Besides the works of Virgil which are un doubtedly genuine, there have come down to us under his name a number of lesser poems: the
which all great writers have, of making what he borrowed his own; and, a thing which may be regarded as the supreme test, he not only imitated, but he was able to inspire imitation.
Besides the Virgil of history there. is a mythical Virgil, singularly unlike the original. In comparatively early times the ancient biog raphers associated prodigies, prophetic of his future greatness, with his birth and the adop tion of his works by the grammarians as canons of usage gave him a reputation for vast learn ing. This feeling brought about the custom as early as the 2d century of consulting the sortes Virgiliance, by opening theiEneid) at ran dom and drawing an omen from the words of the first passage on which the eye fell, a custom which that work has shared only with the Homeric poems and the Bible. As early as the days of Silius Italicus we see traces of a Virgilian cult, for the younger Pliny tells us that Silius made annual pilgrimages to Virgil's tomb, and kept his birthday with more cere mony than he did his own. A special series of legends of a most grotesque character grew up among the- common people of Naples, who with an entire disregard of chronology and of historical truth associated his name with many marvelous inventions and with numerous undignified and disreputable adventures. These two streams of tradition united and found their way into the romantic literature of the Middle Ages, and even into works of a more serious character. They have given us the mythical Virgil, the necromancer and ally of the powers of darkness. His name was in consequence as sociated in the popular mind with virga, a magician's "wand," which led to the spelling Virgilius, and hence to our Virgil.
As regards the spelling of the poet's name, the Latin form Virgilius is established beyond question by inscriptional and other evidence as the only one until the 5th century. In English, Virgil was the current form until comparatively recent times, when "Vergil" was introduced in common with a general reform in the spelling of Greek and Latin proper names; this is the usual form in Germany. In England and in America both forms are used, as may be seen from the biographical list given below.
The first printed edition of Virgil was pub lished at Rome, about 1469. Since then there have been many editions in all countries. The standard critical text is that of O. Ribbeck, Leipzig, 1859-68 (containing the famous pro legomena) and 1894-95 (without the prokgo mina). Consult Norden, E.,