Quotes About Virgil

The myth of Rome's everlastingness had been given relentless voice in Virgil's Aeneid, only to shatter with the sack of Rome in 410.

About Justice departing from the shepherds: Justice illustrates a passage from Virgil's Georgics, in which he describes how Astraea, the goddess of Justice, who used to live among mortals during the Golden Age, took refuge among country people, as times degenerated, and at length fled even from them. Rosa shows the cloud-borne goddess departing from a tumbledown farmstead as she hands her sword and scales to a bemused group of peasants, one of whom awkwardly pulls of his hat in respect.

Amor vincit omnia, et nos cedamus amori. Love conquers all things, so we too shall yield to love.

It was, then, in the imagination of Virgil, and of Virgil alone, that the concept of Arcady, as we know it, was born — that a bleak and chilly district of Greece came to be transfigured into an imaginary realm of perfect bliss. But no sooner had this new, Utopian Arcady come into being than a discrepancy was felt between the supernatural perfection of an imaginary environment and the natural limitations of human life as it is.

With only slight exaggeration one might say that he (Virgil) "discovered" the evening.

Shakespeare was the Homer, or father of our dramatic poets;Jonson was theVirgil, the pattern of elaborate writing; I admire him, but I love Shakespeare.

Just a month after the completion of the Declaration of Independence, at a time when he delegates might have been expected to occupy themselves with more pressing concerns -like how they were going to win the war and escape hanging- Congress quite extraordinarily found time to debate business for a motto for the new nation. (Their choice, E Pluribus Unum, One from Many, was taken from, of all places, a recipe for salad in an early poem by Virgil.)

E Pluribus Unum, "One from Many," was taken from, of all places, a recipe for salad in an early poem by Virgil.)

Those who have not learned to read the ancient classics in the language in which they were written must have a very imperfect knowledge of the history of the human race; for it is remarkable that no transcript of them has ever been made into any modern tongue, unless our civilization itself may be regarded as such a transcript. Homer has never yet been printed in English, nor AEschylus, nor Virgil even—works as refined

She explained how, during her years of exile in France, she and her cousin Claudette had shared a private tutor. He was a man in his fifties, a bit of a tippler, who affected literary airs and boasted of being able to recite Virgil's Aeneid in Latin without an accent. The girls had nicknamed him "Monsieur Roquefort

Facilis descensus Averno," he quoted from Virgil's Aeneid. Ryan found himself answering, by rote, The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labor lies.

the verses were written no later than 39 B.C. and even as early as 42 B.C. — decades before the alleged birth of the biblical Jesus. The early church fathers wanted their followers to believe that the Prince of Peace the Roman poet referred to was Jesus of Nazareth, so the Middle Ages honored the poet as "St. Virgil," a lay prophet who had foreseen the coming of Christ.

well knew Augustus' practice of recasting ancient religions to include his coming in their traditional prophetic literature. Egomania coupled with absolute power could indeed change the world — but not necessarily for the better. Why doesn't he just write the cursed thing himself? Virgil fumed — silently.

Virgil's eyes fell on the papyrus, where Augustus' distinctive cursive had recorded the lines he had recited. Farther down he could just make out the sketchy words to mean, "Augustus Caesar… brings a Golden Age; he shall restore old Saturn's scepter to our Latin land." The poet rolled his eyes. And hoped to Hades that his Praetorian escort hadn't noticed.

In his Comedy , Dante Alighieri names Virgil, with many tokens of respect, as his teacher, and yet as Herr Meinhard remarks, makes such ill use of him: clear proof that even in the days of Dante one praised the ancients without knowing why. This respect for poets one does not understand and yet wishes to equal is the source of the bad writing in our literature.

One of the methods, called sortes virgilianae (fate as decided by the epic poet Virgil), involved opening Virgil's Aeneid at random and interpreting the line that presented itself as direction for the course of action. You should use such method for every sticky business decision. I will repeat until I get hoarse: the ancients evolved hidden and sophisticated ways and tricks to exploit randomness. For

Does Carthage even have forests? Did Virgil know for sure or was it just convenient for his story? Virgil was a professional liar. This would not be the only place where he pruned the truth until it was as artificial as an espaliered pear tree against a wall, forced into an expedient shape and bearing the demanded fruit.

Rommel soon enjoyed almost mystical status among his Africa Korps troops, bringing to mind Virgil's famous comment on improbable achievement: "Possunt, quia posse videntur" ("They can, because they think they can," Aeneid 5.231).

Life, Virgil had said, was a good deal about discouragement and fear, and the soul, which was the true heart of humankind whether you looked at it Christian or otherwise, needed a good deal of comforting some way or other if it was expected to soldier on.

Your Bracelet," she said. "Acheronta movebo.' It doesn't mean 'Thus always to tyrants.' That's 'sic semper tyrannis.' This is from Virgil. 'Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.' If I cannot move Heaven, I will raise Hell.

Will Mars be always in your windy tongue and in your flying feet?

For you [muses] are divine, and you have the gifts of memory and story; but only the faintest echo of the great tale has come down to me

I have no horror of death, and place no value on any god. Cease therefore. For I come ready to die; and first I bring you these gifts. (Mezentius)

Ah, piteous boy, Fortune came smiling; was it in jealousy that she then cruelly denied you to me