Publius Vergilius Maro was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period, traditionally ranked among Rome's greatest poets. His work, including the national epic the Aeneid modeled after Homer, chronicles the journey of the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he strives to fulfill his destiny and found Rome. Virgil's writing has profoundly influenced Western literature, notably appearing as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory in the Divine Comedy.
Haunting and enigmatic, Virgil's Eclogues combined a Greek literary form with scenes from contemporary Roman life to create a work that inspired a whole European tradition of pastoral poetry. For despite their rustic setting and the beauty of their phrasing, the poems in Virgil's first collection are also grounded in reality.