Biography
Publius Vergilius Maro was born in 70 BC. J-C near Mantua. He grew up in the countryside, in a rather wealthy family, and quickly began intellectual studies. He discovered Greek and Latin literature in Cremona and Milan three years before taking the manly toga, in 55 BC. J-C. It is said to be the very day of Lucretia's death.
Born under the consulship of Crassus and Pompey, Virgil had two brothers, Silon and Flaccus. But both died very young, Silon was still a child. His parents, Magia Polla and Vergilius Maro, directed Virgil towards a political career, more precisely as a lawyer, but we will realize later that Virgil's eloquence is not up to this profession and that there give up.
Virgil goes to Naples in 49 BC. J-C, where he studied Latin letters with Epidius (rhetorician) and Parthenius (grammarian), but above all avoided the war between Caesar and Pompey which broke out that year. Virgil returns after Caesar's death in 44 BC. But three years later, he saw his lands stolen by the triumvirs , namely Octave, Antoine and Lépide. They needed land for the returning soldiers, in order to ensure their loyalty. Taking advantage of the fact that he is close to Octave, the future poetry-loving emperor, Virgil tries to resist and demands the surrender of his domain.
The author of the Aeneid devoted the last ten years of his life to writing his work. September 22 in 19 BC. J-C, while returning from Greece, Virgil dies in the Italian port of Brindes due to sunstroke. His last will is to burn the Aeneid which still has imperfections that he could not correct. But Auguste (formerly Octave) opposes this wish, and asks L. Varius and Potius Tucca to publish the poem, which will obtain a great success.
The Bucolics and the Georgics
The Bucolics tell the story of life in the countryside, or rather set up an imaginary paradise . It is, in a way, the equivalent of the Idylls of Theocritus. But Virgil mentions especially through the shepherds of the work the dispossession of his lands in 41 BC. J-C, when the family estate was given to the veterans, and he had asked Octave to restore it to him. Les Bucoliques was a resounding success, and was even adapted for stage performances.
Les Géorgiques are a eulogy of the Italian countryside, and highlight the values of agriculture, as well as the “religious duties of rural life”. The four cantos could appear at first glance as advice to peasants on how to cultivate, as Cato the Elder did in his work De agricultura . But Virgil even goes so far as to propose philosophical ideas, and he talks a lot about Epicureanism.
The Aeneid
(Canto I) Aeneas has just left Sicily, and Juno causes a storm that Neptune soon calms down to allow Aeneas to land in Africa. More precisely in Carthage, where he met Dido, helped by his mother Venus who led him across the country alongside Achate. "It is as a woman who knows misfortune that I (Dido) learn to help the unfortunate. » A banquet is given in honor of the Trojan hero, during which Cupid, in the form of Ascanius, will create a passionate love between Aeneas and the queen.
(II) Aeneas recounts his adventure:the Greeks offer a huge horse to the Trojans. "In the dark bosom of the colossus they secretly lock up elite warriors appointed by fate, and fill the deep cavities of its belly with armed soldiers. » Laocoon tries to warn the Trojans, but two snakes come out of the water and kill him. The Trojans bring the present into the enclosure. Despite Hector's warning in the dreams of Aeneas, he witnesses the carnage by the Greeks, as well as the death of Priam. "Soon Pyrrhus will be there, covered with the blood of Priam, he who slaughters the son under the eyes of the father, and the father at the foot of the altar. » and the Trojan hero flees with his father Anchises and his son Iule. But his wife will not go with them; she dies in the flames of the city. “Sheep no more tears over your dear Creusa. No, I will not see the superb residences of the Myrmidons or the Dolopes. »
(III) Aeneas arrives at Buthroté, where he finds Helenos and Andromache. The trip must continue to Italy via Sicily. As soon as he arrived, a companion of Ulysses recounted the adventure of the Cyclops Polyphemus. “His woolen sheep accompany him:it is the only pleasure he has left, the only consolation for his ills. When he has reached the deep waves offshore, he washes with sea water the gaping hollow of his eye from which the blood flows, he grinds his teeth and groans. » Seeing him, the Trojans flee. Anchises dies, and there ends the story of Aeneas. "It is there, O best of fathers, that you abandon me to my weariness, alas! you who vainly escaped such great dangers. »
(IV) Dido and Aeneas are surprised by the storm, and isolate themselves as planned by the gods in a cave where they unite. "Lightning shone in the sky, the accomplice of this nuptials, and on the high peaks, the Nymphs howled. » But Jupiter instructs Mercury to remind Aeneas of his mission. The hero must leave as he burns with love for the Queen of Africa. She begs him to stay, but to no avail. “Thus the hero sees himself assailed by endless complaints; his great soul is penetrated with pain, friends his judgment remains unshakable, it is in vain that his tears flow. » Dido spends a night of despair and prepares her end. She even indirectly asks her sister Anne to help her die. At dawn, when she sees the Trojan ship leaving in the distance, the queen kills herself with her lover's sword.
