Virgil & Ovid

 Virgil & Ovid were around during the Augustan Age of Rome.  These poets are compared to the former Greek poets Homer & Hesiod.  They both brought immortality to Roman Mythology.

 Virgil was essentially Rome’s national poet.  Born October 15, 70 B.C. as Pubilus Virgilius Maro in the village of Andes.  Sent to get educated in Milan and Rome.  Studied Greek and Roman literature & poetry  Devoted his life to his studies and was not concerned with a military or political lifestyle.  He lived as a recluse (in seclusion) and was sickly (often ill).

 His poetry made him rise to fame in Rome and he established friendships with influential people.  Never abandoned his love of the countryside which is evident in his poems.  Died of a fever on September 21, 19 B.C. before his final revision of the Aeneid (most famous epic poem).  Buried in Naples.

 His earliest work was a collection of 10 pastoral poems entitled Eclogues. *(pastoral poetry - verses about the countryside and shepherds)  The poems speak of an ideal and unrealistic life  Others present ideas to be used in the real world  Others even mourn the eviction of farmers from their lands.  Another poem, Georgics reflects Virgil’s love of the Italian countryside.  In this work he begs farmers to return to their land and restore the agricultural lifestyle.

 Aeneid is his most famous epic poem.  This poem follows the course of actions of the hero Aeneas after the fall of Troy  His settling in the new land  The founding of a new race  Introduces all the great characters of Roman mythology (mortal & immortal).  A few of those named: Dido, Romulus, Jupiter (Zeus), Venus (Aphrodite), etc.  Annual printings of at least one version of the Aeneid have been done for the past 500 years.

 Born March 20, 43 B.C as Publius Ovidius Naso in the small town of Sulmo (90 miles east of Rome).  Sent to Rome to be educated (like Virgil).  He was a member of the Roman knightly class (highest social class, elite class)  Ovid attempted a career in public life, but did not like it and abandoned it.  He settled in Rome and began socializing with a society of poets.  Ovid began to write poems and became an immediate success.

 His life was not entirely full of glory.  In A.D. 8, he was exiled to Tomis on the Black Sea.  Reasons behind exile are a mystery, but it was rumored that it involved an adulterous affair with the emperor’s granddaughter.  He died A.D. 17, begging to be allowed to return home to Rome.

 His autobiographical work, Tristia (sorrow), describes the main events of his life in his own words.  Ovid wrote many poems throughout his life:  Amores, a series of poems describing love affairs  Heroides, imaginary love poems written to mythological characters.  Fasti, describes various Roman religious festivals held monthly  Only the first six books of the first six months have survived.

 Ovid’s most famous work is the narrative poem Metamorphoses.  It consists of about 12,000 lines  Covers everything from the creation theory to the death of Julius Caesar.  An incredible source of Roman mythology