Roman Myth as Poetry: Trojan Ancestors

Vergil's Aeneid is one of the highlights of Roman literature, and its influence over all later Roman writing, as well as post antique European literature, is immeasurable. Composed during the Augustan era, it is a multilayered text: it persistently engages with contemporary Roman politics and society, even though it is an epic poem set in the remote, mythical past, narrating the fate of Aeneas, a refugee from Troy, who seeks a new home in the Mediterranean after the fall of his city. This lecture introduces Vergil, his poetry and the themes of the Aeneid as set out in Book 1 of this 12 book epic. Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.