title: Bart Simpson

text: The catchphrase "Eat My Shorts" was an ad-lib by Cartwright in one of the original table readings, harking back to an incident when she was in high school. Cartwright was in the marching band at Fairmont High School, and one day while performing, the band chanted "Eat my shorts" rather than the usual "Fairmont West! Fairmont West!" It could also be an homage to "The Breakfast Club", as John Bender says the phrase to Principal Vernon. John Bender would become the inspiration for another Matt Groening creation, Bender from "Futurama". Bart's other catchphrases, ""¡Ay, caramba!"" came from a Portuguese flamenco dancer and "Don't have a cow!" had been around since the 1950s which derived from the British phrase "Don't have kittens"; both were featured on T-shirts manufactured during the production of the early seasons of "The Simpsons". "Cowabunga" is also commonly associated with Bart, although it was mostly used on the show after it had been used as a slogan on the T-shirts. Reiss also stated the writers took the phrase from Chief Thunderthud on "The Howdy Doody Show". The use of catchphrase-based humor was mocked in the episode "Bart Gets Famous" (season five, 1994) in which Bart lands a popular role on Krusty the Clown's show for saying the line "I didn't do it." The writers chose the phrase "I didn't do it" because they wanted a "lousy" phrase "to point out how really crummy things can become really popular".


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart commonly appears nude in the show, although in every case only his buttocks are visible. In "The Simpsons Movie" (2007), Bart appears in a sequence where he is skateboarding while fully nude; several different items cover his genitalia, but for a brief moment his penis can be seen. The scene was one of the first worked on for the film, but the producers were nervous about the segment because they thought it would earn the movie an R rating. Despite this, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for "Irreverent Humor Throughout". The scene was later included by "Entertainment Weekly" in their list of "30 Unforgettable Nude Scenes".


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart's character traits of rebelliousness and disrespect for authority have been compared to that of America's founding fathers, and he has been described as an updated version of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, rolled into one. In his book "Planet Simpson", Chris Turner describes Bart as a nihilist, a philosophical position that argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart's rebellious attitude has made him a disruptive student at Springfield Elementary School, where he is an underachiever and proud of it. He is constantly at odds with his teacher Ms. Krabappel, Principal Skinner, and occasionally Groundskeeper Willie. Bart does poorly in school and is well aware of it, having once declared, "I am dumb, okay? Dumb as a post! Think I'm happy about it?" On one occasion, Lisa successfully proves that Bart is dumber than a hamster, although Bart ultimately outsmarts her. Bart's thoughts are often illogical; he once thought if he died and reincarnated as a butterfly, he would be able to burn the school down without being suspected, thinking that he would be able to hold a gas can as a butterfly. He has also thought if he wrote his name in wet cement, people who see it after it dries will wonder how he managed to write his name in solid cement. In "Separate Vocations" (season three, 1992), Bart becomes hall monitor and his grades go up, suggesting that he struggles mainly because he does not pay attention, not because he is stupid. This idea is reinforced in "Brother's Little Helper" (season eleven, 1999), in which it is revealed that Bart has attention deficit disorder. His lack of smarts can also be attributed to the hereditary "Simpson Gene", which affects the intelligence of most male members of the Simpson family. Although he gets into endless trouble and can be sadistic, shallow and selfish, Bart also exhibits many qualities of high integrity. He has, on a few occasions, helped Principal Skinner and Mrs. Krabappel: In "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" (season five, 1994), Bart accidentally got Skinner fired and befriended him outside the school environment. Bart missed having Skinner as an adversary and got him rehired, knowing that this would mean that the two could no longer be friends.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Due to Bart's mischievousness and Homer's often uncaring and incompetent behavior, the two have a turbulent, jaded, violent, and at times borderline sadistic relationship. Bart regularly addresses Homer by his first name instead of "Dad", while Homer in turn often refers to him as "the boy". Homer has a short temper and when enraged by Bart will strangle him on impulse in a cartoonishly violent manner. One of the original ideas for the show was that Homer would be "very angry" and oppressive toward Bart, but these characteristics were toned down somewhat as their characters were explored. Marge is a much more caring, understanding and nurturing parent than Homer, but she also refers to Bart as "a handful" and is often embarrassed by his antics. In "Marge Be Not Proud" (season seven, 1995), she felt she was mothering Bart too much and began acting more distant towards him after he was caught shoplifting. At the beginning of the episode, Bart protested at her over-mothering but as her attitude changed, he felt bad and made it up to her. Despite his attitude, Bart is sometimes willing to experience humiliation if it means pleasing his mom. Marge has expressed an understanding for her "special little guy" and has defended him on many occasions. She once said "I know Bart can be a handful, but I also know what he's like inside. He's got a spark. It's not a bad thing ... Of course, it makes him "do" bad things."


