Nikolai 1 Robert Nikolai Mrs.

Ralston English II 19 March 2013

Ovidius vs Vergilius Publis Vergilius Maro was born near Mantua in 70 BC. Virgil had a wealthy family and his father owned a large amount of land. It is said that while in his mother's womb, she would dream that she had given birth to a branch of a laurel tree, and when this branch touched the earth, it took root and suddenly grew to become a full grown tree. One day while traveling with her husband the mother gave birth to her child in a ditch. The newly-born child did not cry at birth. This is a sign to new parents as a good omen and planted a laurel branch at this spot. Legend says that it grew faster than any other tree and soon equaled the size of the trees planted before it. (Fordham) Publius Ovidius Naso was born in Sulmo Italy, to an equestrian family. He was born just a year after the assassination of Julius Caesar. His father, being wealthy, sent Ovidius too many schools and had him study under many great rhetoricians. He wanted Ovidius to become a lawyer. Ovid didnt like the idea of being an official. He preferred things that had historical or imaginary circumstances. (Famous People) These poets had fairly similar childhoods. They both were sent to study at an early age. They also both studied Rhetorics and Law before finally writing poetry. Now they are both cherished and adored for their poetic masterpieces. They are seen as national treasures. They are

Nikolai 2

both roman and lived during the Augustan period. These men could have been separated at birth, because you can see so many similarities in their early lives.

Since his family was wealthy they could afford to give a good education. Virgil lived in Mantua until he was seven years of age. Then he moved to Cremona. For ten years he stayed in Cremona, and then next heads towards Naples. In Naples he studied Greek and Latin. Later, he started to study physics and mathematics. After Naples he journeyed to Rome. In 54 B.C., he attended the Academy of Epidius, in Rome. There he studied law and rhetoric. After he finished at the Academy of Epidius, Virgil argued his first law case. He was mild-mannered and had no chance against other great officials. He soon switched his focus to philosophy. He also started writing poetry. Virgil impressed many prestigious men, in Rome, who then introduced him to Emperor Augustus. Shortly after he enjoyed this new found fame, he returned to Naples. Here Virgil started his first masterpieces, The Eclogues. There were ten parts in all. It is said that Virgil took three years to complete the book. (Online-Literature) Poets were often thought to be gifted with mystical abilities and supernatural powers. Virgil was no exception. The name "Virgil" comes from the Latin word Virga, or "wand". He was so well known and admired for his works that when he only had just started working on the Aeneid, prophesies were made stating, "Something greater than the Iliad is born." (Gill) Virgil meant for the Aeneid to be a Roman counterpart to Homer's Odyssey and Iliad. He hoped that the Romans would immortalize the story of their ancestor as much as the Greeks had done for theirs.

Nikolai 3

Virgil was commissioned in 30 B.C by the emperor, Augustus Octavian himself, to work on The Aeneid. He worked for the rest of his life on it. When Virgil died in 19 B.C he almost took the Aeneid with him. He was unsatisfied with the poem and wanted it destroyed. Emperor Augustus wanted to keep the poem safe. So he gave it to give it over to Virgil's friends Tucca and Varius. They polished it and to fortune of historians today, it was published and it was saved. On his deathbed, Virgil composed the following epitaph, which was inscribed on his tombstone in Naples, Mantua me genuit; Calabri rapuere; tenet nunc Parthenope; cecini pascua, rura, duces, This translates to, "Mantua gave me birth; Calabria took me away; and now Naples holds me; I sang of pastures, farms, leaders". Ovid didnt have much of a childhood since his father was having him study. When Ovids brother died, Ovid quit studying law. He spent many years with different jobs. Around 29-25 BC he started writing poetry. In 8 AD Ovid was exiled by Emperor Augustus. He fled to the city of Tomis. Ovid recorded that he was exile because of, a poem and a mistake. The actual reason for his exile is unknown. It is believed that Ovid in on a conspiracy against the Emperor. A more likely reason for his exile would be because of the Julian Marriage Laws of 18 BC. This stated that all marriage had to be monogamous, as to increase the population's birth rate. Ovids writing in Ars Amatoria promotes polygamy.( Fraenkel) The legislature of the emperor probably found this inappropriate and, because of his influence, had Ovid exiled. Ovid hated Tomis with a passion. He never gave up hope to be able once again in Rome, his beloved city. He continued to write poetry. He often wrote to the emperor to give him a

