In Eclogues, Virgil continued an earlier tradition of pastoral poetry.
Those earlier works depicted an idyllic rural life, with shepherds
singing songs about nature and love. Virgil, though, injected
contemporary politics into his pastoral poems by depicting the
dispossession of local shepherds to open up farmland for retiring
soldiers. Why do you think Virgil might have incorporated politics
into his poetry? What does this political dimension add to the genre
of pastoral literature? 2. What is Lady Philosophy’s vision of the
cosmos? Why does this vision comfort Boethius?
Sample Solution