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart shares a sibling rivalry with his younger sister, Lisa, but has a buddy-like relationship with his youngest sister Maggie, due to her infant state. While Bart has often hurt Lisa, and even fought her physically, the two are often very close. Bart cares for Lisa deeply and has always apologized for going too far. He also believes Lisa to be his superior when it comes to solving problems and frequently goes to her for advice. Bart is also highly protective of Lisa: When a bully destroys her box of cupcakes in "Bart the General" (season one, 1990), Bart immediately stands up for her.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart is portrayed as a popular cool boy and has many friends at school. Out of all of them his best friend is Milhouse Van Houten, although Bart has at times shown embarrassment about their friendship. Bart is a bad influence on Milhouse, and the two have been involved in a lot of mischief together. Because of this behavior, Milhouse's mother forbids Milhouse from playing with Bart in "Homer Defined" (season three, 1991). While at first he pretended that he did not care, Bart eventually realizes that he needs Milhouse, and Marge manages to convince Mrs. Van Houten to reconsider. Milhouse is a frequent target for local bullies Nelson Muntz and his friends Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney. At times, Bart also finds himself at the hands of their abuse. Despite being the more socially powerful of the two, Bart's social popularity has temporarily subsided various episodes either due to extreme embarrassment caused by his family or other people (or even himself) or an unfortunate coincidence. Milhouse describes their social standing as "Three and a half. We get beat up, but we get an explanation." While Bart and the bullies have been adversaries at times, with Bart once declaring war on Nelson, the school bullies actually like Bart for his ways and hang out with him at times, especially Nelson who eventually becomes close friends with him.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart is one of the biggest fans of children's television host Krusty the Clown. He once declared, "I've based my whole life on Krusty's teachings", and sleeps in a room filled with Krusty merchandise. He has helped the clown on many occasions, for example, foiling Sideshow Bob's attempt to frame Krusty for armed robbery in "Krusty Gets Busted" (season one, 1990), reuniting Krusty with his estranged father in "Like Father, Like Clown". and helping Krusty return to the air with a comeback special and reignite his career in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". For his part, Krusty has remained largely ignorant of Bart's help and treats Bart with disinterest. One summer, Bart enthusiastically attended Kamp Krusty, which turned out to be a disaster, with Krusty nowhere to be seen. Bart keeps his hopes up by believing that Krusty would show up, but is soon pushed over the edge, and finally decides that he is sick of Krusty's shoddy merchandise and takes over the camp. Krusty immediately visits the camp in hopes of ending the conflict and manages to appease Bart. One of the original ideas for the series was that Bart worshiped a television clown but had no respect for his father, although this was never directly explored. Because of this original plan, Krusty's design is basically Homer in clown make-up. When Bart foiled Sideshow Bob's plans in "Krusty Gets Busted", it sparked a long-standing feud between the two. The writers decided to have Bob repeatedly return to get revenge on Bart. They took the idea of the Coyote chasing the Road Runner and depicted Bob as an intelligent person obsessed with catching a bratty boy. Bob has appeared in fourteen episodes, generally plotting various evil schemes which often have to do with getting revenge on Bart (and sometimes the entire Simpson family by proxy), but is always foiled in the end.


