Out with the Old, In with the Young? Youth and Old Age in Vergil’s Eclogues and Georgics

Scholars have noted that Silenus’ entrapment by Chromis and Mnasyllos (Eclogues 6) and Aristaeus’ ambush of Proteus (Georgics 4) share distinct elements. Both passages portray youths forcefully binding an old figure with chains to compel a song. In comparing old Silenus and Proteus with the “boys” Chromis and Mnasyllos and “most daring of the youth” Aristaeus respectively, this paper traces such physical compulsion alongside the metaphorical confinement of Tityrus (Eclogues 1) and the Corycian senex (Georgics 4) to argue that Vergil mobilizes the clash of youth and senectitude to comment on the effects of literary tradition on his own work.