行經華陰

維吉爾(前70～西元前19年)

Virgil，亦作Vergil。

拉丁語全名Publius Vergilius Maro

羅馬最偉大的詩人。富裕地方農民之教養良好的兒子，維吉爾過著平靜的生活，雖然他最後成為屋大維亞（後稱奧古斯都）身邊的親密成員之一，並由梅塞納斯贊助。他的詩歌反映出義大利內戰時期的暴亂，和隨後穩定下來的趨勢。他的首部重要作品《牧歌》（西元前42～西元前37年）包含十首田園詩，可以解讀為平靜的預言，其中一首甚至可以解讀為基督教的預言。《農事詩》（西元前37～西元前30年）指向黃金時期，其形式為實際目標：義大利鄉間人口再增和農業復興。他的偉大史詩《埃涅阿斯》（西元前29年動筆，但死時未完成）是世界文學的傑作之一，詩中頌揚傳說中之埃涅阿斯在奧古斯都（在西元前31～西元前30年集權而統一羅馬世界）請求下建立羅馬，詩中也探索戰爭的主旨和單戀的悽楚。在往後世紀中，他的作品在羅馬帝國被幾乎視為聖物，他也受到基督教徒尊崇，包括但丁在內，他把維吉爾作為地獄和煉獄的嚮導。維吉爾對歐洲文學的影響可說僅次於荷馬。

English version：

前70～西元前19年

Virgil

Greatest of Roman poets. The well-educated son of a prosperous provincial farmer,Virgil led a quiet life,though he eventually became a member of the circle around Octavian (later Caesar Augustus) and was patronized by Maecenas. His poetry reflects the turbulence in Italy during a period of civil war and the subsequent trend toward stability. His first major work,the 10 pastoral Eclogues (42-37 BC),may be read as a prophecy of tranquility,and one has even been read as a prophecy of Christianity. The Georgics (37-30 BC) point toward a Golden Age in the form of practical goals: the repopulation of rural Italy and the rehabilitation of agriculture. His great epic,the Aeneid (begun c. 29 BC,but unfinished at his death),is one of the masterpieces of world literature; a celebration of the founding of Rome by the legendary Aeneas at the request of Augustus,whose consolidation of power in 31-30 BC unified the Roman world,it also explores the themes of war and the pathos of unrequited love. In later centuries his works were regarded in the Roman empire as virtually sacred,and he was taken up reverently by Christians as well,including Dante,who made Virgil his guide through hell and purgatory. Virgil's influence on European literature is perhaps second only to Homer's.