Before I knew anything about the Ancient Roman poet Virgil, I read parts of his most famous poems which included The Georgics, The Eclogues, and the epic Aeneid in which was modeled after Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey. They confused me but I wanted to know more about him and his life so I could truly understand them and their meanings. Virgil wrote poetry during the Augustan period and from 70 B.C.E. to 19. He is considered one of the greatest poets thanks to what is considered the epic of his time (Aeneid). This epic consists of 12 books which tells the journey of a young Aeneas who was considered to be Augustus or the ruler of the Roman Empire at the time. Although this story was fictional, what made it so interesting was the connection to the current Roman Empire and its future. The Aeneid also displayed some of Virgil’s feelings of the Empire at the time. Overall what Virgil did was base his writing off some of the great poets including Theocritus and Homer and create great pieces of work that we remember and read today.
Sculpture of Virgil in Naples
Today there are so many poems which makes it tough to find the best poets because they are very similar in the way they write, but particular poems stand out above others due to their meaning and importance. One in particular that is a popular modern poem is the Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. This in comparison to Virgil’s Aeneid is not as long, does not have as much depth, and word choice is totally different but the two both express an indirect point of view on life during each of their times. Virgil more so directed at leadership and an Empire while Frost shows a more personal life message. In reality the two are almost completely different but what has not changed from Virgil’s time to Frost’s time is the goal of wanting to display an important message in life. Robert Frost most likely did not consider the way Virgil wrote when he was writing the Road Not Taken, but Virgil has left a mark on modern poetry no doubt.
https://docs.google.com/a/egsd.net/document/d/1cgQoRVve67UPGZZc-D_P_2IOmwHsNb3Sgz8OhqFInE0/edit?usp=sharing
My product is comparison between Virgil's poems and Robert Frosts. How they relate but also how they differ.
Sources:
Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.
"The Road Not Taken - Poem by Robert Frost." The Road Not Taken - Poem by Robert Frost. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.
I think that Virgil left a huge impression on both contemporary poetry and prose. Epic poems have a lot more depth and length to them than most contemporary poems, but the plot structure of them can be seen in a lot of really popular books today such as the Harry Potter series. The idea of following a hero through his journey is key in epic poetry and also in a lot of longer series today.
ReplyDeleteI tried to look at your product and it required special permission. You should make it public. Also when you say "from 70 B.C.E. to 19." you should say "to 19 B.C.E" because it could be either or.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great example of how modern poets have both many similarities to Virgil's writing, but also have evolved into something completely different. Did Frost have any other works that could have been more similar to, or perhaps even directly influenced by Virgil's work?
ReplyDeleteIt's great how you look back at some of the greatest poetic periods and examine their best and not only acknowledge and elaborate on it but compare in to more contemporary literature. Its interesting to compare people who lived so far apart but it puts it into a unique perspective.
ReplyDeleteI think all poets find inspiration from each other. I do not think it is unreasonable to believe that Robert Frost took inspiration fro Virgil. In fact, I think a good poet would look and read poets and poems that are considered classics. It is interesting to note there are similarities between the two poets because I think it probably does show that Robert Frost has read Virgil's poems and epics.
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