Virgil: Life and Major Works
Virgil: Life and Works
Virgil was born in Mantua in 70 BC into a modest family. Around the age of twenty, he went to Rome to perfect his knowledge of rhetoric. He could not practice oratory because he lacked the temperament or attitude: he was ill, shy, and had a weak presence. Dispossessed of his father’s estate, he returned to Rome, explained his situation to Augustus, and was granted an indemnity and an estate in Campania. In the final days of his life, he lived in a villa in Naples that Augustus had given him. In 19 BC, he made a trip to Greece and Asia Minor to see the locations described in the first part of his poem, the Aeneid, and correct its flaws. He fell gravely ill in Megara (Greece), returned to Italy, and died at Brindisi shortly after, in 19 BC. Before his death, he begged Augustus to destroy the poem because it was unfinished. Augustus, however, ordered it published. Among the works attributed to Virgil whose authenticity is not doubted are the Bucolics, the Georgics, and the Aeneid.
The Bucolics (Eclogues)
The Bucolics, or Eclogues, are ten short pastoral poems about rural life, showing a clear influence of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus of Syracuse regarding theme and characters. In the Bucolics, shepherds sing about their love and misfortunes, sometimes in a poetic contest between two shepherds judged by a third. The action unfolds in Arcadia, a literary landscape invented by Virgil, distinct from the actual Greek Arcadia, a region in the center of the Peloponnese. The Eclogues are written in hexameter.
The Georgics
The Georgics is a poem composed by Virgil on farming techniques. Its four books, written between 36 and 29 BC, offer guidance on improving agricultural production.
Structure of the Georgics
The first book is dedicated to the cultivation of fields in general.
The second explains vineyards, olive, and fruit trees, with a praise of rural life.
The third is devoted to livestock and domestic animals, including a dramatic episode of a plague affecting animals.
The fourth discusses the life and cultivation of bees, including the episode of the mythological shepherd Aristaeus, who recovers his bees from the entrails of sacrificed oxen.
Artistic Merit of the Georgics
From an artistic standpoint, the Georgics are considered Virgil’s most polished work.
The Aeneid
The Aeneid is the culminating work of Roman epic. It tells of the Trojan Aeneas establishing himself in Italy by the express wish of the gods, to prepare the way for the new Rome. Thus, it justifies the divine origin of the city and the Julian family, such as Julius Caesar, who claimed descent from Iulus (Ascanius), the son of Aeneas and consequently the goddess Venus.
Structure of the Aeneid
The Aeneid consists of 12 books. Book I recounts the arrival of Aeneas and his companions off the coast of Carthage, where they were driven by a storm caused by the goddess Juno. Books II and III: Aeneas tells Dido, Queen of Carthage, about the destruction of Troy and the death of his father in Sicily. Book IV tells the sad love story of Dido and Aeneas, which foreshadows the grand future of Rome. Book VII recounts the arrival of Aeneas in Italy and the war with Turnus. In the remaining books, it tells of the battles of the Trojans with the Italians. Book XII: Turnus is killed by Aeneas in single combat.
Inspiration for the Aeneid
Homer: The Aeneid was inspired by two works of Homer: the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Naevius and Ennius: These earlier Roman poets had already treated the legend of Aeneas in their works, connecting it to Roman identity.
Roman Mythology and Legendary Past: Virgil drew upon Roman mythology and legendary tradition to write this great epic.