In Dante’s Divina Commedia, he meets his great predecessor, Virgil. Hear the Italian and follow in English here.
See the blog post with an illustration by William Blake here.
There is a portrait of Dante by Botticelli on his poet page here.
Lost in a dark wood, prevented from climbing to the sunny heights by a leopard, a lion and a she-wolf, Dante makes out a dim figure and appeals for help. The illustration is by a third visionary, William Blake.
Hear the Italian and follow in English here.
There is a portrait of Dante by Botticelli on his poet page here.
Even with Octavian in the ascendant, around 29 BCE Rome is still at risk from the legacy of civil war. In his Georgics, comparing the city to a racing chariot out of control, Virgil turns abruptly from the life of the countryside to implore the Gods to allow the future Emperor Augustus to restore its threatened fortunes.
Hear Virgil’s Latin and follow in English here.
The Trojan priest Laocoon pays the price for warning his fellow-citizens against bringing the Trojan horse into the city, as monstrous serpents crush first his two sons then Laocoon himself in their coils. Not only can you follow the Latin here, you can now also hear the poets Friedrich Schiller’s fine German version in our “Other Poems” section here.
Laocoon warns his fellow-Trojans not to take the Trojan horse into their city. Hear the Latin and follow the English here.
Aeneas and Dido have begun their affair. The monstrous Goddess, Rumour, sets to work to spread the news, some fake, some otherwise. Hear the poem here.
Dido has discovered that Aeneas is preparing to leave her, and Carthage, without telling her. Their next interview does not go well. Hear Dido’s reaction here.