Amat bonus otia Daphnis (Verg. Ecl. V 61). L’ideale della concordia nella Ecloga V

Abstract

Abstract Amat bonus otia Daphnis (Verg. Ecl. V 61). The ideal of concordia in Eclogue V The concept of concordia plays a key role in the political debate among Virgil’s contemporaries. Virgil himself highlights the role of discordia in Ecl. I 71 and makes concordia the tenet of Eclogue IV (Ecl. IV 46-47). Celebration of peace brought by the new god Daphnis in Eclogue V is couched in terms of concordia as well, as it is pointed out both by the Homeric source of Il. XXII 262-263 on the impossible ὁμοφροσύνη among animals and by the model of Lucretius’ apotheosis of Epicurus, which is significant in that Lucretius deems Epicurus’ doctrine as the means by which sapientes might live together according to the original sense of amicitia and concordia. Moreover, people gathering around Daphnis’ cult as if they were mystery initiates emphasizes the role of community in the eclogue – not least, mystery language is exploited also in Epicurean tradition. Analogies and differences between the iuvenis deus of Eclogue I and Daphnis sharpens the gulf between the two eclogues: in the former, the community of cives is distraught because of discordia, and Tityrus is the only one to enjoy the benefits of the iuvenis deus; by contrast, the latter celebrates a close-knit community worshipping Daphnis in concordia.