Publius Vergilius Maro was
born on the ides of October in 70 B.C. in Mantua Italy. He had two brothers
one was named Silo and Flaccus. There is no reference to his mother, but
his father, who was blind, Melissus died when he was an adult. As he grew
up, he wrote lots of poetry. He also devoted time to studied medicine and
mathematics as well as literature.
Virgil was a man that
was looked up too by others. In Dante’s Inferno, he was looked to as a
guide in the story that leads men through the pits of hell. Virgil was
an honest man that only had a few works that are still around today. When
he was 26, he composed the Catalecton as well as pieces about Priapus,
epigrams and curses. It took Virgil eleven years to finish the Aeneid and
seven years to finish the Georgics.
When Virgil was fifty-two he retired to Greece in order to put the finishing
touches on the Aeneid. While on his way to Athens, he met Augustus
who was returning home to Rome from the east. Virgil decided not to retire,
but the turn back immediately. On his way there, he got sick form
the sun, and his journey was suspended. His condition grew more serious
and after a few days in Brindisi, he passed away on September 21 in 19
BC. His bones were then transported to Naples and buried under a mound,
which is on the road to Pozzuoli, less than two miles from the city.