Virgil, Publius Virgil Maron

Information about Virgil is scarce. Some messages about him were transmitted by his friends orally and in writing. Some of these messages have come down to us in the form of scattered quotations from later Roman authors, as well as in the form of seven short Biographies, or rather, sketches of a biography. The most complete of these is preserved in the manuscript of Aelius Donatus, but actually goes back to Suetonius. Some of the information we find in other texts is borrowed from this biography; some information, such as contained in Biography from the Berne manuscript, were obtained independently, although, probably, all versions had a single source - notes from Virgil’s contemporaries.

As for the names of Virgil, the name Publius is quite common for a Roman, the other two are apparently of Etruscan origin, although the name Virgil was borne by many Latins. The poet's father was probably a Latin, whose family had settled several generations earlier in northern Italy, then called Cisalpine Gaul. We know almost nothing about his life. It is reported that he was a potter or messenger, married his master's daughter, and then made a living by raising bees and selling timber. Undoubtedly, he had a small estate. Virgil's mother's name was Magia Polla, which also sounds Etruscan. Virgil had at least two brothers, but by the time he came of age his relatives were apparently already dead.

Virgil was born on October 15, 70 BC. near Mantua, in the village of Andes, but it is unknown where exactly this village was located. He received a good education until the age of 15 in Cremona and then in Mediolana (Milan). At about the age of 19, Virgil came to Rome to study rhetoric, at that time an indispensable part of higher education necessary for a political career. After staying in Rome for about a year, he settled in Naples, joining the circle of Epicureans founded by Philodemus, which was headed by Siron. Virgil lived in Naples itself or near it almost his entire life. He visited Rome only occasionally, visited Sicily and Tarentum, and once visited Greece. In 19 BC. Virgil embarked on a long journey through Greece. Arriving in Athens, Virgil met with Augustus here, after which he decided to abandon the trip and return to Italy. During the examination of Megara, he became seriously ill, the illness worsened on the ship, and shortly after arriving in Brundisium, Virgil died on September 20, 19 BC.

WORKS

Virgil wrote three major works of poetry, all in hexametric (or "heroic") verse - Bucolics or Eclogues, 42–39 (or 37) BC; Georgics(around 36–30 BC) and Aeneid, in 29–19 BC In antiquity, several other small poems were attributed to Virgil, all or almost all of them dated earlier than Eclogues. Usually these poems appear under the collective title Appendix Virgiliana(lat. Virgil's application). Most of them, including the three longest ones, are obviously not genuine. This Ciris(Gull), a love story that ends with the characters turning into birds; Etna, dedicated to the description of a famous volcano, and Mosquito- a story about a shepherd who was bitten by a mosquito in his sleep in order to wake him up and save him from a snake; The shepherd, without understanding it, kills a friendly insect, which moves to the afterlife.

The remaining poems are much shorter. One, a two-line epigram on a robber, is considered the very first fruit of Virgil’s creativity. Another group of poems written in different meters are united under the Greek name Catalepton(which can be roughly expressed as Miniatures). One of these poems, the 10th, an extremely subtle parody of the 4th poem of Catullus, may actually be Virgil's. The other two poems can also most likely be considered authentic. The 5th conveys the feelings of Virgil, who renounces hateful rhetoric and is about to move to Naples to study Epicurean philosophy; at the end of the poem, he also asks the Muses to leave him and return from now on only occasionally and observing prudence. The 8th poem, presumably, conveys the poet’s grief at parting with relatives and saying goodbye to the estate, confiscated by Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) among the lands intended for the settlement of veterans who won the victory at Philippi in 42 BC.

There are good enough reasons to reject all other poems Applications as inauthentic, but the debate on this issue is undoubtedly not yet concluded.

Bucolics.

Bucolics(Greek Shepherding, i.e. Pastoral poetry), also called Eclogues(Greek Favorites) are ten short pastorals containing mainly dialogues between imaginary villagers. They are based on Idylls Theocritus, also written in hexameter in Greek pastorals. When Virgil began this work, he had already reached maturity. He completely mastered the method of extensive use of literary sources, from which he extracted words, phrases and even consonances, creating from them, as well as from the allusions arising from them, new combinations, so that in the end a completely new work appeared, belonging to Virgil himself. In the early stages of the development of literature, this approach to verbal creativity is found everywhere, but it became especially widespread in Rome in connection with the active translation and adaptation of Greek authors that took place here. However, Virgil, and this is his greatest originality, developed this method to such an extent that in his hands it became a technical innovation. Like many other innovations of Virgil, this method spread in later poetry, especially noticeable in the work of S. Coleridge.

IN Eclogues Virgil creates unique music of consonances, which is also one of the most important features of his work. Even in this relatively light form, the poet discusses the most important problems of life. Some eclogues contain hints about the confiscation of his father's estate, and then its return by Octavian to Virgil - as a sign of respect for his poetic merits and thanks to the intercession of an influential friend. Prominent statesmen and writers, such as Alphen Varus, Gaius Asinius Pollio, Varius Rufus and Gaius Cornelius Gallus, are named in Eclogues by name. However, for the most part, Virgil prefers to hide their true faces behind collective characters. So, he himself, a young free man, appears here as an elderly slave who has just received his freedom (1st Eclogue). And in general the whole matter with confiscation, in all its undoubted historicity, in Eclogues is not affected in any way: he is allowed to become here only a source of thoughts and feelings that contribute to the creation of these poems. Landscape in Eclogues also collective. We think we are near Naples or Sicily, but some details point to northern Italy. There are many vivid observations, but there is not a single complete and direct description of the scene.

