Allegories of Farming from Greece and Rome by Leah Kronenberg - 9780521517263

Allegories of Farming from Greece and RomePhilosophical Satire in Xenophon, Varro, and Virgil\nAuthor(s): Leah Kronenberg\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521517263, 978-0521517263\nSynopsis\nIn this book Professor Kronenberg shows that Xenophon's Oeconomicus, Varro's De Re Rustica and Virgil's Georgics are not simply works on farming but belong to a tradition of philosophical satire which uses allegory and irony to question the meaning of morality. 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 deficiencies of the active life, which in turn is juxtaposed to a preferred contemplative way of life. Although these three texts are not usually treated together, this book convincingly connects them with an original and provocative interpretation of their allego.