# Pastoral V: Daphnis explained — The Eclogues

> Chapter companion for The Eclogues by Virgil.

## What happens

Menalcas and Mopsus engage in a song contest to honor the memory of Daphnis, who is lamented in an elegy and then celebrated in an apotheosis. Mopsus sings of the mourning of nature and the shepherds at Daphnis's death, while Menalcas proclaims his divinity and the peace his reign brings. The shepherds exchange gifts and promise annual sacrifices to the new god.

## Themes in this chapter

### Divinity and Fate

The chapter centers on the death and deification of Daphnis, exploring themes of mortality, fate, and the elevation of a mortal to divine status.

### Nature and the Pastoral Ideal

Nature mourns Daphnis's death and rejoices in his apotheosis, highlighting the deep connection between the pastoral world and cosmic order.

## Character check-ins

### Daphnis

The subject of the elegy and apotheosis; his death is mourned by nature and shepherds, and he is later deified.

### Menalcas

One of the two shepherds in the singing contest; he proclaims Daphnis's divinity and offers a hymn of praise.

### Mopsus

The other shepherd in the contest; he laments Daphnis's death with a mournful song.

### Amyntas

Mentioned as a rival to Mopsus in voice.

### Damoetas

Mentioned as one who will perform the rites for the deified Daphnis.

## Key lines

> The nymphs about the breathless body wait / Of Daphnis, and lament his cruel fate.

The nymphs gather around Daphnis's dead body and mourn his tragic death.

_Mopsus begins his elegy by describing the nymphs' grief._

> Daphnis, the guest of heaven, with wondering eyes / Views, in the milky way, the starry skies

Daphnis, now a guest in heaven, gazes in awe at the stars from the Milky Way.

_Menalcas describes Daphnis's apotheosis and his new celestial perspective._

> For Daphnis reigns above, and deals from thence / His mother’s milder beams, and peaceful influence.

Daphnis rules from heaven, spreading his mother's gentle light and peaceful power.

_Menalcas emphasizes the peaceful influence of the deified Daphnis._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters/pastoral-v-daphnis
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_eclogues_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_eclogues_se/chapters