The 4th Eclogue is different from the others. This is a combination of a wedding hymn and an ode to the birth of a child. The Child in question here must once again bring the Golden Age to earth. There is endless debate as to who this baby is. This short, uninterpretable but significant poem was used by the Emperor Constantine, who established Christianity in his empire, as evidence that even a pagan Roman had predicted the birth of Christ. It was mainly thanks to this eclogue that Virgil became famous in the Middle Ages as the “Prophet of the Pagans.”

In the 1st eclogue, Virgil praises the benefactor (this is almost certainly Octavian), calling him a god. From the very beginning, the poet believed in Octavian, in his calling to give Rome peace and prosperity. He soon became a close friend of Octavian, probably even closer than the lyricist Horace. The emperor's generosity enriched Virgil over time, but the poet managed to maintain personal independence and creative freedom.

Georgics.

Virgil's next poetic work was Georgics(Greek Poem about agriculture) in four songs. The urgent task of the Roman state then became (or should soon become) concern for the promotion and revitalization of agriculture in order to restore public morality and well-being, as well as to boost the economy. Virgil enthusiastically supported this policy. At one point in the poem, he even mentioned that he was writing “at the behest” (or at least “on the advice”) of Maecenas, a close friend of Virgil and Horace, a kind of “Minister of the Interior” under Octavian. The praise addressed to Octavian in this poem is conventional. And yet, when writing the poem, Virgil was absolutely sincere. Indeed, it is possible that the official agricultural policy itself was partly prepared and inspired by the poetry of Virgil.

The topics covered in the four songs of the poem are crop farming, horticulture, animal husbandry and beekeeping. However, the presentation of material varies subtly. From time to time, passages are woven into the poem that contain a reminder of how necessary the knowledge about agriculture conveyed here is for a person submissive to the will of the gods. The connection of lyrical digressions with the main theme is sometimes very loose, and yet they never fall out of the general presentation, but invariably reinforce a sophisticated and insightful view of things.

However, the special advice offered in the poem is valuable in itself; they are directly and successfully applied even in modern agriculture. Of course, Virgil had predecessors in literature, including the great Greeks - Hesiod, Theophrastus, Aratus, Nicander, as well as the treatise of the Carthaginian Mago in the Latin translation and the works of the Romans, especially Cato the Elder. In addition, Virgil introduces into the poem his own carefully verified observations of nature and agriculture.

One of Virgil's main sources was a philosophical poem De rerum natura (About nature), belonging to his older contemporary Lucretius, where he became a passionate champion of Epicurean materialism. The echoes of this poem are heard in Eclogues, and in Virgil’s last two great works they are very frequent, sometimes repeating themselves after several lines. IN Georgics he borrows many of Lucretius's poetic expressions, but turns them in such a way that they serve to express views opposite to materialism. For Virgil himself defends a deeply religious view of the world, in which spiritual forces and goals rule. A person here finds the highest bliss not through Epicurean calm and detachment, but in hard rural labor, in moral and physical health, enjoying the beauty of nature, relying on patriotic love for Italy and faith in divine providence.

Aeneid.

IN Aeneid, i.e. “The History of Aeneas”, the experience already acquired is used, here Virgil is given the opportunity to put his worldview to the test in connection with the presentation of dynamic political and military events. The epic narrative in 12 cantos describes the capture of Troy by the Greeks, the journey of the Trojan prince Aeneas to Italy, and his diplomatic and military enterprises. As a result, Aeneas unites the Trojans and Latins into a single people, which in the future, after the founding of Rome several centuries later, will become the Romans.

While working on his last, greatest work, Virgil's general views on the world and his creative method remained the same as before, except that his constant growth was observed. The author’s erudition and the research work that he had to do when working on Aeneid, truly colossal. It must have covered almost all modern Greek and Roman literature, of which only a small part has reached us. Aeneid relies primarily on the works of Homer, Greek tragic poets and representatives of early Roman poetry, authors of epics and tragedies Naevius and Ennius. The influence of Lucretius continues to be felt, and the influence of more modern Greek “Hellenistic” poetry makes itself felt, as well as the newest Latin poetry of Catullus and other authors, primarily representatives of the neoteric or “modernists”. There are also traces of Latin comedy, prose works and, perhaps, oral tradition. There are suggestions that Virgil used sources outside the Greek and Roman world, from the East.

In the ancient commentary of Servius on Bucolics it is reported that Virgil initially planned a historical poem about the ancient kings of Latium, but then preferred a mythological epic, choosing the widespread legend of Aeneas, who escaped after the capture of Troy and went to the west. The first half of the poem, describing the wanderings of the Trojans, is based on Odyssey Homer, the second, describing battles in Italy, follows the pattern of Homer's Iliad. Virgil first wrote Aeneid in prose, dividing it into 12 books. Then he began to gradually translate it into poetry, and he did not do this in a row, but each time turning to the passage that most suited his mood. When Virgil created, the inexhaustible sources of his memory and mind rained down poetic lines, which were then subjected to critical analysis and finishing.