title: Bart Simpson

text: In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed "Bartmania". He became the most prevalent "Simpsons" character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts. In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold; as many as one million were sold on some days. Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as "I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?" and "Underachiever ('And proud of it, man!')". "The Simpsons" merchandise sold well and generated $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales. The success of Bart Simpson merchandise inspired an entire line of black market counterfeit items, especially T-shirts. Some featured Bart announcing various slogans, others depicted redesigns of the character, including "Teenage Mutant Ninja Bart, Air Simpson Bart, [and] RastaBart". Matt Groening generally did not object to bootleg merchandise, but took exception to a series of "Nazi Bart" shirts which depicted Bart in Nazi uniform or as a white power skinhead. 20th Century Fox sued the creator of the shirts, who eventually agreed to stop making them.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart became so associated with Fox that, when bidding in 1993 to show pro football, the network had to assure the NFL and reporters that the character would not announce games. Due to the show's success, over the summer of 1990 Fox decided to switch "The Simpsons" timeslot so that it would move from 8:00 p.m. ET on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday, where it would compete with "The Cosby Show" on NBC, the number one show at the time. Through the summer, several news outlets published stories about the supposed "Bill vs. Bart" rivalry. The August 31, 1990 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" featured a picture of Bill Cosby wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt. "Bart Gets an 'F' (season two, 1990) was the first episode to air against "The Cosby Show", and it received a lower Nielsen rating, tying for eighth behind "The Cosby Show", which had an 18.5 rating. The rating is based on the number of household televisions that were tuned into the show, but Nielsen Media Research estimated that 33.6 million viewers watched the episode, making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most watched episode in the history of the Fox Network, and it is still the highest rated episode in the history of "The Simpsons". Because of his popularity, Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show, even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart was described as "television's king of 1990", "television's brightest new star" and an "undiminished smash". "Entertainment Weekly" named Bart the "entertainer of the year" for 1990, writing that "Bart has proved to be a rebel who's also a good kid, a terror who's easily terrorized, and a flake who astonishes us, and himself, with serious displays of fortitude." In the United States congressional, senatorial and gubernatorial elections of 1990, Bart was one of the most popular write-in candidates, and in many areas was second only to Mickey Mouse amongst fictional characters. In the 1990 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Bart made his debut as one of the giant helium-filled balloons for which the parade is known. The Bart Simpson balloon has appeared at every parade since. This was referenced in "The Simpsons" in the episode "Bart vs. Thanksgiving", which aired the same day as the parade, where Homer tells Bart, "If you start building a balloon for every flash-in-the-pan cartoon character, you turn the parade into a farce!" Meanwhile, behind and unbeknownst to him, the television briefly shows a Bart Simpson balloon.


title: Bart Simpson

text: The album "The Simpsons Sing the Blues" was released in September 1990 and was a success, peaking at No. 3 on the "Billboard" 200 and becoming certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The first single from the album was the pop rap song "Do the Bartman", performed by Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20, 1990. The song was written by Bryan Loren, a friend of Michael Jackson. Jackson was a fan of "The Simpsons", especially Bart, and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show. Jackson eventually guest starred in the episode "Stark Raving Dad" (season three, 1991) under the pseudonym John Jay Smith. While the song was never officially released as a single in the United States, it was successful in the United Kingdom. In 1991 it was the number one song in the UK for three weeks from February 16 to March 9 and was the seventh best-selling song of the year. It sold half a million copies and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry on February 1, 1991.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart's rebellious nature, which frequently resulted in no punishment for his misbehavior, led some parents and conservatives to characterize him as a poor role model for children. Robert Bianco of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" wrote that "[Bart] outwits his parents and outtalks his teachers; in short, he's the child we wish we'd been, and fear our children will become." In schools, educators claimed that Bart was a "threat to learning" because of his "underachiever and proud of it" attitude and negative attitude regarding his education. Others described him as "egotistical, aggressive and mean-spirited." In response to the criticism, James L. Brooks said, "I'm very wary of television where everybody is supposed to be a role model, you don't run across that many role models in real life. Why should television be full of them?"


title: Bart Simpson

text: In 1990 William Bennett, who at the time was drug czar of the United States, visited a drug treatment center in Pittsburgh and upon noticing a poster of Bart remarked, "You guys aren't watching "The Simpsons", are you? That's not going to help you any." When a backlash over the comment ensued, Bennett apologized, claiming he "was just kidding" and saying "I'll sit down with the little spike head. We'll straighten this thing out." In a 1991 interview, Bill Cosby described Bart as a bad role model for children, calling him "angry, confused, frustrated". In response, Matt Groening said, "That sums up Bart, all right. Most people are in a struggle to be normal. He thinks normal is very boring, and does things that others just wished they dare do." On January 27, 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush said, "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons." The writers rushed out a tongue-in-cheek reply in the form of a short segment which aired three days later before a rerun of "Stark Raving Dad" in which Bart replied, "Hey, we're just like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the Depression, too."


