Vergils Aeneid

Vergil or Virgil was a Roman poet.  He lived from 70 BC to 19 BC.  Vergil grew up on his father's farm and was educated in Cremona, Milan, Naples, and Rome.  After completing his studies, Vergil lived with his father on their farm until the farm was taken to give land to soldiers in 41 BC, probably as Ager Publicus.  While on the farm, Vergil studied and began to write poetry. 

After the farm was taken, Vergil moved to Rome and became a part of a "literary circle", whose patrons included [Maecenas] and Augustus.  During his time in the "circle", Vergil wrote Eclogues which idealizes rual farm life.  Vergil then wrote Georgics and for the rest of his life, he worked on the Aeneid. 

Aeneas

The Aeneid became an Roman epic and told of fortunes to come for the Romans.  The poem is considered one of the greatest "long poems" in the world.  The Aeneid is 12 books and tells the story of Aeneas' escape from Troy to Carthage.  In Carthage, Aeneas becomes the Queen of Carthatge, Dido's, lover and stays in Carthage until he is instructed by Jupiter to leave and go to Sicily.  Aeneas "visited his father's shade in Hades" and then makes his way to Italy.  In Italy, Aeneas is involved in war with the native people and also begins the Roman state and eventually his desendents found Rome. 

The Aeneid ends with Aeneas killing Turnus, the king of Rutulians.  However, the poem was not finished at the time of Vergil's death.  Even so, the Aeneid is still considered some of the finest work in Latin literature.

Vergil

Vergil used Homer's [Odyssey] as inspiration in the first six books of the Aeneid and the last six books are based on the [Iliad].  The first six books tell how the Trojans' came to Italy and the last six books focus on the wars between the Trojans and the Latin people who were already living in Italy.

In the Aeneid, the Trojans became winners and the Greeks losers.  Even though Vergil's writings were before [Christ] the subjects he presented in the Aeneid representated Christian values and thus kept Vergil popular thoughtout the [Middle Ages] unlike Homer, who was slightly forgotten during this time. 

The Aeneid helps us to see how the Trojans may have interperated the Trojan War and how that one man, Aeneas, may have helped found one of the greatest civilizations in the world.