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Eclogue 4, also known as the Fourth Eclogue, is a Latin poem by the Roman poet Virgil. The poem is dated to 40 BC by its mention of the consulship of Virgil's patron Gaius Asinius Pollio . The work predicts the birth of a boy, a supposed savior, who—once he is of age—will become divine and eventually rule over the world.
The Roman emperor Constantine the Great was one of the first major figures to believe that Eclogue 4 was a pre-Christian augury concerning Jesus Christ. [9]According to Classicist Domenico Comparetti, in the early Christian era, "A certain theological doctrine, supported by various passages of [Judeo-Christian] scripture, induced men to look for prophets of Christ among the Gentiles". [10]
The average length of each eclogue is 83 lines, and long and short poems alternate. Thus the 3rd eclogue in each half is the longest, while the 2nd and 4th are the shortest: [11] 1 – 83 lines 2 – 73 3 – 111 4 – 63 5 – 90 6 – 86 lines 7 – 70 8 – 108 9 – 67 10 – 77
Virgil addressed the famous fourth eclogue to him, although there is uncertainty regarding whether Virgil composed the poem in anticipation of Pollio's consulship or to celebrate his part in the Treaty of Brundisium. Virgil, like other Romans, hoped that peace was at hand and looked forward to a Golden Age under Pollio's consulship.
Although Virgil's Eclogues are Calpurnius's principal sources/models, Eclogue V is a didactic poem inspired by Virgil's Georgics – in particular Georgic III [34] or, as MacKail puts it, it is "a brief Georgic made formally a pastoral by being put into the mouth of an old shepherd sitting in the shade at midday". [35]
[11] [12] The respect given to Virgil often manifested in the form of centos, which reached peak popularity in the fourth century AD. [13] [14] Second, Virgil was often seen as a pre-Christian prophet due to a popular interpretation of his fourth Eclogue, which many believed foretold the birth of Jesus. [15] [16]
According to Bellori, the Silenus relief is "an invention according to the poetry of Virgil." [4] [1] Virgil's fourth eclogue goes thusly: In a cave, two boys Chromis, and Mnasylos, Silenus found Lying asleep, all swollen with the wine Of yesterday, as always he is seen. His garlands lay beyond, fall'n from his head;
It is generally agreed that the poems post-date the Eclogues of Virgil.Since their publication, the poems have usually been dated to Neronian times (AD 54-68) [3] (more specifically, the first fragment is sometimes dated to AD 64 or 65 [4]) in which case, they clearly pre-date the Eclogues of Nemesianus and may, or may not, pre-date the Eclogues of Calpurnius Siculus. [5]