Virgil was considered to be the most important Roman poet of ancient Rome, who lived between 70 and 19 BC. In this article we will tell you who he was and we will share some of his verses so that you can also get to know the author through his literary work.
Virgil: Brief Personal Biography
Virgilio Marón, came into the world on October 15, 70 BC. within the bosom of a modest family of farmers, a village near Mantua. His family had some land that they worked and cultivated with the help of their slaves, as well as having service inside the house. Virgilio had two more brothers, Flaco and Silón, the latter died very soon.
The first years of Virgil’s life were in the countryside, which left a great impact on his way of seeing the world. When you read his works you will realize that you can build images of the landscape in your mind, of country life, of its people.
Despite his love for the countryside, his father did not want him to be a farmer, but instead join politics. For this reason, at the age of 12 he moved to Cremona to begin his first studies, later he went to Milan and at 17 he was already in Rome, where he continued his training. Of all these studies, his philosophy, rhetoric, eloquence and discipline stand out.
In all his formative years, despite his innate shyness and enhanced by his birth, Virgilio knew and was able to forge great ties full of affection with his teachers and friends, even the most sophisticated and high-ranking ones. Among all of them, it is worth highlighting Horatio (year 45), whom you will discover in his poems since he showed great affection for him and who had a completely different character from his. At the same time, it is also worth noting Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar (later Octavian Augustus).
At the moment when the political crisis breaks out between Julius Caesar and Pompey in the year 49, Virgil finishes give up the world of politics altogether and leaves more space for his always vocation, poetry. This implied that there was also a change in his friendships, as she began to rub shoulders with other poets, began to compose and recite.
In turn, at this time his family’s farm is expropriated At the end of the civil war, and despite having rubbed elbows with influential people, it seems that nothing could be done to avoid such a great loss and he ends up seeking asylum in Rome.
Virgil: Literary work
Virgil began to rub shoulders with the new poets: Catullus, Valerius Cato, El Cinna, and Cornelius Gallus. New poets not only because of their age but also because of their way of writing, since they abandoned the technique and manners of the ancient Roman poets, opting for other metrics.
Virgilian appendix – His early works
Virgil’s early works followed the trends of this new group of poets, works that were later brought together in the «Virgilian Appendix» by José Esealígero in the year 1573. Although it cannot be guaranteed with certainty that all the collected poems are by Virgil, it can really be seen how the new poets had another way of understanding poetry.
Within this title you will find:
- Catalepton (miscellaneous): It is believed that they may actually be works of Virgil in his younger production. They are approximately fourteen short poems.
- Culex (the mosquito): It describes the story of a sleeping shepherd who is awakened by a mosquito bite. The curious thing is that thanks to that sting, the shepherd woke up in time to avoid being bitten by a snake, which would have killed him for sure. But the story does not end there, the insect appears in the dreams of the shepherd and he ends up creating a beautiful grave as thanks for having saved his life and having died in the process. It is not a simple fable, but refers to the cult of the dead in Illyria.
- Ciris: they are two mythological fables in which the metamorphosis into a bird of Scylla, daughter of the king of Megara, is told.
- Aetna: a poem for the Etna volcano.
- Dirae, curses, a man has to leave the beloved land for an expropriation.
- Copa tells the story of a traveler who makes a stop on his way.
- Moretum, a gastronomic poem whose protagonist is a peasant.
His passion for letters also led him to become interested in philosophy, studying the doctrine of Epicurus with Sirón. It is at this moment in his life that he meets Horacio (year 45), whom we have already named, since he will be a very important figure in his life.
The Eclogues – Bucolic, a masterpiece
In the year 41 Virgilio is in the Andes and there he will write Bucolic (Eclogues), which takes two years to complete. It is considered to be the first of Virgil’s great works and is made up of 10 eclogues* with a very wide length of verses; To give you an idea, only the first eclogue has 83 lines.
*As an aside, for those who do not know what an eclogue is, it is a love poetic composition that is characterized by being written in dialogues. With a love theme, it is located in the countryside (which is usually presented as an ideal and paradisiacal place) and the shepherds are the protagonists through whom we will learn about their affections and their country life.
The Georgics, his second masterpiece
Patron, one of the ministers of Octavio Augusto (who was about to be named emperor), he became one of Virgil’s best friends and thanks to him he was able to dedicate himself entirely to literature. He was also a very influential character in the life and literature of Virgil, as he was the one who encouraged him to write the Georgicshis second most important work.
The Georgics is made up of Four books where he praises rural life, he talks about the art of cultivating the countryside and the beauty of country life. At the beginning of each of these books he makes a special mention of Maecenas, to whom he dedicates the book along with Emperor Augustus, both benefactors of his work.
The Aeneid, the most ambitious epic
Augustus asked him to write a work to glorify the Roman Empire and to give it a mythical touch. Only a year after finishing the Georgics, Aeneid begins.
In this work of twelve books he describes Aeneas, a Trojan whom he turns into the founder of Rome, inspired by Greek myths, and in which he recounts all his adventures and links Rome with Greek culture.
He worked on it for 11 years. They say that he asked Augustus to destroy the work but he did not fulfill his wish and, since then, this work has had an enormous influence on all subsequent culture.