Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome: Philosophical Satire in Xenophon, Varro, and Virgil

236 Pages·2009·1.13 MB·English

by  Leah Kronenberg

ALLEGORIES OF FARMING FROM
GREECE AND ROME
InthisbookProfessorKronenbergshowsthatXenophon’sOeconomi-
cus,Varro’sDeReRustica,andVirgil’sGeorgics arenotsimplyworks
on farming but belong to a tradition of philosophical satire which
usesallegoryandironytoquestionthemeaningofmoralityandthe
right way to live. These works metaphorically connect farming and
its related arts to political life; but instead of presenting farming in
its traditional guise as a positive symbol, they use it to model the
materialistic foundations and deficiencies of conventional morality
and politics. In turn, they juxtapose a contemplative model of life
thatissuperiortotheactivelifeinitsaccesstoknowledgeandlackof
hypocrisy.Althoughthesethreetextsarenotusuallytreatedtogether,
and each section can be taken as a stand-alone analysis, this book
convincingly connects them with an original and provocative inter-
pretationoftheirallegoricaluseoffarming.Italsofillsanimportant
gapinourunderstandingoftheliteraryinfluencesontheGeorgicsby
showing that it is shaped not just by its poetic predecessors but by
philosophicaldialogue.
leah kronenberg is Assistant Professor of Classics at Rutgers
University.

ALLEGORIES OF FARMING
FROM GREECE AND ROME
Philosophical Satire in Xenophon, Varro, and Virgil
LEAH KRONENBERG
RutgersUniversity
cambridge university press
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(cid:2)c LeahKronenberg2009
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Firstpublished2009
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Kronenberg,Leah,1976–
AllegoriesoffarmingfromGreeceandRome:philosophicalsatireinXenophon,Varro,andVirgil/
LeahKronenberg.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-521-51726-3(hardback)
1.Agricultureinliterature. 2.Satire,Greek–Historyandcriticism. 3.Satire,Latin–History
andcriticism. 4.Agriculture,Ancient–Greece. 5.Agriculture,Ancient–Rome.
6.Xenophon.Oeconomicus. 7.Varro,MarcusTerentius.Rerumrusticarumlibritres.
8.Virgil.Georgica. I.Title.
pa3015.a37k76 2009
881(cid:3).01–dc22 2008055930
isbn978-0-521-51726-3hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceor
accuracyofURLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredto
inthispublication,anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuch
websitesis,orwillremain,accurateorappropriate.
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.
Butyouthinkthattheshepherd,inhiscapacityasshepherd,fattens
theflocknotwithaviewtowhatisbestfortheflockbut,asifhe
weresomeguestabouttofeast,withaviewtogoodcheer, or,in
turn,withaviewtosellingthem,asifhewereamoney-maker,not
ashepherd.Butsurelytheconcernoftheshepherding artis
nothingotherthantoprovide whatis bestforitscharge.
345
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BytheGods,yousimply nevercease talkingaboutcobblers,
clothes-cleaners, cooks,anddoctors,asifourdiscussion wereabout
them.
491
Callicles toSocrates,Plato’s Gorgias a

Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Abbreviationsandeditions x
Introduction 1
Menippeansatire,ancientandmodern 3
IronyinXenophon,Varro,andVirgil 7
AllegoryinXenophon,Varro,andVirgil 20
Moralityandethics 23
Genreandinfluence 32
part i xenophon’s oeconomicus
1 SocratesandCritobulus(Oec.1–6) 39
Persianfarming 42
Praiseoffarming 46
2 Aphilosopherandagentleman(Oec.7–21) 54
Ischomachus’beehive 56
Theartoffarming 62
Xenophon’sRepublic? 66
part ii varro’s dererustica
3 Theartoffarming 76
Scrofa 77
Ratiovs.consuetudo 81
Varro:Satiristorpedant? 85
CiceroandVarro 88
Thetriumphofnature 90
Books2and3 91
vii
viii Contents
4 Themoralityoffarming 94
Genealogyofmorals 94
Hypocritesandmoralizers 99
5 Thepoliticsoffarming 108
Book1:Thefoundationofthestate 109
Book2:Guardiansandrulers 111
Book3:Theactiveandcontemplativelife 116
part iii virgil’s georgics
6 Virgil’ssatireonfarming 132
Thefailureofknowledge 132
Theamoralityoffarming 142
Theactivelife 149
7 Farmersandpoets 156
Book1:religio 157
Book2:ratio 159
Book3:gloria 162
Book4:genusimmortale 166
Epilogue 185
Bibliography 186
Indexofpassagescited 205
Generalindex 216
Acknowledgments
I have many people to thank for their help and support in bringing this
booktocompletion.MylargestdebtofgratitudegoestoRichardThomas,
whodirectedthedissertationfromwhichthisbookgrew,andwhohaspro-
videdconstantfriendship,advice,andinspirationthroughoutmycollege,
graduate, and post-graduate years. I am also very grateful to the mem-
bers of my dissertation committee, Albert Henrichs, Andreola Rossi, and
the dearly missed Charles Segal, and to my other friends and colleagues
at Harvard University. My current colleagues at Rutgers University have
provided invaluable advice and encouragement in the later stages of the
work,andIwouldparticularlysingleoutforthanksCoreyBrennan,Lowell
Edmunds,TomFigueiraandKathrynNeal.
Completionofthisbookwasmadepossiblebygenerousresearchsupport
along the way from the Whiting Foundation, the American Council of
Learned Societies, the Loeb Classical Library Foundation and Rutgers
University.
Many thanks are also due to Michael Sharp, Elizabeth Noden, and
JodieBarnes fortheirexcellenteditorialguidance,toLindaWoodwardfor
her meticulous copy-editing, and to the two anonymous readers, whose
extremely helpful and detailed comments on my manuscript improved it
innumerousways.
Finally, I am above all grateful for the love and support of my family
andespeciallymyhusbandChris,towhomthisbookisdedicated.
ix