In this blog post, we’ll examine how Virgil, through the ‘Aeneid’, drew upon Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ to transform the fall of Troy into the founding narrative of Rome.
In Search of the ‘Aeneid’
After reading the ‘Iliad’ and the ‘Odyssey’ and then encountering the ‘Aeneid’, it’s easy to assume that the authors of these works lived during the same era. This is because the stories are interconnected. The ‘Iliad’ tells the story of the Trojan War, while the ‘Odyssey’ recounts the journey home of Odysseus, the Greek general who emerged victorious from the Trojan War. The ‘Aeneid’ is the story of Aeneas, a Trojan general defeated in the Trojan War, who travels to Italy to found a new nation.
However, Homer, who wrote the ‘Iliad’ and the ‘Odyssey’, lived in the 8th century BCE, while Virgil, who wrote the ‘Aeneid’, lived in the 1st century BCE. Furthermore, Homer was Greek, while Virgil was Roman. Given the vast gap in time and the difference in nations, how are these three stories connected? To answer this question, we must understand who Virgil was and why he wrote the ‘Aeneid’.
Virgil is regarded as Rome’s greatest poet. Moreover, his ‘Aeneid’ is considered the greatest work of Latin literature from the Roman era. However, it was thanks to Homer’s influence that Virgil was able to become such a great poet. During Virgil’s lifetime, Homer’s works had been translated into Latin and were used as school textbooks. Yet it was through Virgil that Homer came to be truly recognized as a great author in Rome.
In writing the ‘Aeneid’, Virgil portrayed Homer as an author who foresaw the future and mythology of the great Roman Empire. Central to this is the character of Aeneas. While Troy is destroyed in Homer’s ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’, Virgil did not simply leave the defeated Aeneas as a loser. He transformed Aeneas, the defeated Trojan general, into the founding father of the Roman Empire.
Rome, the nation founded by the Trojan Aeneas, would eventually come to rule over Greece, the very nation that had destroyed Troy. In other words, a narrative unfolds in which the defeated becomes the victor. What is interesting is that Homer did not portray Aeneas in the ‘Iliad’ as a mere defeated figure or a fugitive. Homer hinted that he was a hero destined to shoulder the future of Troy, and Virgil took up that hint, unfolding the future of Troy that Aeneas bore into the very story of Rome’s founding. In this way, Troy and Rome converged, and the ‘Iliad’, ‘Odyssey’, and ‘Aeneid’ became interconnected.
The ‘Aeneid’ resembles the ‘Iliad’ and the ‘Odyssey’ in many ways. The first half, in which Aeneas flees his fallen homeland and wanders in search of a new land, is reminiscent of the ‘Odyssey’, while the second half—in which he battles Turnus of the Rutuli to establish the first city of Rome—creates the illusion of reading the ‘Iliad’ all over again. However, the character of the protagonist, Aeneas, differs greatly from Homer’s heroes.
The heroes of the ‘Iliad’ go to war for revenge and fight for their own honor. Aeneas, on the other hand, fights to build a new homeland for the Trojans. While Odysseus embarks on a harrowing voyage to return home, Aeneas sets sail to find a new home designated by the gods. Though both characters overcome countless hardships, their purposes are fundamentally different.
Aeneas’s purpose lies in a future that has yet to be determined. Unlike Odysseus, he has no place to return to. There is only an uncertain future. It was precisely this attitude—advancing with conviction toward that uncertain future—that served as the driving force behind Rome’s rise as a world empire. Virgil is revered as Rome’s greatest poet because the spirit that runs through his work resonates with the Roman spirit.
The attitude of braving danger and embarking on adventures to pioneer new frontiers is not only the Roman spirit but also one of the roots of the Western spirit. It is no coincidence that people recalled Aeneas’s adventures when Columbus set out to discover the New World or when the United States emphasized the pioneering spirit.
Just as the ‘Odyssey’ means “The Song of Odysseus,” the ‘Aeneid’ means “The Song of Aeneas.” Like Odysseus, Aeneas navigates countless hardships, encounters monsters, meets the woman he loves, and even journeys to the underworld. However, Virgil depicted the underworld in far greater detail than the ‘Odyssey’ does.
The 13th-century Italian poet Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’ was inspired precisely by this depiction of the underworld in the ‘Aeneid’. Virgil appears directly in Dante’s work, serving as the guide and mentor who leads the poet Dante through the underworld.