Nikolai 4

pardon, but neither the Emperor Octavian Augustus nor his successor Emperor Tiberius relented. It his later poems, it seems as if he finally accepted his fate before he died in Tomis. Virgil and Ovid both had wealthy parents who could afford to send them to school. They both lived in Rome and even were alive at the same time. Law and rhetoric is what they both first studied. They both impressed and had favor under the emperor (for a little while anyway). In their later lives Virgil was commissioned to write the national epic and Ovid was exiled to Tomis. They both lived fairly similar lives under their senior years. Ovids most known work is the metamorphosis. It is classified as an epic with about 250 stories. Virgils most famous work is the Aeneid. It tells the legend of Aeneas, a Trojan general who traveled to present day Italy, and became the ancestor of the Romans. It is known as Romes national epic. Unlike their lives: Virgil and Ovids did not have as much in common. The words on Virgils tombstone serve as a summary of Virgil's remarkable works. "Mantua gave me birth; Calabria took me away; and now Naples holds me; I sang of pastures, farms, leaders". In his poems, he acts as the voice of all Romans past and present. He speaks of all men from the poor to the rich. He immortalizes the men, who served to create one of the greatest empires of all time. Virgils first major work was his Ten Eclogues. The Eclogues are a composition of stories that generally describe on the daily lives of shepherds and farmers, and they take place in country settings. Major themes in the stories include: agricultural life and the beauty of living inside of nature. A number of Virgils first works focused on the lives of the simple people: the farmers, the shepherds, and the towns people. His next great work was the Georgics. Georgic literally

Nikolai 5

means, Pertaining to agriculture. Unlike what one might expect, The Georgics is not a peaceful poem about the tranquil lives of farmers, but contains themes of tension. Virgil wrote the Georgics right after a civil war in Rome. Farming was seen as a worthy and patriotic occupation for the many soldiers who returned from military work, and Vergils poem glorifies many aspects of country life. He shows an idealized look on an agricultural lifestyle. He shows it to a harmony with nature and morally satisfying. It also though shows pain and suffering that come from natural disasters and disease. Virgil, like for most of his works, was never completely satisfied with his work. (Mastin) Virgil wrote his last poem, The Aeneid, to be a national epic for his country. Even though he was ambitious about it, he didnt enjoy it as much, because it felt too much like a job to him. Often the Aeneid, Virgil would foreshadow the coming of Emperor Augustus. (Sparknotes) Ovid wrote storys about fictional element. He loved Greek mythology and often used them in his stories. Virgil had no interest in these Greek fantasies. HE instead found human qualities in them. He changed the mythological personages of the Iliad and turned them into reality. When he wrote is seemed like, poems without meter. Ovids first poems were in The Amores. It was a group of short poems depicting the phases of a love affair with a woman. It is not supposed passionate but was witty. Ovid uses the character Corinna to depict a typical affair with a woman. It was a comical, erotic poem. Amores translates to, loves. In his next Poem, the Heroides Ovid developed a new literary genre. In it, 15 of letters are read that were written by a cast of legendary ladies such as Penelope, Dido, and Ariadne to their absent husbands or lovers. The letters that Ovid wrote show greatly his skill in the exercises

Nikolai 6

called ethopoiea (character drawing). There are three pairs of letters in the poem, the lover addressing and being answered by the lady. In them, Ovids treatment of his literary sources is particularly ingenious; the correspondence of Paris and Helen is one of antiquitys minor masterpieces. In Ovids most known work Metamorphoseon Libri XV, also known as the Metamorphosis, he writing style changes completely from all his other poems. All of his other poems were written in couplets, the Metamorphosis was written in a Dactylic Hexameter. The setting of the Metamorphosis is from the creation of the universe, to the end of it. He takes many parts of Greek mythology and creates a story of a transformation in it (Sparknotes). He doesnt only do human transformations; in fact the first one is Chaos morphs into the Universe. There are also transformations in relationships. Most of the story shows human transformations as a punishment, except the end where he adds three surprises.(Shoomp) At the end of the Metamorphosis, Ovid writes in three twists. The first twist is a metamorphosis of Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar becomes a god. Next he says that Julius Caesar was nothing compared to his current emperor, Augustus. If he was trying to flatter the emperor, it didnt work, because he still was exiled to Tomis, but maybe because of his last twist. Ovid says that he and his poem will lives past any of the emperors. They will live forever throughout the ages. Ovid enjoyed writing fantasies, whereas Virgil enjoyed truths. Ovid spent his earlier years writing erotic love poems, while Virgil wrote about the life of a farmer. Both of their final works had deep roots in Greek literature. They both added their own spin on the Greek classics. Ovid was constantly spitting off full lyric lines, while Virgil was a perfectionist who spent years

Nikolai 7

on his work. Ovid even has the most works of any Roman Poet attributed to him. Other than the inspiration from the Greeks, Ovid and Virgil are completely different poets.

Works Cited

Ovid. Ovid Biography. .thefamouspeople.com The Famous People website. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Suetonius. Suetonius: The Life of Vergil Fordham.edu Fordham University. 2013. Web. Mar 19. 2013

N.S. Gill. Ovid - Overview of the Latin Poet. Ancienthistory.about.com About inc. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2013

Fraenkel, Hermann F. Ovid Biography. notablebiographies.com Advameg, Inc. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Online-Literature editors. Virgil. Online-literature.com. Jalic Inc. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2013.

Nikolai 8

Mastin, Luke. ANCIENT ROME - VERGIL - THE GEORGICS ancient-literature.com. Ancient Literature. 2009. Web. 20 March 2013.

SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Metamorphoses. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on The Aeneid. SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

"Ovid". Encyclopdia Britannica. Encyclopdia Britannica Online. Encyclopdia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Metamorphoses" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.