Virgil's Aeneid

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Virgil's Aeneid

• Background

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Virgil

• 1st century BCE Rome
• Rule of Augustus

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The Aeneid

• Written epic
• Written over 11 years (30 BCE 19 BCE)?

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• Takes place in the 12th century BCE, in the years
  immediately following the Trojan War (like
  Homer's Odyssey)?

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• Mentions many real people and events from the
  centuries leading up to the composition of the
  epic.

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• Depicts the journey of Aeneas and his men to
  found a new empire
• The Trojans settle in Latium (the part of Italy
  where Rome is)?
• This is a fictional occurrence, not a historical
  event

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• Virgil was still editing the manuscript when he
  died
• Although the story is meant to end at the point
  where it ends, several lines are half the normal
  length

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• Virgil left orders for the manuscript to be
  burned upon his death
• Happily, these orders were contravened