The first decades of the Roman Empire were the golden age of Latin literature. Virgil, Hor

ace, and Ovid were three great Latin poets who outshone many other lesser poets of the age.

Virgil Virgil (70～19 BC) is generally considered the greatest national poet of Rome. A son of a prosperous farmer, he studied at Milan, Rome, and Naples: His boyhood experience of life on the farm was an essential part of his education. At first he appeared intent on a career in law, but later he turned to philosophy and literature. In 41 BC, Virgil came to Rome, where his first Eclogues attracted the attention of Maecenas, who introduced the young poet to Octavian.

The Eclogues, ten short pastoral poems, were begun in 42 BC and completed in 37 BC. Most of the poems contain dialogues between shepherds and shepherdesses. They depict the idyllic life of shepherds in the well-watered meadows of the Po Valley where Virgil himself grew up. Although they were based on Greek models, the poems are original both in their treatment of subject matter and in their technical perfection.

From 37 BC to 30 BC, Virgil worked on the Georgics, which he wrote in honor of his patron Maecenas. In the Georgics, a long poem in four books, he seeks to interpret the charm of life and work on the farm. His perfect poetic expression gives him the first place among pastoral poets.

In 30 BC, Virgil began to write the Aeneid, a monumental work that occupied him for the rest of his life. The atmosphere of Rome at the time was optimistic and patriotic. People felt that they were personally witnessing the dawn of a new age, one of peace and prosperity unprecedented in the history of the world. That Rome had risen to become the major world power in such a relatively short time made the Romans believe in their divine origin. Therefore it was only natural for Virgil to choose the myth o[ Aeneas's founding the city of Rome as the subject of an epic poem.

The Aeneid was intended not only as a glorification of Rome's founding and its illustrious past, but also as a celebration of its glory under the rule of Emperor Augustus. In composing the epic, Virgil used many sources, including the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer as well as Greek and Roman legends. Virgil's death in 19 BC left the epic incomplete and some of the lines unfinished.

Virgil's Aeneas is a much more complicated character than Homer's Achilles. He depicts Aeneas as a figure of courage, devotion, and above all, of piety. He is a man of a mission, driven by a Roman sense of duty. He leaves the woman he loves and sacrifices his personal desires to fulfill his destinies. These qualities were meant to exemplify the virtues of the Roman people.

Horace Horace (65～8 BC), Rome's great lyric poet and satirist, was born in southern Italy. As a child, he was taken to Rome by his father, a freed slave, who saw to it that his son received an excellent education. In his youth, Horace studied in Athens, which was still a great cultural center at the time. Later he returned to Rome to write poetry. His work attracted the attention of the recognized poets, who introduced him to Maecenas, a patron of poets. Through Maecenas, Horace met the literary and political society of Rome.

Most of Horace's important works were published between 35 BC and 15 BC. Although he was influenced by the Greek poets: in the subject matter and meters of his odes, he was thoroughly Roman in spirit and showed considerable originality. He generally chose subjects of a light character, but he occasionally sounded a serious note. The themes range from such topics as love and friendship to morality and patriotism.

Horace left a varied collection which includes satires, epistles, love poems and other lyrics. The Odes, probably his most widely read poems, are lyrics of great beauty and have endeared themselves to countless readers.

The Epistles are formal letters to

A．The Aeneid.

B．The Georgics.

C．The Epistles.

D．The Eclogues.