Generally Aeneid its structure freely follows the Homeric model, and its individual episodes are interpreted according to Homeric rules. Like Homer, Virgil portrays the gods as intervening in people's lives, both of whom use similes, especially during tense moments. On the other hand, Virgil rarely reproduces a line or even a poetic phrase verbatim, while Homer constantly resorts to epic formulas and repetitions. Virgil never lingers long on the same source; sometimes in one line we can find allusions to several texts. Thus, using the Homeric comparison for his own purposes, Virgil immediately uses variations of this comparison that were already found in previous poets. He combines the structure of Homeric poetry with the compositional laws of smaller works created in Hellenistic Greek and "neoteric" Latin poetry. Although Aeneid in general, it has an epic structure, its individual songs are likened not only to Greek tragedy as such, but also to well-defined works of Greek tragedians, and sometimes within one song not even one tragedy is used, but several.

According to Virgil, after the decisive battle and the destruction of Troy, Aeneas sails to Italy. Along the way, he finds himself in various lands, in particular in Carthage, where Aeneas and Queen Dido fall in love with each other. However, fate forces Aeneas to continue his journey to Italy, and Dido commits suicide in despair. Arriving in Italy, Aeneas visits the Cumaean Sibyl, the oracle of Apollo (near Naples) and receives permission to descend underground, into the world of shadows of the dead. Here the secrets of judgment on the dead, awaiting punishment or bliss and a new bodily incarnation of souls are revealed to him. In particular, Aeneas sees many Romans who have yet to play a role in the history of the city when their turn comes to appear. Enriched by this experience, Aeneas enters into an alliance with Latin, the king of Latium, but very soon this world collapses by the will of the gods. A war breaks out, which ends only after Aeneas kills Turnus, the brave leader of the enemy forces. Throughout the poem, Aeneas receives divine instructions, and when he manages to understand them, he invariably obeys them and succeeds. Aeneas is patronized by his mother, the goddess of love Venus, and he also enjoys the favor of the supreme deity Jupiter, whose will corresponds to the dictates of fate. However, Juno, the powerful wife of Jupiter, opposes Aeneas, helping his enemy Turnus. At the end of the poem, Jupiter and Juno make a compromise: the Trojans and Latins must unite, and later they will be given power over Italy and the whole world.

A similar ending is typical for Virgil. Indeed, the principle of reconciliation through compromise permeates both his worldview and his poetry. He applies it to both small problems and large ones: any phrase of four words can turn out to be a compromise between two expressions already used before - one by a Greek, the other by a Latin poet. Even in matters of religion, Virgil contains both Greek and Roman religious ideas, with Plato's more spiritual beliefs balancing Homer's humanistic theology. Virgil invariably tries to approach the problem from both sides. Stylistically, Virgil begins with the accessible and clear Latin of the mature Cicero, but expresses it with a distinct conciseness that already resembles the style of his contemporary, the historian Sallust. Virgil carefully introduces new elements into modern Latin, including, when it suits his purposes, the use of archaisms. The highest skill allowed the poet to convey several diverse thoughts at once in one short phrase and thus, skillfully using all the possibilities provided by the Latin language, convey to the reader a skillful system of meanings. The same trend is evident on a larger scale. All points of view must be taken into account, and the claims of all parties must be remembered. As a result, Aeneas turns out to be a hero completely different from the characters in Homer, his goal is much higher than personal success. Therefore, he is constantly called in the poem pius Aeneus, which does not mean “pious” Aeneas, as is incorrectly translated, but “faithful Aeneas.” He must remain faithful to his family and friends, his fellow citizens and his deities - this corresponds to the moral standards on which the greatness of Rome is based.

Aeneas can be weak, unreasonable, and cruel. Here we have another example of Virgil's approach. It is not enough for him to glorify the legendary past; the poem must also contain the historical past and present. In particular, Aeneas (and by no means at his best) perhaps resembles the Augustus whom Virgil supported, with reservations and disappointments. It is a common belief, and there is nothing incredible in it, that by forcing Augustus to look in the mirror in this way, Virgil was able to influence the emperor. By resorting to subtle allusions to the history of the beginnings of Rome, Virgil makes it clear that in the civil war won by Augustus, the truth was not only on the side of the future emperor.

Fundamental to Virgil remains the principle of reconciliation, stemming from deep and impartial sympathy. Equally important for a poet is sensitivity to the musical sound of words and a passion for creating harmonious consonances. Sound predominates, often it is born first in Virgil, and from it meaning emerges. During Virgil's lifetime, the Latin hexameter had not yet lost its meaning. The poet made a lot of efforts to achieve the heights of perfection in this verse. According to sources, Virgil managed to write many lines in the morning, and during the day he revised and finished them, leaving several lines in the evening, and sometimes just one. So, when creating Georgics Virgil wrote only one line a day.