Non ego te, Ligurum ductor fortissime bello, 185
transierim, Cynare, et paucis comitate Cupavo,
cuius olorinae surgunt de vertice pennae
(crimen, Amor, vestrum) formaeque insigne paternae.
namque ferunt luctu Cycnum Phaethontis amati,
populeas inter frondes umbramque sororum 190
dum canit et maestum Musa solatur amorem,
canentem molli pluma duxisse senectam
linquentem terras et sidera voce sequentem.
filius aequalis comitatus classe catervas
ingentem remis Centaurum promovet: 195
---Vergil, Aeneid X.185-195
And I won’t fail to mention you,
brave leader of the Ligures, Cynaris,
or you, Cupavo, with your small band of warriors.
Cupavo, whose helmet crest had swan feathers
In defiance of Love, and to honor his father.
For they say his father Cygnus, out of love for his beloved Phaethon
While singing in the leafy shade of his lover’s sisters*
And consoling himself for his lost love (maestum amorem) with music
His gray hairs turned to soft feathers
And leaving behind the earth as a singing swan
He sought the stars.
His son Cupavo, accompanied by a troop of his peers
Steers the huge ship Centaur with its oars…
* According to myth, Phaethon's sisters, the Heliades, grieved so much that they were transformed into poplar trees; their tears became amber.
VERGIL / VIRGIL
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MAP:
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Name: Publius Vergilius
Maro
Date: 70 BCE – 21 BCE
Works: Aeneid*
Eclogues
Georgics
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REGION 1
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BIO:
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Timeline:
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Vergil was born in Mantua (Cisalpine Gaul, located in northern Italy)
and lived during the tumultuous transition of Roman government from republic
to monarchy. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas’ migration
from Troy to Italy; it was used for centuries as the pinnacle of Roman
literature.
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GOLDEN AGE ROME
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