romans[61]
" " during the ‘Dark Ages’[64]
" " at the revival of letters[65]
" " during the 17th and 18th centuries[67]
II. Change in the estimate of Virgil in the present century[68–77]
Virgil’s alleged dissatisfaction with the Aeneid[69]
Probable explanation of this[70]
Adverse criticisms in the present century[71]
Causes of these criticisms[74]
Advance in Greek scholarship[74]
Modern interest in remote antiquity[74]
Literary reaction at the end of the 18th century[75]
III. Virgil’s supreme importance as a representative writer[77–87]
Virgil a great representative of his country and age[78]
" " of the idea of Rome[79]
" " of the sentiment of Italy[80]
" " of the political feeling of his age[81]
" " of its ethical and religious sensibility[83]
" " of Roman culture and learning[84]
" " of Roman art and style[85]
The style of Virgil the maturity preceding decay[86]
IV. Virgil’s claim to rank among the great Poets of the World[87–92]
Distinction between Greek, Latin, and modern imagination[87]
Vividness and realism of feeling characteristic of the Latin imagination[89]
Modes in which this vividness and realism are manifested by Virgil[90]
CHAPTER III.
LIFE AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VIRGIL.
I. Sources of our knowledge of Virgil’s Life[93–99]
Various sources of ancient literary biography[93]
Direct personal statements of the authors[93]
Indirect self-revelations in their works[94]
Evidence of contemporaries[94]
Works of ancient Grammarians, etc.[95]
Remains of ancient art[95]
Knowledge of Virgil derived from his works[95]
Testimony of Horace[95]
Biographies of Probus and Donatus[98]
Their value as evidence of facts and character[98]
II. Life of Virgil[99–121]
His name and the year of his birth[99]
His birth-place as affecting his genius[101]
His birth-place as affecting his culture[103]
" " " his political feeling[104]
Characteristics of the class from which he sprang[105]
His early years[107]
His studies at Rome[109]
His later life in his native district[113]
Loss of his farm[115]
Publication of the Eclogues and preparation of the Georgics[116]
Testimonies of Horace as to his life during this time[117]
The Georgics composed at Naples[119]
His death and wish to destroy the Aeneid[120]
III. Personal Characteristics[121–129]
His recluse and studious life[122]
His personal appearance and habits[123]
Impression of his character derived from Horace[124]
" " " from his own works[125]
His indifference to political freedom[127]
His devotion to his art[127]
CHAPTER IV.
THE ECLOGUES.
I. The Eclogues examined in the order of their composition[130–152]
Character of the Eclogues indicated by expressions used in them[130]
Order and time of their composition[131]
Imitative character of the second and third[132]
The fifth founded on the death and apotheosis of Julius Caesar[137]
Purely Theocritean character of the seventh[138]
The first and ninth Eclogues[139]
Elements of interest in the sixth[143]
The ‘Pollio’[144]
Questions discussed in connexion with that poem[146]
The eighth and tenth Eclogues[148]
II. Relation of the Eclogues to the Greek Pastoral[152–160]
Theocritean origin of Virgil’s Eclogues[152]
Primitive pastoral poem among the Greeks[154]
The ‘woes of Daphnis’[155]
The love of the Cyclops for Galatea[156]
Origin of the pastoral dialogue[157]
Artistic form given to these primitive elements by Theocritus[157]
Difference between the pastoral life of Sicily and rural life of Italy[159]
III. Truth of feeling in the Eclogues[161–173]
Inferiority of the Eclogues in truth and vividness of representation[161]
Allusive personal references in the Eclogues[161]
Mythological and geographical allusions[162]
The sentiment of Nature in the Eclogues[164]
The love of home and of the land[165]
The passion of love[167]
Style and rhythm of the Eclogues[168]
Their Italian character[172]
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]
CHAPTER VI.
STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE POEM IN RELATION TO THE POEM OF LUCRETIUS.
