Virgil's Eclogues and Social Memory

TitleVirgil's Eclogues and Social Memory
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2009
AuthorsDavid Meban
JournalAmerican Journal of Philology
Volume130
Issue1
Pagination99-130
ISSN1086-3168
Abstract

Abstract Abstract:This article analyzes the Eclogues from the perspective of social memory. Discussion begins with examination of the anxieties regarding memory expressed by different authors in the late Republic. Subsequent analysis argues that similar concerns about memory and its relationship with social and political stability, cohesion and community are key elements of Eclogues 1, 5, and 9. In these poems, Virgil similarly taps into important contemporary debates about memory connected with figures such as Caesar and Octavian. The depiction of memory in the collection is, the article argues, shifting and fluid and is consequently representative of the triumviral period.

URLhttp://muse.jhu.edu/journals/american_journal_of_philology/v130/130.1.meban.html
DOI10.1353/ajp.0.0035