title: Bart Simpson

text: Although there were many critics of the character, favorable comments came from several quarters. Columnist Erma Bombeck wrote, "Kids need to know that somewhere in this world is a contemporary who can pull off all the things they can only fantasize about, someone who can stick it to their parents once in a while and still be permitted to live." In 2003, Bart placed first in a poll of parents in the United Kingdom who were asked "which made-up character had the most influence" on children under 12 years old.


title: Bart Simpson

text: In 1998, "Time" named Bart one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century. He was the only fictional character to make the list. He had previously appeared on the cover of the edition of December 31, 1990. He was also ranked No. 48 in "TV Guide"s "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time" in 1996 and both he and Lisa ranked No. 11 in "TV Guide's" "Top 50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time" in 2002. In 2022, "Paste" writers claimed that Bart is the 26th best cartoon character of all time.


title: Bart Simpson

text: At the 44th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1992, Cartwright won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for voicing Bart in the season three episode "Separate Vocations". She shared the award with five other voice actors from "The Simpsons". Various episodes in which Bart is strongly featured have been nominated for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program, including "Radio Bart" in 1992, "Future-Drama" in 2005, "The Haw-Hawed Couple" in 2006 and "Homer's Phobia", which won the award in 1997. In 1995, Cartwright won an Annie Award for "Voice Acting in the Field of Animation" for her portrayal of Bart in an episode. In 2000, Bart and the rest of the Simpson family were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard.


title: Bart Simpson

text: In 2014 Bart Simpson became the second mascot of Russian football club FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, wearing number 87 on his back (referring to the character's debut in 1987; the club's first mascot is a blue-maned lion).


title: Bart Simpson

text: Alongside T-shirts, Bart has been included in various other "The Simpsons"-related merchandise, including air fresheners, baseball caps, bumper stickers, cardboard standups, refrigerator magnets, key rings, buttons, dolls, posters, figurines, clocks, soapstone carvings, Chia Pets, bowling balls and boxer shorts. "The Bart Book", a book about Bart's personality and attributes, was released in 2004. Other books include "Bart Simpson's Guide to Life". "", which is not an official publication, includes a chapter analyzing Bart's character and comparing him to the "Nietzschean ideal".


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart has appeared in other media relating to "The Simpsons". He has appeared in every one of "The Simpsons" video games, including "", "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly", "", "", "", "", "", "" and "The Simpsons Game", released in 2007. Alongside the television series, Bart regularly appears in issues of "Simpsons Comics", which were first published on November 29, 1993, and are still issued monthly, and also has his own series called "Bart Simpson Comics" which have been released since 2000. Bart also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, launched in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood. Bart appears as a playable character in the toys-to-life video game "Lego Dimensions", released via a "Fun Pack" packaged with a Gravity Sprinter accessory in November 2015.


title: Bart Simpson

text: Bart, and other "The Simpsons" characters, have appeared in numerous television commercials for Nestlé's Butterfinger candy bars from 1990 to 2001, with the slogan "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger!" Lisa would occasionally advertise it too. Matt Groening would later say that the Butterfinger advertising campaign was a large part of the reason why Fox decided to pick up the half-hour show. The campaign was discontinued in 2001, much to the disappointment of Cartwright. Bart has also appeared in commercials for Burger King and Ramada Inn. In 2001, Kellogg's launched a brand of cereal called "Bart Simpson Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch", which was available for a limited time. Before the half-hour series went on the air, Matt Groening pitched Bart as a spokesperson for Jell-O. He wanted Bart to sing "J-E-L-L-O", then burp the letter O. His belief was that kids would try to do it the next day, but he was rejected.


title: Bart Simpson

text: On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44-cent stamps featuring Bart and the four other members of the Simpson family. They are the first characters, other than "Sesame Street" characters, to receive this accolade while the show is still in production. The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.


title: Aeneid

text: The Aeneid ( ; or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.