I. Personal affinities and contrast between Lucretius and Virgil[199–204]
Influence of Lucretius on the ideas, method, and style of the Georgics[199]
Virgil’s recognition of his relation to Lucretius[200]
Identity of feeling in the two poets[201]
Difference in position and sympathies[202]
Difference between the philosophic poet and poetic artist[203]
II. The Lucretian idea of Nature in the Georgics[204–214]
Nature more fully revealed in Lucretius than in earlier poetry[204]
Idea of the struggle of man with Nature in Lucretius[205]
Lesson drawn by him from this idea[207]
Presence of the same idea in other Roman writers[207]
Virgil’s sense of the life of Nature derived from Lucretius[208]
Idea of the struggle with Nature as ordained by Providence[209]
Prominence thus given to the duty of labour[211]
Lesson inculcated in the Georgics[212]
Scientific beliefs of Lucretius as adopted or rejected by Virgil[213]
III. Dedications and Invocations in the two Poems[214–228]
Lucretius Virgil’s chief model in technical execution[214]
Address to Maecenas compared with address to Memmius[215]
Eulogy of Caesar compared with eulogy of Epicurus[216]
Meaning of their Invocation of Supernatural aid[217]
Varieties of religious feeling and belief in the Augustan Age[218]
Rustic Paganism of Italy[218]
Religious conceptions embodied in Greek art[219]
Religious elements in Greek speculative philosophy[221]
National religion of Rome[222]
Meaning of the Invocation of Caesar[224]
Union of various modes of religious belief in the Invocation[225]
Proems to the other Books of the Georgics[227]
IV. Comparison of Virgil with Lucretius in didactic exposition and illustration[229–244]
Method of science in Lucretius, of art in Virgil[229]
Greater selection and elimination of materials in Virgil[230]
Illustration of Virgil’s subject from his sense of beauty[231]
—— from his sense of the life of Nature[232]
—— from his sympathy with the life of animals[233]
—— from his conception of human energy in conflict with Nature[234]
—— from literary and mythological associations[235]
—— from astronomy, antiquity, religious usages[239]
Inferiority of Virgil to Lucretius in the use of imaginative analogies[240]
More uniform excellence in diction and rhythm[241]
Virgil more of a conscious artist[242]
V. The Episodes in the Georgics[244–260]
Purpose of the episodes in Lucretius and in the Georgics[244]
The minor episodes in the Georgics[245]
Episodes at the end of Books iii. and iv.[248]
Episode of the omens accompanying the death of Julius Caesar[252]
Episode of the Glory of Italy[255]
Episode at the end of Book ii.[256]
CHAPTER VII.
THE GEORGICS A POEM REPRESENTATIVE OF ITALY[261–279]
The Georgics an original work of Latin genius[261]
Technical value of the poem as an exposition of Italian husbandry[263]
Relation of the illustrative matter to the cultivated Italian mind[266]
Feeling of the dignity of labour an Italian sentiment[267]
Italian feeling and representation of Nature[268]
Italian character of the religious sentiment of the poem[272]
" " of its ethical and political sentiment[273]
" " of its artistic execution[276]
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ROMAN EPIC BEFORE THE TIME OF VIRGIL[280–294]
Distinction between primitive and literary epic[280]
Absence of primitive epics from Roman literature[281]
The Roman epic originates in the imitation of the Greek epic[282]
New character given to the Roman epic from the national sentiment and commemorative instinct[283]
—— from admiration of great men[284]
—— from capacity for works of massive execution[285]
National characteristics of the poem of Naevius[286]
Historical substance of the early Roman epic[287]
Representative character of the Annals of Ennius[288]
Later annalistic and panegyrical poems[289]
New type of Roman epic introduced by Varro Atacinus[291]
Type of historical epic rejected in the maturity of Roman art[292]
CHAPTER IX.
FORM AND SUBJECT OF THE AENEID.