(V) It is the anniversary of Anchise's death. The tomb is in Sicily, and it is there that the Trojans meet. Horse fights are organized in honor of the father of Aeneas. But tired of all these trips, the women of Troy set fire to the ship in full celebration. “And the Trojans, turning their eyes, see in a cloud of smoke swirling black ashes. » Anchises appears to her son, discouraged, and recommends that he go to Cumae. There, he will be guided by the Sibyl to the Kingdom of the Dead. The ship leaves again.
(VI) “O you who have done well with the great perils of the sea, the earth has in store for you even more dreaded ones. » The Sibyl leads Aeneas into the Underworld. He finds Dido "his wound still fresh, was wandering in the great woods," as well as his companions in the Trojan War.
(VII) The Trojans arrive in Latium, where King Latinus proposes his daughter in marriage to Aeneas. "He had one daughter left, the sole heiress of his house and his vast estates, already ripe for marriage, well old enough to take a husband. » But Juno, always on the lookout, does not fail to follow Aeneas along his journey. "She saw in the distance, from the heights of the sky, Aeneas and his fleet all overjoyed. » Anger seizes Juno again. "And I, the august spouse of Jupiter, I who could dare anything, try anything, unhappy! I am defeated by Aeneas! » She sees only one solution:she needs outside help, help that would break the peace and thus the glory of the hero. You have to create hostility. “From the abode of the Furies, from the infernal darkness she calls the mourner, Allecto. Sad wars, rages, betrayals, fatal calumnies, everything is at the heart of this Fury. » The war may soon begin.
(VIII) The god of the Tiber comes to address Aeneas during his sleep. He tells him to go to the Arcadians, who have built a city called Pallantée. “These people are continually at war with the Latins. Take them in your camp for allies, conclude a pact. » When he wakes up, Aeneas goes to find Evander. He meets Pallas, his son, whom he asks to speak to his father. "Are you bringing peace or war here?" Then the pious Aeneas answers him from the top of his stern, and hands him an olive branch, symbol of peace. » Aeneas needs an alliance, and it is to Evandre that Pallas leads him. When Aeneas meets the father, he tells him of the confrontation between Hercules and Cacus. The alliance is granted. When Evandre sees his son leaving, he implores Jupiter to keep him alive until he returns, so that he too agrees to stay alive. “But, oh Fortune, if you threaten me with an unspeakable blow, break now, yes, now, the web of a life that would be cruel to me, while doubt balances my alarms (…)” Aeneas goes to seek help from the Etruscans. Seeing her son, moved by pity, Venus gives him a shield forged by Vulcan. "Here are the gifts that I promised you and that I owe to the art of my husband:do not hesitate, my son, to soon provoke the insolent Laurentians or the fiery Turnus into battle. » The history of Italy is engraved on the shield, as well as the triumphs of the Romans.
(IX) Taking advantage of the absence of Aeneas, Juno goes to warn Turnus and persuades him to attack the Trojan camp. “And, brandishing his javelin, he throws it into the air, signaling the fight, and proudly launches himself into the plain. » Nisus and Euryale, Trojans, see Turnus. “They had but one passion and threw themselves into war with one heart; this time again, they both kept the same door. » At the sight of the carnage started, they try to go and warn Aeneas, but in vain. Turnus will complete the massacre of the Trojan location.