title: Aeneid

text: The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the "Iliad". Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and his description as a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous "pietas", and fashioned the "Aeneid" into a compelling founding myth or national epic that tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" is widely regarded as Virgil's masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" can be divided into halves based on the disparate subject matter of Books 1–6 (Aeneas' journey to Latium in Italy) and Books 7–12 (the war in Latium). These two-halves are commonly regarded as reflecting Virgil's ambition to rival Homer by treating both the "Odyssey"s wandering theme and the "Iliad"s warfare themes. This is, however, a rough correspondence, the limitations of which should be borne in mind.


title: Aeneid

text: Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme ("Arma virumque cano ...", "Of arms and the man I sing ...") and an invocation to the Muse, falling some seven lines after the poem's inception ("Musa, mihi causas memora ...", "O Muse, recount to me the causes ..."). He then explains the reason for the principal conflict in the story: the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people. This is consistent with her role throughout the Homeric epics.


title: Aeneid

text: Also in the manner of Homer, the story proper begins "in medias res" (into the middle of things), with the Trojan fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, heading in the direction of Italy. The fleet, led by Aeneas, is on a voyage to find a second home. It has been foretold that in Italy he will give rise to a race both noble and courageous, a race which will become known to all nations. Juno is wrathful, because she had not been chosen in the judgment of Paris, and because her favourite city, Carthage, will be destroyed by Aeneas' descendants. Also, Ganymede, a Trojan prince, was chosen to be the cupbearer to her husband, Jupiter—replacing Juno's daughter, Hebe. Juno proceeds to Aeolus, King of the Winds, and asks that he release the winds to stir up a storm in exchange for a bribe (Deiopea, the loveliest of all her sea nymphs, as a wife). Aeolus agrees to carry out Juno's orders (line 77, "My task is / To fulfill your commands"); the storm then devastates the fleet.


title: Aeneid

text: Neptune takes notice: although he himself is no friend of the Trojans, he is infuriated by Juno's intrusion into his domain, and stills the winds and calms the waters, after making sure that the winds would not bother the Trojans again, lest they be punished more harshly than they were this time. The fleet takes shelter on the coast of Africa, where Aeneas rouses the spirits of his men, reassuring them that they have been through worse situations before. There, Aeneas' mother, Venus, in the form of a huntress very similar to the goddess Diana, encourages him and recounts to him the history of Carthage. Eventually, Aeneas ventures into the city, and in the temple of Juno he seeks and gains the favour of Dido, queen of the city. The city has only recently been founded by refugees from Tyre and will later become a great imperial rival and enemy to Rome.


title: Aeneid

text: Meanwhile, Venus has her own plans. She goes to her son, Aeneas' half-brother Cupid, and tells him to imitate Ascanius (the son of Aeneas and his first wife Creusa). Thus disguised, Cupid goes to Dido and offers the gifts expected from a guest. As Dido cradles the boy during a banquet given in honour of the Trojans, Cupid secretly weakens her sworn fidelity to the soul of her late husband Sychaeus, who was murdered by her brother Pygmalion back in Tyre, by inciting fresh love for Aeneas.


title: Aeneid

text: In books 2 and 3, Aeneas recounts to Dido the events that occasioned the Trojans' arrival. He begins the tale shortly after the war described in the "Iliad". Cunning Ulysses devised a way for Greek warriors to gain entry into the walled city of Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse. The Greeks pretended to sail away, leaving a warrior, Sinon, to mislead the Trojans into believing that the horse was an offering and that if it were taken into the city, the Trojans would be able to conquer Greece. The Trojan priest Laocoön saw through the Greek plot and urged the horse's destruction, but his protests fell on deaf ears, so he hurled his spear at the horse. Then, in what would be seen by the Trojans as punishment from the gods, two serpents emerged from the sea and devoured Laocoön, along with his two sons. The Trojans then took the horse inside the fortified walls, and after nightfall the armed Greeks emerged from it, opening the city's gates to allow the returned Greek army to slaughter the Trojans.


title: Aeneid

text: In a dream, Hector, the fallen Trojan prince, advised Aeneas to flee with his family. Aeneas awoke and saw with horror what was happening to his beloved city. At first he tried to fight the enemy, but soon he lost his comrades and was left alone to fend off the Greeks. He witnessed the murder of Priam by Achilles' son Pyrrhus. His mother, Venus, appeared to him and led him back to his house. Aeneas tells of his escape with his son, Ascanius, his wife Creusa, and his father, Anchises, after the occurrence of various omens (Ascanius' head catching fire without his being harmed, a clap of thunder and a shooting star). At the city gates, they notice they lost Creusa, and Aeneas goes back into the city to look for her. He only encounters her ghost, who tells him that his destiny is to reach Hesperia, where kingship and a royal spouse await him.