I. Purpose of the Aeneid and motives determining the form of the Poem[295–300]
Literary motives of the poem[295]
Motive originating in the state of public feeling[296]
" " " in the position of Augustus[297]
New problem in literary art presented to Virgil[298]
The Aeneid the epic of the national fortunes[299]
II. Adaptation of the legend of Aeneas to Virgil’s purpose[300–310]
Adaptation of the legend of Romulus to a poem founded on national sentiment[300]
Deficiency of the legend of Aeneas in national and human interest[301]
Greek origin of the legend[301]
Its late reception among the Romans[303]
Vague and composite character of the legend[304]
Grounds on which Virgil’s choice was justified[305]
Connexion of the legend with the Homeric cycle of events[305]
Its recognition by the State for more than two centuries[306]
Connexion with the glory of the Julian family[308]
Largeness of scope afforded by the vagueness of the legend[309]
Adaptation to a poem representative of Rome in the Augustan Age[309]
III. Composite character of the Aeneid illustrated by an examination of the Poem[310–324]
Twofold purpose of Virgil in composing the Aeneid[310]
Native and Greek sources employed by him[310]
Prominence given to his double purpose in the statement of the subject of the poem [311]
This double purpose traced in the details of the action[313]
" " " in the ‘Inferno’ and in the ‘Shield of Aeneas’[323]
The Aeneid a new type of epic poetry[324]
CHAPTER X.
THE AENEID AS THE EPIC OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
I. Modes of national Sentiment expressed in the Aeneid[325–335]
Pride of Empire[325]
Sense of national continuity[328]
Patriotic Italian sentiment[330]
Antagonism to other races[333]
II. Influence of the Religious Idea of Rome on the action of the poem[336–347]
Roman belief in the ‘Fortuna Urbis’[336]
Idea of ‘Fate’ in the Aeneid[337]
Compared with the same idea in Tacitus[339]
Origin and meaning of the Roman idea of Fate[340]
Influence of this idea on the religious motives of the poem [341]
Ethical aspect of religion in the Aeneid[344]
III. Place assigned to Augustus in the Aeneid[347–354]
Augustus the typical embodiment of Roman imperialism[347]
Meaning given by Virgil to his relation to Aeneas[349]
Imaginative and ethical value of the idea on which the Aeneid is founded[352]
CHAPTER XI.
THE AENEID AS AN EPIC POEM OF HUMAN LIFE.
I. General character of the action as affected by the Age in which the poem was written, and by the author’s genius[355–364]
Dignity of the circumstances treated in the poem[355]
Distinction of the actors[356]
Interest to Roman readers of the revival of Homeric life[357]
" " " of the new romance of Italy[358]
Virgil’s narrative power[359]
Inferiority to Homer in exhibiting a vivid image of life[360]
" " from causes personal to Virgil[360]
" " from the character of his Age[361]
Virgil’s representation an artistic compromise[363]
Sources of creative power in Virgil’s genius[364]
II. Supernatural Agencies, Observances, and Beliefs in the Aeneid[365–374]
Part played by the Olympian Divinities in the Aeneid[365]
" by the Powers of the Italian mythology[369]
Survivals of primitive religious worship in the Aeneid[369]
Belief in local deities[370]
Worship of the dead[371]
Virgil’s ‘Inferno’[373]
His exact acquaintance with religious ceremonial[374]
III. Political and Social Life, etc. as represented in the Aeneid[376–394]
Idea of a Paternal Government in the Aeneid[376]
Sense of majesty attaching to Government[378]
Relation of States to one another[379]
Material civilisation[381]
Social manners[382]
Sea-adventure[384]
Battle-scenes[388]
Appeal to local associations [392]
IV. Conception and Delineation of Character in the Aeneid[395–408]
Weakness of dramatic imagination in Virgil[395]
Conception and delineation of Aeneas[396]
The minor characters of the poem[400]
Turnus[402]
Mezentius[404]
Dido[405]
V. On the Style, etc. of the Aeneid[408–423]
Virgil’s imagination oratorical rather than dramatic[408]
Characteristics of the speeches in the Aeneid[409]
Descriptive faculty[410]
Illustrative imagery[413]
Rhythm and diction of the poem[418]
Greatness of its style[421]

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