[315] The conception of men as originally born from stocks or stones is as old as Od. 19. 163, where Penelope playfully says to Ulysses, οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ δρυός ἐσσι παλαιφάτου, οὐδ᾽ ἀπὸ πέτρης. So, according to one interpretation, Hesiod, Works 145, speaking of the brazen age, ἐκ μελιᾶν δεινόν τε καὶ ό̀βριμον. So the legend of Deucalion G. 1. 63, “Deucalion vacuum lapides iactavit in orbem Unde homines nati durum genus.” See Preller, G. M. 1, p. 63. Serv. rationalizes it into the sudden appearance of men from hollow trees or caves where they had taken up their abode. The view of primitive society which follows agrees generally with the well-known descriptions of Aesch. Prom. 447 foll., Lucr. 5.925 foll., and with the notions formed by such writers as Sallust and Tacitus: comp. Lewis l. c. The idea of a golden age, which Virg. attempts to incorporate with it, is really antagonistic to it.
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John Conington. P. Vergili Maronis opera. P. Vergili Maronis Opera. The works of. Virgil. , with a Commentary by John Conington, M.A. and Henry Nettleship, M.A. London. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane;. George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1876.
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