Tag Archives: Virgil

Apocalyptic Fire Ravages the Nation

By Robin Bates | Published: September 13, 2020

For literary equivalents of the west coast fires, look to “The Aeneid” and to Vasily Grossman’s “Life and Fate.”

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In a Dark Time, Beowulf Was My Virgil

By Robin Bates | Published: August 16, 2020

If Dante had his Virgil, I have Beowulf. Both poets helped up negotiate dark times.

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Better Living through Virgil

By Robin Bates | Published: August 11, 2020

When lost in deep depression, Dante turns to his favorite author, Virgil, to help him out.

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Black Lives Matter Changes the Canon

By Robin Bates | Published: July 1, 2020

Black Lives Matter is getting some professors to rethink works they had previously defended

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In Aeneid, It’s the Wives Who Riot

By Robin Bates | Published: May 31, 2020

The riots in the wake of George Floyd’s death recall for me the wives rioting in the Aeneid–another neglected and long-suffering group who are fed up.

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A Literary Survey of What Plagues Mean

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2020

A survey of how literary authors have grappled for meaning in times of pestilence bolsters our own search. I look at Sophocles, Virgil, Defoe, Porter, Camus, King, Mandel, Atwood, and Erdrich.

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Homer, Virgil & Dante Visit the Afterlife

By Robin Bates | Published: April 6, 2020

In my Representative Masterpieces course, I conclude with Dante’s “Inferno,” where we see sinners creating their own hells.

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Biden vs. Bernie, Aeneas vs. Turnus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 11, 2020

To apply a classic allusion to the Democratic primaries, think of Joe Biden as Aeneas and Bernie Sanders as his foe Turnus. Aeneas wins the battle, Turnus the war.

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