My initial gravitation toward—and eventual selection of—Vergil’s Eclogue I was sparked by the remarkably stark contrast between the attitudes, situations, and
mannerisms of the two juxtaposed characters of Tityrus and Meliboeus. Though they are both herdsmen conversing under the shade of the same beech on the same plot of farmland, the luck—and thus temperament—that has fallen upon each man is
antithetical.