The Georgics

A poem by the Latin author Virgil called The Georgics was probably released around 29 BCE. The poems focus is agriculture as implied by its title but it is far from being a serene country poem; rather it is a work marked by conflicts in both theme and aim. The Georgics which came after Virgils Eclogues and before the Aeneid is regarded as his second significant work. The poem incorporates a number of earlier sources and from antiquity to the present it has impacted numerous authors. The yearly timings determined by the rising and setting of specific stars were accurate during Virgils time because of precession but they are not always accurate today. The ancient Greek poet Hesiod whose poem Works and Days shares with the Georgics the themes of mans relationship to the land and the value of hard effort serves as Virgils model for writing a didactic poem in hexameters. The lost Georgics of the Hellenistic poet Nicander might perhaps have had a significant impact. Other Greek authors served as Virgils inspiration and technical informational sources including the Hellenistic poet Aratus for astronomy and meteorology.