Virgil biography

Publio Virgilio Marón (October 15, 70 b.C. – September 21, 19 b.C.), Roman poet, author of The Aeneid. He was born in the Andes, today Italian Lombardy, Rome. His parents of modest origin, his father an industrial potter and his mother a free woman, together they could provide some studies. The following he made were obtained thanks to the support of patrons and friends, such as Cayo Maecenas, the poet Horacio and also Octavio, future emperor Augustus. He studied rhetoric and language, Greek philosophy in Cremona. Then he went to Milan, Rome, and Naples to deepen them and took the opportunity to receive instruction in medicine and mathematics, which earned him a refined culture.

During these constant transfers and studies, he spent part of his time writing. He had to stop his studies due to the death of his father, he returned to Mantua, in order to administer the inheritance left by his father. The life in the field was the maximum inspiration to write the bucolic poems called “Eglogas.” In this poem, he developed many themes of the pastoral tradition, he was inspired by the Idylls of Theocritus, although trying to find his style, he introduced numerous allusions to characters and situations of his time. This was the beginning of his poetic career that later earned him the title of “Prince of Latin poets.”

At thirty-four, leaving his father’s farm in trustworthy hands, he moved to Naples, where he wrote his poem The Eclogues, with the support of Maecenas. This poem was firmly convinced to support the imperial policy of promoting agriculture in Italy, to motivate the work of agriculture among the Roman people. The situation at that time reflected a displacement of agriculture by the art of war, then, the vision of the land as a source of wealth and prosperity had been lost. He persuasively recreated the beauty of peasant life and its different aspects: farming, livestock, and beekeeping. After this work, much appreciated by Maecenas, he decided to give everything he needed so Virgil only dedicated his life to writing.

For ten years he began to write La Eneida, an epic, commissioned by Emperor Augustus, which recounts the greatness and glory of the Roman Empire, narrating from its origins, development and culminating in its splendor. To carry out this magnificent work, he had to make several trips through the vast Roman territory to seek inspiration and accuracy. The delivery of this work was the trigger that allowed him to be known throughout Rome, surrounding him with an atmosphere of veneration and unparalleled affection. It was for many Romans model of sincerity and benevolence, a prototype of perfect man.

Another reason to be so admired was his remarkable love for study and the care with which he taught and corrected his disciples in the art of constructing verses. His talent was reflected in all his works. In addition, also his influence by the Homeric model, present so much at a formal level as thematic, although it is visible the influence in his works of Roman poets like Ennio, Lucrecio, and Apolonio of Rodas.

The Aeneid was considered in his time, and from that moment, as a model of literary perfection for its metric balance and its musicality. Virgil also developed several minor works of epic, elegiac and didactic character, entitled the Vergilian Appendix, this was a creation of his youth, although the data of the creation is not totally defined.

However, the poet had to freeze his work, because in 19 a.C. traveled to Greece and Asia with the idea of ​​acquiring more landscape and geographical references for his masterpiece, practically completed, this trip also allowed him to deepen the study of philosophy. During the trip, he became seriously ill, and on his deathbed he asked his friends Vario and Plocio to destroy The Aeneid, considering it imperfect. He prayed that it was not attended to by Augustus and soon after it was published by Vario Rufo and Plotio Tuca.

During the trip to Greece and Asia, he fell ill, for that reason, he returned again. While he was on his deathbed, he insistently insisted that his companions discard La Eneida, considering it an inaccurate and imperfect work. On September 21 of the year 21 b.C. Virgil died. But his wish was not fulfilled, his work was published and subsequently sold. Representing a resounding success. Virgil always wrote thinking about posterity.

As a result, he left a literary legacy that stood the test of time. His importance was such that, the figure of Virgil was adorned in the Middle Ages as a legionary being. The reputation he enjoyed throughout the Middle Ages was surprising, he was even considered as a prospective Christian, it was stated that in one of his Bucolics there was a prophecy of the arrival of the Messiah. Dante, in the Divine Comedy, made him his guide through Hell and Purgatorio.