The Decline and Fall of Virgil in Eighteenth-Century Germany

A look at the dismissal of Virgil by 18th-century poets, who nevertheless continued to be influenced by his works. In the early modern period, the culture of Rome, with Virgil as its greatest figure, was the model for emulation. The age of Louis XIV compared itself to the Augustan age, and Dryden hailed Virgil as "my Divine Master." But in 18th-century Europe, a general shift occurred in favor of Greece, a trend that was most pronounced in Germany. Winckelmann, the spokesman for philhellenism, e