Eclogue 5

[1] The poem has sometimes been held (though perhaps on slight grounds) to be allegorical, celebrating the apotheosis of Julius Caesar, which was confirmed by a solemn act passed in BC 42.

[1] Another suggestion is that the "god" in this poem, which recalls Eclogue 1 in its language, represents not Julius Caesar but his adopted son Octavian.

In Eclogue 1, Tityrus praises a young man (iuvenis), who has created peace (otia fecit); he calls him a "god" and declares that he will make offerings to him every year.

In Eclogue 5, Menalcas praises Daphnis, who is referred to as a boy (puer), who loves peace (amat otia); he calls him a "god" and declares that he will make offerings to him every year.

[13] Yet another possibility, suggested by Leah Kronenberg (2016), is that Daphnis represents the poet Lucretius, whose poetry combined intellectual brilliance with divine inspiration.

[14] In lines 45–48 Menalcas praises Mopsus as a "divine poet" who has inherited the mantle of his "master" (the master being, in Kronenberg's view, Daphnis i.e. Lucretius); his song is like sleep for tired people in a pleasant grassy place, which could represent the Epicurean ideal of freedom from disturbance (otia, ἀταραξία).

In mythology, Mopsus was the name of a famous seer, who, being the son of the prophetess Manto, was the half-brother of Ocnus, the founder of Virgil's home town of Mantua.

[18] In lines 10–11 Menalcas suggests three subjects Mopsus might like to sing about: a love song about Phyllis, some praises of Alcon, or some criticisms of Codrus.

It has been proposed that "Codrus" (who appears again in Eclogue 7, where he is praised by Corydon and criticised by Thyrsis) is a pseudonym for a poet contemporary with Virgil,[19] but nothing is known of Alcon.