Life and times: the unity of Virgils work

Life and times: the unity of Virgils work

1. Bio

   • Publius Vergilius Maro
   • Born small town near Mantua
     • 15th October 70BC ?
     • Virgil was 21 when it was granted Roman Citizenship from Caesar
   • Educated at Cremona and Rome
   • Became accepted in literary court circle under patronage of Maecenas
   • Played no part in political or military activities
   • Died 19BC of fever

2. The worst time to live in Rome

   • Civil war, Caesar vs Pompey 49 to 46BC
   • 63BC Catiline fell fighting vs Roman legions
   • Riots paralysed processes of gov
   • Caesar assassinated Ides of March 44BC
     • 2nd civil war
   • Proscriptions, murders, exile during first Triumvirate
     • 42, 41 proscriptions, 150 senators (1/4 of 600) and 2,000 equites died
   • 3rd Civil War
     • Octavian vs Antony
   • Virgil lives for 51 years, 29 war: 16 civil
   • Augustus' victory at the Battle of Actium in 31BC, marks beginning of Pax Romana

3. Virgils predecessors

   • Neoteric circle
     • Scurrilous squibs- short rude
     • Exquisite polish on remote mythological subjects- long stylish
     • Cons
       • No political focus
       • No moralists
       • No focus on contemporary life
   • Lucretius
     • On the nature of the universe

4. The need for literature

   • To catch up with Greek culture
   • Augustus encouraged
   • Virgil would take up the fantastic Roman style, but through it concentrate on contemporary issues
     • To deal with the awful times he lived in
     • To not lose the ground already gained by predecessors

5. Audience reaction

   • Roman times
     • Supreme patriotic expression of nation's greatness
   • Medieval
     • Appreciate Christian values
   • Renaissance
     • Model of form and narrative technique
   • 19th century critics appreciate pathos and sadness of Virgil's "accents of brooding sorrow"

6. Works of Virgil

   • Eclogues/Bucolics
     • Based on Greek Theocritus
   • Georgics
     • Didactic poem on agriculture
   • Aeneid
     • Occupied the rest of his life 30-19BC
     • Based on two deep desires
       • To emulate Homer
       • Express achievements and ideals of Rome