Date of Award
Spring 5-1-2015
Document Type
Honors Project
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Classics, Philosophy, and Religion
First Advisor
Houghtalin, Liane
Second Advisor
Pitts, Angela
Third Advisor
Romero, Joseph
Major or Concentration
Latin
Abstract
This paper explores the concepts of success, failure, and obedience as seen in the Orpheus-Aristaeus story in Vergil's Georgics IV. Through their contrast, along with the juxtaposition of bees, Vergil's Georgics IV demonstrates that obedience in pre- Augustan Rome truly enables success, instead of the widely held notion that hard work does so. It is through the examination of love, toil, obedience, and the separate paths Orpheus, the bees, and Aristaeus take to achieve their goals, that the reader is able to understand Vergil's message in this last book of his masterpiece.
Recommended Citation
Gavin, Julie Kinsella, "Success, Failure, and Obedience in Georgics Book IV" (2015). Student Research Submissions. 32.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/32