Eclogues
/ˈɛk.ləʊɡz/noun
A collection of short poems, especially pastoral poems depicting rural life and shepherds.
Did you know?Virgil’s Eclogues helped establish the pastoral genre, presenting shepherds and rural landscapes as a coded stage for politics, exile, prophecy, and power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leg-
“To gather, collect, or pick out”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ἐκλογή (eklogḗ)
“A selection or chosen passage, from ek- “out” plus logē from legein “to gather or choose””
Hellenistic Greek
Greek
ἐκλογαί (eklogaí)
“Selections or selected literary pieces”
1st Century BCE
Latin
ecloga
“A short poem or selection, especially a pastoral poem”
14th Century
English
eclogue
“A pastoral poem modeled on classical examples”
Modern English
English
eclogues
“Plural of eclogue: collections or series of pastoral poems”