Unveiling Virgil
A journey through his life and works
Today, we delve into the life and works of one of the most influential Roman writers, Virgil. This is my short introduction to his life and his contribution to literature.
In my next post I will be analysing some of Virgil’s poetry - so don’t miss it!
First, let's tackle an intriguing question: is it Virgil or Vergil?
The Name Conundrum: Virgil or Vergil?
In Latin, his name is Publius Vergilius Maro, spelled with an "E." Hence, using Vergil could be considered a more accurate anglicized version of Vergilius.
So why do so many people spell his name Virgil? Well, there are several theories as to how the "I" came into play.
While no one knows for certain, some suggest it may be linked to the poet’s associations with magic, as virga with an "I" means a magical wand in Latin.
Alternatively, the name might reflect his modesty, akin to "Virginius," which means youthful or pure. A young man who hasn’t reached maturity, and indeed the idea may be that his peers called him this as a joke at school. This is certainly the story I was told about Virgil when I was studying his life. It probably isn’t what a young Roman wants his friends to joke about!
Ultimately, both spellings are accepted, with "Virgil" being more common. If one wishes to be precise, "Vergil" with an "E" is technically correct.
A Glimpse into Virgil’s Life
Living from 70 BC to 19 BC, Virgil was a poet during the Augustan Age - a pivotal era for Roman literature. Under the first Emperor, Augustus, the arts flourished, including literature, building works, and sculptures like the famous Prima Porta statue of Augustus.
Virgil primarily wrote bucolic and epic poetry.
Bucolic poetry: focused on farming and rural themes
Epic poetry: characterized by grand narrative style, and covering impressive themes. The Odyssey is an example of a Greek epic poem, which Virgil sought to emulate.
One fascinating aspect of Virgil's work is the speculation about his potential role in Augustus's propaganda. Was he composing his works in line with, or subversively against Augustus' moral and cultural plans for Rome? This remains a subject of scholarly debate.
Exploring Virgil’s Masterpieces
I'm going to go through each of Virgil’s three big hitting pieces in turn, and give you a brief rundown of what they are about.
1. Eclogues
Written around 39 BC, the poems that make up the Eclogues focus on pastoral or rural poetry, weaving stories about the countryside and the people who live and work there. Some themes of the poems include:
Land Confiscation: people who have had their land taken from them, often for being on the wrong side of a civil war. Once the victors need to reward their supporters, those against them do not fare well in the reshuffling of resources.
Love: falling in love or making love in the countryside.
Mythology: the Romans loved using mythology in their poetry, and Virgil was no different.
Notably, the Messianic Eclogue (as called by later scholars) hints at a mythical child destined to save the world. This child has been linked by some to Jesus (the Messiah) or, alternatively, Augustus or Augustus’ descendants. This association with a Messianic prophecy played a crucial role in the preservation of Virgil's work. Monks, tasked with copying texts, preserved these works, believing them to refer to the birth of the Son of God.
So, thanks to this supposed prophecy, we get to keep some of the best poetry in Roman literature.
2. Georgics
Produced about a decade later, the Georgics were created at the request of Virgil's patron, Maecenas. In Rome, if you have a patron, as a poet you can afford to write - they will give you money or favours, but you do want to keep them happy. In this collection of poems, Virgil is thanking Maecenas for his partonage.
These poems, focused on agriculture, reflect themes of optimism and pessimism. Some characters are in love with rural life and their future, whereas others are struggling with the life they lead.
This work also contains a grand prayer to Octavian (Augustus), treating him as a living deity. Despite Roman aversion to deifying living men, this highlights Octavian's significant power even before becoming Augustus.
3. Aeneid
Virgil's most significant work is the Aeneid, which was Rome's ambition to rival Homer's epic poems from Greece. This poem, of nearly 10,000 lines of dactylic hexameter, took Virgil at least 10 years to compose.
This foundation epic, not of Rome itself, but of the Roman people, traces Rome's ancestry back to the Trojan lineage through Aeneas, a refugee from the Trojan War. The Romans wanted to have a mythic past just as long as the Greeks, and where better to start than the great 10 year long war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The narrative follows Aeneas's journey to the Italian peninsula after the destruction of Troy; it covers his mythical adventures, which are akin to (but better than) Odysseus' return home to Greece as told by Homer, as well as the eventual forging of Rome’s identity with the intermarriage of the Trojan survivors and the Italian peoples.
But this is not just an epic adventure story. It contains many themes, and it continually references other types of literature. For example, tragedy: Book Four of the Aeneid especially is set up very much like a Greek tragedy, invoking the pathos of a play. It also centres around aetiology, especially in Book Eight, which uses stories to explain the origin of things. For example, why the forum in Rome is in the place that it is.
There's a huge question about whether this is an Augustan message or not. Is Virgil trying to be pro-Augustan or anti-Augustan? It's very difficult to tell. You can read it many, many times and get different interpretations, based on how many layers of meaning you wish to infer from different sections.
Plot
Now, I've said that this was supposed to be an answer to Homer. Here's why I said that.
Books 1 to 6 is effectively a retelling of the Odyssey, but instead of Odysseus, it's Aeneas. Also, Aeneas does better than Odysseus at all of these travels. For example, he doesn’t stay on the Cyclopes’ island, meeting one of Odysseus crew who had been left there by mistake, and who joins Aeneas, without Aeneas losing any of his men. He also goes down to the Underworld in Book Six, just like Odysseus did, but Odysseus stopped almost at the threshold of the Underworld, whereas Aeneas walks all the way through, and meets all of the future Romans.
Books 7 to 12 are kind of like the Iliad, which is Homer's story about the Trojan War. This is when the Trojans arrive in Italy, and covers the huge war they have with the local people for various reasons, which eventually is resolved by Aeneas, marrying the daughter of the king.
Will-ful Ignorance
Tragically, Virgil died in 19 BC, leaving the Aeneid incomplete. He had been editing the manuscript in Greece, but caught a fever. As he travelled back to Italy he unfortunately worsened, and he died in September.
In his will, so the story goes, he requested that the unfinished manuscript be burned, but Augustus himself intervened, preserving this monumental piece of Roman literature. The work contains unfinished lines, which add dramatic effect to certain parts of the text and intrigue as to whether they were intentional or merely unedited.
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Next time I'm going to be analysing some of Virgil's poetry, so make sure you’re subscribed to get an email when that’s posted!
Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time on bambasbat!