So what is the underworld? It is the world beyond death. Dante was a writer who, guided by Virgil, seriously reflected on death and the world beyond. If asked whether they have ever thought about death, many people might answer “no.” They might even retort, “I have so many days left to live—why should I think about death?”
However, death is something no one can avoid. It is an issue we cannot turn away from. Dante wrote about the world beyond death under Virgil’s guidance in order to confront this inevitable fate and to overcome it. While there is no way to avoid death itself, imagining what comes after can transform the quality of our lives. It allows us to view life through a different lens and to cherish it more deeply.
There is an example that demonstrates just how significant it is to experience death and be resurrected: the resurrection of Jesus. By experiencing death and rising again, Jesus became a being reborn anew. Of course, not all of us can die and rise again like Jesus. But we can imagine death. When we envision the world beyond death, we stop taking our own lives for granted and come to value them more highly.
Dante was a great poet who fundamentally reflected on the question, “What is death to humanity?” Virgil is the guide who led Dante to that question. For that reason alone, Virgil is a great writer, and the ‘Aeneid’ is a great work. This work leads us into our future, which remains unknown to us. As we read this work, let us dream of our future—which has not yet revealed itself—and let us create that future for ourselves. My future is ultimately determined by my own dreams.
The Life of Virgil
It is said that the account of Virgil’s life is based on biographical records left by Lucius Varius Rufus, which were indirectly transmitted through Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. We can also refer to the writings of Servius (Maurus Servius Honoratus), who provided commentary on the ‘Aeneid’. Some information has been gleaned from interpretations of Virgil’s works.
Virgil’s full name is Publius Vergilius Maro. Since the 5th century AD, the form “Virgilius” has appeared; this stems from a misinterpretation of the name’s etymology as “virga” (a rod). While “Virgilius” or “Maro” appears to be related to the Etruscan language, one cannot determine his lineage based on the name alone.
He was born on October 15, 70 BC, in the small village of Andes near Mantua in northern Italy. His father was a poor farmer or potter but was willing to make sacrifices for his son. As a child, Virgil lived in Cremona and Milan; as an adult, he moved to Rome, where he studied rhetoric. It appears his father wanted to provide him with a good education.
Virgil moved from Cremona to Milan at the age of 15, and later, as an adult, traveled alone to Rome. In Rome, he attended the rhetorical school of Epidius and later moved to Neapolis, where he stayed at the home of the Epicurean Siron. There is evidence that he already displayed poetic talent in his youth.
It is estimated that he stayed at Siron’s house between 48 BC and 42 BC; papyri excavated near Neapolis from that period mention Virgil’s name alongside those of his fellow poets. In 41 BC, his poetry was hailed as the finest of his time, and he gained recognition from figures such as Gaius Maecenas, leading to a patronage relationship.
The ‘Bucolics’ were composed during the period of Maecenas’s patronage, and the ‘Georgics’ were completed in the summer of 29 BC. During this period, Virgil gained social prestige and became a figure respected by the Roman people.
Thereafter, Virgil devoted himself to the ‘Aeneid’. When Octavian subdued Egypt in 29 BC and received the title “Augustus” from the Senate in 27 BC, Virgil eagerly awaited the completion of Rome’s founding epic. It is said that, in order to complete the work, Virgil embarked on a three-year journey to Greece in 19 BC but died of a fever while returning home.
At the time of his death, the ‘Aeneid’ was still unfinished, and Virgil is said to have wished for the unfinished manuscript to be burned. However, his last wish was not carried out, and the work was edited and published by his friends. According to later accounts, the editors are said to have limited their role to that of editors as much as possible.
Virgil was said to be tall and thin, and in poor health, suffering from stomach ailments and headaches. He led a frugal and ascetic life, and these lifestyle habits may have been the foundation that allowed him to continue his creative work.
The Unfinished ‘Aeneid’
Virgil devoted approximately 11 years to the ‘Aeneid’, from 29 BC until his death in 19 BC. The final three years of his life were likely spent traveling through Greece and Asia, making final revisions to the manuscript. On his way back to Italy, he fell ill with a fever and ultimately left the work unfinished; however, it was edited and published by his friends.
Despite being an unfinished manuscript, the work bears many traces of having been refined over a long period, so readers do not get the strong impression that it is incomplete. Rather, it is only because some lines remain unfinished that these “traces” are visible. According to tradition, he worked by first composing the entire work in prose and then transcribing it into verse scene by scene; it is possible that some parts remained unfinished during this process.
