God and the land : the metaphysics of farming in Hesiod and Vergil / Stephanie A. Nelson ; with a translation of Hesiod's works and days by David Grene.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Nelson, Stephanie A. (Stephanie Anne), 1958- author.

Contributor:

Grene, David, translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Didactic poetry, Classical--History and criticism.

Didactic poetry, Classical.

Didactic poetry, Greek--Translations into English.

Didactic poetry, Greek.

Mythology, Classical, in literature.

Agriculture--Greece--Poetry.

Agriculture.

Agriculture in literature.

Gods, Greek, in literature.

Gods, Roman, in literature.

Metaphysics in literature.

Farm life in literature.

Seasons in literature.

Hesiod. Works and days.

Hesiod.

Virgil. Georgica.

Virgil.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (271 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York ; Oxford, [England] : Oxford University Press, 1998.

Summary:

In this pathbreaking book, which includes a powerful new translation of Hesiod's Works and Days by esteemed translator David Grene, Stephanie Nelson argues that a society's vision of farming contains deep indications about its view of the human place within nature, and our relationship to the divine. She contends that both Hesiod in the Works and Days and Vergil in the Georgics saw farming in this way, and so wrote their poems not only about farming itself, but also about its deeper ethical and religious implications.

Contents:

Contents; Abbreviations; Geneaological Table; Translator's Note: Hesiod's Works and Days; HESIOD'S WORKS AND DAYS; INTRODUCTION: HESIOD, POET AND FARMER; Hesiod's Time; Hesiod's Town and Country; Hesiod-Or Was He?; 1. THE COMPOSITION OF HESIOD'S POEMS; The Composition of the Theogony; The Composition of the Works and Days; The Farmer's Year; 2. THE MYTHIC BACKGROUND; Hesiod's Outlook; Pandora and the Nature of Hardship; The Five Ages: The History of Hardship; Hesiod's Fable and the J ustice of Zeus; 3. THE COMPOSITION OF THE GEORGICS: VERGIL'S FARM; Roman Farming; Vergil's Works and Days

Vergil and the Animals4. GOD; The Divine Order; Zeus and His Children; The Theology of Farming; The Gods of the Georgics; The Georgic of Force; The Georgic of Understanding; 5. THE HUMAN CONTEXT; Justice, Perception, and Farming; The Balance of Justice; The Place of Justice; Force and Order: Vergil and Caesar; The Third Georgic: The Problem of the Individual; The Fourth Georgic: The Promise of the Whole; 6. THE PLACE OF NATURE; The City, the Farm, and Nature; Orpheus and Aristaeus; Hesiod and the Balance of Nature; Notes; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R

ST; U; V; W; X; Z

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-19-972399-0

OCLC:

960164958