2009/12/14 by Elaine Fantham, Emily Fairey · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #French Literature and Criticism #Historical and Literary Studies
paper · doi:10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0068
openalex publication_date 2009/12/14 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Many regard Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70–19 bce; also spelled Vergil in English) as the greatest of the Roman poets. His epic poem, the Aeneid, has been of continuing importance to Western literature. On its own merits, it is a masterpiece of epic poetry and the Latin language. Products of the chaos of the Roman civil war years, Virgil’s works show a longing for a more peaceful ordering of society. His major works, the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, emphasize different aspects of this desire. Virgil’s importance to world literature is difficult to underestimate. Later poets and writers, including Dante and Milton, have venerated and imitated him.