LiteratureBook · -19
The Aeneid
Virgil
Aeneas escapes burning Troy to found the line that becomes Rome, abandoning Dido on the way and killing a surrendering enemy at the close. Virgil wrote it under Augustus and left it unfinished, and the ending is far bleaker than the commission required.
Why you should read this
Virgil modeled this epic closely on the conventions of Greek epic to give the new imperial state a foundation myth in verse, composed under direct court patronage. It was left unfinished at his death, and its more controlled, literary style makes a natural next step after earlier epic poetry read in translation.
- Field
- Literature
- Form
- Fiction
- Published
- 19 BCE
- Themes
- EpicLiterature
