In honor of the poet's birthday, and the second anniversary of this
discussion group, I submit the following account of Virgil's birth, from
the vita attributed to Aelius Donatus:
Publius Vergilius Maro was a Mantuan of humble parents, especially with
regard to his father: some have reported that he was an artisan potter,
others that he was employed by a wandering Magus, who soon became a
son-in-law on account of his industry, and that he built up a fortune of no
mean substance by buying up woodlands and tending bees.
[The poet] was born on the ides of October, during the first consulship
of
Gnaeus Pompeius the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus [i.e., 15 October
70], in a region called Andes, not far from Mantua. While she was pregnant
with him, his mother dreamed that she gave birth to a laurel branch, which
struck root when it touched the earth and sprang up on the spot, so that it
looked like a full-grown tree, stuffed with diverse fruits and flowers. And
the following day, while she was making for the neighboring fields with her
husband, she turned aside from the path, threw herself into a ditch, and
disburdened herself by delivering the child. In this manner they say that
the child was born, and did not cry, so mild was his countenance; that even
then, he gave men no small reason to hope that his birth would prove to be
auspicious. Another presage was added to this, when the poplar sprout that
is immediately planted in the same place by women who have given birth
(according to the custom of the region) actually grew up so fast that it
stood level with the poplars sown long before. It is called on that account
the "tree of Virgil," and prayers for childbirth and safe delivery are
still offered with the greatest reverence there by pregnant women and new
mothers.
http://www.virgil.org/vitae/a-donatus.htm
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David Wilson-Okamura http://www.virgil.org [EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Chicago Online Virgil discussion, bibliography & links
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