The Aeneid Lesson Plan

Publius Vergilius Maro, more commonly referred to as Vergil or Virgil, was born on October 15, 70 B.C., in Andes, a region of northern Italy near Mantua. The name "Virgil" stems from the Latin virga, or "wand"; poets were often thought to be gifted with mystical abilities and supernatural powers. Legend has it that when Virgil was in the womb, his mother dreamed that she gave birth to a laurel branch that, once planted, sprung immediately from the earth and within moments became a tree heavily laden with fruit and flowers. The very next day, Virgil's mother was walking along a dirt path when she suddenly flung herself into a ditch and then delivered such an extraordinarily mild-mannered...