Virgil lived from 70-19 B.C., and wrote a famous epic poem called The Aeneid. This poem celebrated the beginnings of Rome and the noble ideals of the empire under the rule of Augustus. Before he finished the poem, Virgil died while on the way home from a trip to Greece. Before leaving on the trip, he had asked his friends to burn the manuscript if anything happened to him, but Augustus was so impressed with the poem that he published it anyway.
BkI:1-11 Invocation to the Muse
I sing of arms and the man, he who, exiled by fate,
first came from the coast of Troy to Italy, and to
Lavinian shores – hurled about endlessly by land and sea,
by the will of the gods, by cruel Juno’s remorseless anger,
long suffering also in war, until he founded a city
and brought his gods to Latium: from that the Latin people
came, the lords of Alba Longa, the walls of noble Rome.
Muse, tell me the cause: how was she offended in her divinity,
how was she grieved, the Queen of Heaven, to drive a man,
noted for virtue, to endure such dangers, to face so many
trials? Can there be such anger in the minds of the gods?
Assignment
This was the first part of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Give a short summary of what you think this poem is about. If you need to search the internet for help that is fine. Don't worry about being right or wrong we will discuss the poem once you have completed the assignment.
