In the midst of his countryside poem, the Georgics, Virgil promises us a greater epic – the Aeneid. Hear the latin and follow in English here; see the illustrated blog post here.
Close to the beginning of the Aeneid, Virgil explains why his hero Aeneas, in spite of his virtues and qualities, faces the implacable enmity of Juno, the Queen of the Gods. It is clear from the start that Aeneas is destined to succeed in settling in Italy and laying the foundations for a people who will become the founders of Rome, but Juno is a powerful enemy, and Virgil makes it clear that great ordeals and years of wandering lie between him and success.
Hear Virgil’ Latin and follow in English here.
As he deals with how to grow crops in his Georgics, Virgil gives advice on how to read the calendar for planting in the stars. The illustration is of the constellation Taurus, from a star-map of 1603 by Johann Bayer: in the map as in Virgil’s poem, the Bull’s horns are heightened with gold.
Hear Virgil’s Latin and follow in English here.
How did the Romans forecast the weather? Virgil’s answer is from the Georgics, his poem about agriculture. Hear his Latin and follow in English here.
In Vulcan the fire-God’s forge, his workmen, the Cyclopes, are called on to stop work on Jupiter’s thunderbolts and make new armour for Aeneas. Hear the Latin and follow in English here.