The Eclogues

Eclogue 5 is another dialogue between two shepherds. Virgil first introduced the elder, Menalcas, in Eclogue 3; Mopsus is his junior. Menalcas suggests that they make music together in the lovely natural setting “since both of [them] are skilled / [Mopsus] at playing slender reeds, [Menalcas] at verse” (Lines 1-2). Perhaps feeling cowed by Menalcas’s seniority, Mopsus agrees (Lines 4-7). Menalcas compliments Mopsus to lighten the mood, but the latter does not take it well (“Upon our hills Amyntas alone contends with you” / “What if he strives to surpass Phoebus himself [that is, Apollo, god of music and art] in song?”, Lines 8-9). Menalcas ignores Mopsus’s self-deprecation and asks him to begin his song.

Mopsus’s topic of choice is the death of Daphnis, a mythological Greek shepherd who was credited with inventing pastoral poetry. In his song (Lines 20-44), Mopsus describes how all the animals and woods mourned Daphnis’s death. Daphnis was associated with the gods of wilderness—the wine god Bacchus and the Eastern mother goddess Cybele (Lines 25-30). Prickly plants sprung up in place of flowers at his demise. Mopsus encourages his listeners to commemorate Daphnis with a grave mound and appropriate honors (Lines 40-44).