How to Be a Farmer : : An Ancient Guide to Life on the Land.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press Complete eBook-Package 2021
• MitwirkendeR: Usher, M. D.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.)

A delightful anthology of classical Greek and Roman writings celebrating country living—ranging from a philosophy of compost to hymns to the gods of agricultureWhether you farm or garden, live in the country or long to move there, or simply enjoy an occasional rural retreat, you will be delighted by this cornucopia of writings about living and working on the land, harvested from the fertile fields of ancient Greek and Roman literature. An inspiring antidote to the digital age, How to Be a Farmer evokes the beauty and bounty of nature with a rich mixture of philosophy, practical advice, history, and humor. Together, these timeless reflections on what the Greeks called boukolika and the Romans res rusticae provide an entertaining and enlightening guide to a more meaningful and sustainable way of life.In fresh translations by classicist and farmer M. D. Usher, with the original texts on facing pages, Hesiod praises the dignity of labor; Plato describes the rustic simplicity of his ideal republic; Varro dedicates a farming manual to his wife, Fundania (“Mrs. Farmer”); and Vergil idealizes farmers as residents of the Golden Age. In other selections, Horace extols the joys of simple living at his cherished country farm; Pliny the Elder explains why all culture stems from agriculture; Columella praises donkeys and tells how to choose a ram or a dog; Musonius Rufus argues that farming is the best livelihood for a philosopher; and there is much more.Proof that farming is ultimately a state of mind we should all cultivate, How to Be a Farmer will charm anyone who loves nature or its fruits.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 Keeping Up with the Joneses. Livelihood Is Hard to Come By (Hesiod, Works & Days 1–46) -- 2 The Benefits of Righteous Living (Hesiod, Works & Days 213–247) -- 3 On Work and Wealth (Hesiod, Works & Days 286–319 and 381–382) -- 4 Cultivating Good Neighbors. On Thrift (Hesiod, Works & Days 342–369) -- 5 Procrastination. Good and Bad Days (Hesiod, Works & Days 410–413 and 825) -- 6 A Bucolic Utopia (Plato, Republic 368d–373a) -- 7 The Philosophy of Compost (Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1.146–264) -- 7 The Philosophy of Compost (Lucretius, De Rerum Natura 1.146–264) -- 9 The Prestige and Antiquity of Rearing Livestock (Varro, Res Rusticae 2.1.6–10) -- 10 Praise for the Countryside (Vergil, Georgics 2.458–540) -- 11 Reverie of a Would-Be Farmer (Horace, Epodes 1.2) -- 12 Simple Tastes (Horace, Odes 3.1) -- 13 Avoiding the Rat Race (Horace, Satires 2.6) -- 14 Culture from Agriculture (Pliny the Elder, Natural History 18.1.5–3.14) -- 15 The Ideal of Smallholding (Pliny the Elder, Natural History 18.4.17–23 and 18.7.35 and 18.8.41–43) -- 15 The Ideal of Smallholding (Pliny the Elder, Natural History 18.4.17–23 and 18.7.35 and 18.8.41–43) -- 17 Getting and Naming a Dog (Columella, De Re Rustica 7.12) -- 18 On Asses (Columella, De Re Rustica 7.1) -- 19 What to Look for in a Ram (Columella, De Re Rustica 7.3.3) -- 20 The Joint Venture Farm (Columella, De Re Rustica Book 12, Preface and §1) -- 21 Why Farming Is the Best Job for a Philosopher (Musonius Rufus, Lecture No. 11) -- 22 A Garden on Lesbos (Longus, Daphnis & Chloe 4.1–2) -- 23 The Numinous Landscape (Homeric Hymns No. 30; Orphic Hymns No. 10; Cato, De Agricultura 134, 139–141) -- 24 A Farmer’s Memorial (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum 11.600) -- NOTES -- PASSAGES TRANSLATED