Fifty-eight lines in the ‘Aeneid’ remain unfinished. Since the 19th century, active research has been conducted on these sections, and it has been suggested that he may have divided the lines into several segments during the creative process. The prevailing view is that if Virgil had had more time, he would have completed even these unfinished sections.
Additionally, there are parts of the work where the context between scenes needs further refinement. It is said that Virgil himself likened these parts to “flute accompaniment,” referring to provisional elements that served to bridge the gaps between scenes. Examples often cited include the “Dialogue between Jupiter and Venus” in Book 1, the “Helena scene” in Book 2, and the “Camilla section” in Book 11.
It appears that his friends published the unfinished manuscript prematurely. As early as 17 BC, Horace’s writings already mention that the ‘Aeneid’ was widely known.
Overview of Books 5–8 of the ‘Aeneid’
Organizing the ‘Aeneid’ by scene reveals that Virgil worked on it scene by scene. Much like a Greek tragedy, independent scenes come together to form a single whole.
Book 5: The action takes place on the island of Sicily after leaving Carthage. Aeneas holds a memorial service and organizes games (ship races, boxing, archery, etc.) to mark the first anniversary of his father Anchises’ death. Juno, seeking to prevent Aeneas and his companions from reaching Italy, orders the women waiting at the dock to set fire to the ships. Leaving behind those who refuse to depart, Aeneas sets sail for Italy with the rest of his companions. After sailing through the night, the navigator Palinurus falls overboard and dies off the coast of Italy.
Book 6: After seven years of wandering, Aeneas and his companions land at Cumae in Italy. Aeneas descends to the Underworld to meet his father, Anchises. Guided by the seer Sibyl, he prepares the Golden Bough and sets out for the Underworld. The scenery and journey through the Underworld are described in detail; along the way, he encounters Palinurus, Dido, and Deiphobus, and Anchises shows his son the future of Rome and its many heroes. At the end, Augustus appears.
Book 7: Aeneas and his companions leave Cumae and travel north along the coast, arriving at the mouth of the Tiber River. Lavinia, daughter of Latinus, was betrothed to Turnus, but an oracle from Faunus declares that she must marry a foreigner who will soon arrive. Aeneas sends envoys to King Latinus and is received with hospitality. However, Juno descends to the Underworld and sends Alecto, the goddess of vengeance, to incite King Latinus and Queen Amata to oppose Aeneas. Eventually, the prelude to war begins.
Book 8: Turnus and the people of Latium join forces and begin the war. Cornered, Aeneas sees the river god Tiber in a dream and, following the god’s instructions, travels upstream to seek help from Euander. Palantium, where Euander had settled, is the site where the city of Rome would later be built. Coincidentally, the people there were holding a festival in honor of Hercules; they welcomed Aeneas and his party and promised to help them. Accompanied by Pallas, the son of Euander, Aeneas departs from Palantium, and the text describes the armor crafted for Aeneas at Venus’s request to Vulcan.
In Conclusion
It was a challenge to translate the meter of Roman epic poetry in a way that preserves its rhythm in Korean. Although the unique meter of Roman epic poetry is unfamiliar to us, I attempted to recreate it in Korean by developing a system of syllabic rhythm. Mr. Seong Yeom, a former Apostolic Nuncio to the Holy See, offered his support for this new endeavor, and Professor Emerita Lee Jong-sook of Seoul National University particularly praised the translation of Book 4, which focuses on Dido.
The time spent on this second part of the translation was not actually time spent working on the translation all day long; rather, much of it was time spent waiting for advice from fellow researchers after the translation was completed. This was because research on Roman literature is still in its early stages, making review by relevant scholars necessary. A paper by a scholar of Roman law helped clarify the underworld trial scene in Book 6, and a review by a scholar of Roman inscriptions allowed me to refine the scene of Dido’s funeral more accurately. My experience translating Horace helped me to read Virgil’s language and verse with greater precision.
I would like to thank Professor Im Seong-jin for his assistance with the index and Professor Oh Su-hwan for reading Book 5 aloud. I am also grateful to the publisher, who patiently waited despite difficult circumstances, and to the editors, who respected the translator’s persistence. Finally, I ask for the readers’ understanding for making them wait so long, and I look forward to hearing them recite the work with pleasure.
