The Aeneid

Virgil

Jan 2015 · First Avenue Editions ™

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Aeneas—the son of a human and Venus, the goddess of love—escapes the siege of Troy with a boat full of other Trojans, and sails for Italy where he is destined to found the city of Rome. A storm diverts them to Carthage, where Aeneas meets Dido, the city’s ruler and queen. He recounts the tale of his dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to her, and the two fall in love. After the gods remind Aeneas that it is his fate to start a new city, he sails for Italy, leaving a devastated Dido behind. The Italians are at first friendly, but when war breaks out, Aeneas must fight to fulfill his destiny. Virgil originally wrote his epic poem, The Aeneid, in Latin around 20 BCE. This is an unabridged version of the English translation by John Dryden, first published in 1697.

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Virgil was born on October 15, 70 B.C.E., in Northern Italy in a small village near Mantua. He attended school at Cremona and Mediolanum (Milan), then went to Rome, where he studied mathematics, medicine and rhetoric, and finally completed his studies in Naples. He entered literary circles as an "Alexandrian," the name given to a group of poets who sought inspiration in the sophisticated work of third-century Greek poets, also known as Alexandrians. In 49 BC Virgil became a Roman citizen. After his studies in Rome, Vergil is believed to have lived with his father for about 10 years, engaged in farm work, study, and writing poetry. After the battle of Philippi in 42 B.C.E. Virgil¿s property in Cisalpine Gaul, was confiscated for veterans. In the following years Virgil spent most of his time in Campania and Sicily, but he also had a house in Rome. During the reign of emperor Augustus, Virgil became a member of his court circle and was advanced by a minister, Maecenas, patron of the arts and close friend to the poet Horace. He gave Virgil a house near Naples. Between 42 and 37 B.C.E. Virgil composed pastoral poems known as Bucolic or Eclogues and spent years on the Georgics. The rest of his life, from 30 to 19 B.C., Virgil devoted to The Aeneid, the national epic of Rome, and the glory of the Empire. Although ambitious, Virgil was never really happy about the task. Virgil died in 19 B. C.