Virgil's Georgics, by common consent one of the greatest poems in western literature, purports to be a didactic poem on agriculture, bu t its true subject is man and his place in literature and society. It is also a landmark in the use of the natural world as material for literature, and in the history of man's attitude towards his environment. The object of this commentary is to present the poet's meaning and (as far as possible) his choice of expression in the hope of achieving fuller understanding and enjoyment of the poetry. The volume includes the late Sir Roger's Oxford Classical Text of the Georgics together with apparatus criticus, as well as an appendix of Greek sources. After Mynors's death (in 1989) R. G. M. Nisbet added a short Preface to the Commentary and compiled an index.

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"an event in Virgilian scholarship... this commentary contains the best literary criticism that we have of the poem." - Richard Jenkyns, Times Literary Supplement

"grounded on a profundity of philological and technical learning that most of can merely envy... it will obviously be indispensable to everyone seriously interested in the Georgics." - Joseph Farrell, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"No commentator is better on the ancient sources, both poetic and agricultural... in this great and glowing commentary he has given us a sunlit view of one the richest poems ever written." - David West, The Times

"It is a model of what I think a commentary should be. M. has no axe to grind, no hobbyhorse to ride, his aim seems to be to help readers understand the poem in all its variety rather than to urge a particular interpretation of it... And he writes with wit and charm." - Sara Mack, American Journal of Philology.