(X) During the Olympians' council, Jupiter makes the decision not to intervene. When Aeneas arrives, it's war against Turnus. “Already Turnus has jumped down from his chariot; it is on foot and close that he wants to attack Pallas. » After narrowly dodging the javelin that Pallas threw at him, Turnus hastens to finish off his enemy. He holds in his hand a wood armed with a sharp iron, and he throws it at Pallas who receives it full in the chest, in spite of his shield. "In vain, the young warrior tears the hot line from his wound:his blood and his life escape together by the same way. » Seeing that Aeneas is angry with Turnus for killing Evander's son, Juno protects the enemy from the Trojan. Mézence joins the conflict, and runs to fight against the triumphant Trojans. "Mézence, like a reef that juts out into the vast sea, exposed to the fury of the winds and the sea, remains upright and motionless. » However, when he finds himself facing Aeneas, Mézentius finds himself in a weak situation, and his son Lausus has just intervened to save him. The father backs down, withdraws from the fight, and sends men to watch over his son, as a worried father would want to do. “But his companions carried, weeping, dead, lying on his arms, the great Lausus, victim of a great wound. » Mézence cannot bear such sadness. “I, your father, owe my salvation to your wounds, and I live by your death! » Determined to take revenge on the murderer of his son, he finds his horse, as well as his consolation and makes him a promise. “We must conquer today, bring back the bloody remains and the head of Aeneas, and avenge with me the pains suffered by Lausus; or, if our effort finds no outlet, we would perish together. » Alas, Aeneas will make him join the late son.
(XI) A truce is declared for the burial of the dead. Aeneas collapses before the lifeless body of Pallas. “Unhappy father, you will see your son's cruel funeral! So here is this announced return, this awaited triumph! This is the fruit of my beautiful promise! » Then, the hour arrives for the deliberation of the Latins:is it time to put an end to the war? “Let your hands be united for a covenant, as it is given to you; friends beware of measuring your arms against his. » It was then that the Trojans attacked, but "in the midst of the carnage, leapt like an Amazon, one breast uncovered for battle, the quiver on her shoulder, Camille. » Camille, queen of the Volsci is there to lead the cavalry against Aeneas. But she is killed by Arruns. "She did not notice the hissing of the air, the arrival of the bolt in space before the javelin, reaching her below the bare breast, had sunk deep there to drink her virgin blood. »
(XII) The fight continues, but Turnus sees his army soon powerless against that of Virgil's hero. He then proposes a duel to Aeneas to put an end to this massacre. “I am determined to fight Aeneas, determined to know all bitterness in the pains of death; no, my sister, you will no longer see me without honor. But please let me, before I die, abandon myself furiously to my fury. » Face to face, Aeneas and Turnus confront each other:Turnus is wounded, and despite his pleas to Aeneas, the latter still has the memory of the Pallas that haunts him, and then "all boiling with rage, he plunges his iron in the chest. The chill of death numbs the limbs of Turnus, and his indignant soul flees, groaning to the abode of shadows. »
An Iliad or an Odyssey?
The first six cantos correspond to an Odyssey, which recounts Aeneas' travels to the various cities and regions he passes through; he goes on a “quest for Italy”, and cantos I to VI retrace a period of seven years. The last six cantos, on the other hand, have a slower rhythm than the preceding ones, and tell of an Illiad, so to speak, of the battles that the Trojan hero wages against Turnus.
The peculiarities of poetic language
Latin poetry differs from prose because of the constraints of strong language. Word order is freer than in prose, nouns and their corresponding adjectives are often separated, and a relative pronoun may occur in the middle of the subordinate sentence.
The words themselves are affected by the constraints. Greek origins, such as Aeneas which designates Aeneas, come to slip into the Latin verses. So that these stick to the scansion, certain letters disappear, such as for example deis (=the gods) which becomes dis. Or else more than a letter, like amavisse (=to have loved) which turns into amass, and virorum (=men) into virum.
Other complications disturb the translation. The use of the plural instead of the singular, which is called the poetic plural, the absence of prepositions (in, ubi, quo), the different names to speak of one and the same character, like Didon who benefits from the names Dido and of Elissa, or so Queen of Africa. But it also works for cities:Troja =Ilium =Pergama =Troy, and Carthaginiensis =Phoenissus =Poenus =Punicus =Sidonius =Tyrius =Libycus =Carthaginian!