Aeneid Quotes
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I sing of arms and the man, he who, exiled by fate,
first came from the coast of Troy to Italy, and to
Lavinian shores – hurled about endlessly by land and sea,
by the will of the gods, by cruel Juno’s remorseless anger,
long suffering also in war, until he founded a city
and brought his gods to Latium: from that the Latin people
came, the lords of Alba Longa, the walls of noble Rome.
Context
Talk about epic. This quote opens one of the most important pieces of Western literature in existence: the Aeneid.
Who's the man Virgil is talking about? None other than Aeneas, the dude who founded Rome. No big deal. We guess that's why Virgil feels okay calling him the man. (And yes, we know it's a translation. In the Latin, it goes like this: "Arma virumque cano.")
Don't be fooled: Virgil wasn't the first person to pull some fancy tricks in his first line. You can read about this quote's relationship to the Odyssey in our analysis here.
Where you've heard it
People don't go around dropping this line, but it is echoed in pretty much every piece of literature that comes after it. Here are a few Renaissance texts that crib the line:
- Orlando Furioso
- Paradise Lost
- The Faerie Queene
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Not to hate on the classics—you know we love 'em—but dropping ancient Roman quotes at a dinner party just won't fly. Especially in verse.