Aetna (1-370). Romanian Translation

The poem Aetna is included by most editors in Appendix Vergiliana, thus suggesting that it belongs to Vergil. But the text of the poem was transmitted anonymously, the authorship being difficult to establish. Donatus, in Vita Vergilii, casts an early and probably wellfounded doubt on Vergilian authorship. In fact, the source of the doubt is much older, being formulated by Suetonius, whom Donatus quotes in the biography of the Mantuan poet: Scripsit etiam de qua ambigitur Aetnam. Given that Suetonius is much closer to the period in which Virgil lived, he has a good chance of being closer to the truth. Especially since the names of other authors were also circulated. Thus, from Seneca’s correspondence with Lucilius, mainly from Letter 79, it can be inferred that Lucilius was tempted to write about the volcano Etna, just like the established poets Virgil and Ovid, and the less famous Cornelius Severus: Quid tibi do ne Aetnam describas in tuo carmine, ne hunc sollemnem omnibus poetis locum attingas? Quem quominus Ovidius tractaret, nihil obstitit quod iam Vergilius impleverat; ne Severum quidem Cornelium uterque deterruit. But none of them had written a poem exclusively dedicated to the volcano in Sicily. The hypothesis that the poem belongs to Lucilius becomes more plausible, based on further arguments from the correspondence of the two. The poor aesthetic quality could be an indicator to exclude Vergilius’ authorship. The author of the poem appears to be what Quintilianus said about Cornelius Severus: est versificator quam poeta melior.