Summary

Bust of Virgil, artist unknown.

Publius Vergilius Maro (October 70 BC – September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period.

He is known for three major works of Latin literature:

  • the Eclogues (or Bucolics),
  • the Georgics,
  • the epic Aeneid.

Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome’s greatest poets and his work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dante’s guide through hell and purgatory

Referring entries


Further reading

Sources

  • Wikipedia for background, portrait.