Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BCE – September 21, 19 BCE), later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Vergil, was a classical Roman poet. He was the author of epics in three modes: the Bucolics (or Eclogues), the Georgics and the substantially completed Aeneid, the last being an epic poem in the heroic mode, which comprised twelve books (as opposed to 24 in each of the epic poems by Homer) and became the Roman Empire's national epic. Legend has it that Virgil was born in the village of Andes, near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul (Gaul south of the Alps; present-day northern Italy). Some scholars have claimed Celtic ancestry based upon the location of his birth and upon a perceived "Celtic" strain in his verse. Other scholars suggest Etruscan or Umbrian descent by examining the linguistic or ethnic markers of the region. Analysis of his name has led to beliefs that he descended from earlier Roman colonists. Modern speculation ultimately is not supported by narrative evidence either from his own writings or his later biographers. Etymological fancy has noted that his cognomen MARO shares its letters anagrammatically with the twin themes of his epic: AMOR (love) and ROMA (Rome).
the aeneid: i, 1-7
War tales and heroes frame my song.
A man -- refugee from Troy --
pushed by fate from Illi...[read poem]
 |
|
|
|
|
 | ||||
A man -- refugee from Troy --
pushed by fate from Illi...
Continue in Giuseppe Ungaretti »»»
Page 1 of 1