– for not being Homer. Indeed, he is inferior to Homer in many, in very many points. But let it not be forgotten that his epic is an entirely different species of poetry, it belongs to the artistic or literary epic, whereas Homer's is primitive epic. Hence it would be unfair to judge both according to the same standard. Virgil is an imitator of Homer, and did not come up to his master. For this the critics censure him, but they should remember the words of Voltaire: "Homer has made Virgil, they say; if this be true, it is undoubtedly his finest work."[1]
In his Eclogues or Pastorals Virgil imitates the Greek idyls of Theocritus. But he is not as varied, lively and natural – at the same time not as coarse – as his Greek model. Theocritus' Idyls are genuine Pastorals, full of rural simplicity of thought and unadorned style, whereas Virgil's Pastorals are rather political allegories. For a full appreciation they require much learning, and hence they are less fitted for younger boys. The first, however, and above all the celebrated fourth Eclogue, should be read. On account of this fourth Eclogue, the poet was considered as a prophet during the Middle Ages. The mysterious prediction of the son, with whose birth – as the Sybils foretold, – the golden age was to return, naturally reminds us of the prophetic passages of Isaias. Virgil evidently refers to the son of a noble Roman, most probably of Asinius Pollio; but it is highly probable that he borrowed the idea and some details from Old Testament writings, whose contents, especially the expectation of a Redeemer, had become
- ↑ Homère a fait Virgile, dit-on; si cela est, c'est sans doute son plus bel ouvrage.
