Virgil: Difference between revisions

The legend of "Virgil in his basket" arose in the [[Middle Ages]], and is often seen in art and mentioned in literature as part of the [[Power of Women]] [[literary topos]], demonstrating the disruptive force of female attractiveness on men. In this story Virgil became enamoredenamoured of a beautiful woman, sometimes described as the emperor's daughter or mistress and called Lucretia. She played him along and agreed to an assignation at her house, which he was to sneak into at night by climbing into a large basket let down from a window. When he did so he was hoisted only halfway up the wall and then left trapped there into the next day, exposed to public ridicule. The story paralleled that of [[Tale of Phyllis and Aristotle|Phyllis riding Aristotle]]. Among other artists depicting the scene, [[Lucas van Leyden]] made a [[woodcut]] and later an [[engraving]].<ref>[[James Snyder (art historian)|Snyder, James]]. 1985. ''Northern Renaissance Art''. US: [[Abrams Books|Harry N. Abrams]], {{ISBN|0136235964}}. pp. 461–62.</ref>

Possibly as early as the second century AD, Virgil's works were seen as having magical properties and were used for [[divination]]. In what became known as the ''[[Sortes Vergilianae]]'' ("Virgilian Lots"), passages would be selected at random and interpreted to answer questions.<ref name=Ziolkowskixxxiv>{{cite book|last1=Ziolkowski|first1=Jan M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpsPueOp8cUC|title=The Virgilian Tradition: The First Fifteen Hundred Years|last2=Putnam|first2=Michael C. J.|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300108224|page=xxxiv|access-date=11 November 2013}}</ref> In the 12th century, starting around [[Naples]] but eventually spreading widely throughout Europe, a tradition developed in which Virgil was regarded as a great [[Magician (paranormal)|magician]]. Legends about Virgil and his magical powers remained popular for over two hundred years, arguably becoming as prominent as his writings themselves.<ref name=Ziolkowskixxxiv/> Virgil's legacy in medieval [[Wales]] was such that the Welsh version of his name, ''[[Fferyllt]]'' or ''Pheryllt'', became a generic term for magic-worker, and survives in the modern Welsh word for pharmacist, ''fferyllydd''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ziolkowski|first1=Jan M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MpsPueOp8cUC|title=The Virgilian Tradition: The First Fifteen Hundred Years|last2=Putnam|first2=Michael C. J.|date=2008|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0300108224|pages=101–102|access-date=11 November 2013}}</ref>