title: Aeneid

text: Aeneas continues his account to Dido by telling how, rallying the other survivors, he built a fleet of ships and made landfall at various locations in the Mediterranean: Thrace, where they find the last remains of a fellow Trojan, Polydorus; Delos, where Apollo tells them to leave and to find the land of their forefathers; Crete, which they believe to be that land, and where they build their city (Pergamea) and promptly desert it after a plague proves this is not the place for them; the Strophades, where they encounter the Harpy Celaeno, who tells them to leave her island and to look for Italy, though, she prophesies, they won't find it until hunger forces them to eat their tables; and Buthrotum. This last city had been built in an attempt to replicate Troy. In Buthrotum, Aeneas meets Andromache, the widow of Hector. She is still lamenting the loss of her valiant husband and beloved child. There, too, Aeneas sees and meets Helenus, one of Priam's sons, who has the gift of prophecy. Through him, Aeneas learns the destiny laid out for him: he is divinely advised to seek out the land of Italy (also known as "Ausonia" or "Hesperia"), where his descendants will not only prosper, but in time rule the entire known world. In addition, Helenus also bids him go to the Sibyl in Cumae.


title: Aeneid

text: Heading into the open sea, Aeneas leaves Buthrotum, rounds the south eastern tip of Italy and makes his way towards Sicily (Trinacria). There, they are caught in the whirlpool of Charybdis and driven out to sea. Soon they come ashore at the land of the Cyclopes. There they meet a Greek, Achaemenides, one of Ulysses' men, who has been left behind when his comrades escaped the cave of Polyphemus. They take Achaemenides on board and narrowly escape Polyphemus. Shortly after, at Drepanum, Aeneas' father Anchises dies of old age. Aeneas heads on (towards Italy) and gets deflected to Carthage (by the storm described in book 1). Here, Aeneas ends his account of his wanderings to Dido.


title: Aeneid

text: Dido realises that she has fallen in love with Aeneas. Juno seizes upon this opportunity to make a deal with Venus, Aeneas' mother, with the intention of distracting Aeneas from his destiny of founding a city in Italy. Aeneas is inclined to return Dido's love, and during a hunting expedition, a storm drives them into a small covered grove in which Aeneas and Dido presumably made love, after which Juno presides over what Dido considers a marriage ceremony. But when Jupiter sends Mercury to remind Aeneas of his duty, he has no choice but to part. At the behest of Mercury's apparition, he leaves clandestinely at night. Her heart broken, Dido commits suicide by stabbing herself upon a pyre with Aeneas' sword. Before dying, she predicts eternal strife between Aeneas' people and hers; "rise up from my bones, avenging spirit" (4.625, trans. Fitzgerald) is a possible invocation to Hannibal.


title: Aeneid

text: Looking back from the deck of his ship, Aeneas sees the smoke of Dido's funeral pyre, and although he does not understand the exact reason behind it, he understands it as a bad omen, considering the angry madness of her love.


title: Aeneid

text: Hindered by bad weather from reaching Italy, the Trojans return to where they started at the beginning of book 1. Book 5 then takes place on Sicily and centers on the funeral games that Aeneas organises for the anniversary of his father's death. Aeneas organises celebratory games for the men—a boat race, a foot race, a boxing match, and an archery contest. In all those contests, Aeneas is careful to reward winners and losers, showing his leadership qualities by not allowing antagonism even after foul play. Each of these contests comments on past events or prefigures future events: the boxing match, for instance, is "a preview of the final encounter of Aeneas and Turnus", and the dove, the target during the archery contest, is connected to the deaths of Polites and King Priam in Book 2 and that of Camilla in Book 11. Afterwards, Ascanius leads the boys in a military parade and mock battle, the Lusus Troiae—a tradition he will teach the Latins while building the walls of Alba Longa.


title: Aeneid

text: During these events, Juno, via her messenger Iris, who disguises herself as an old woman, incites the Trojan women to burn the fleet and prevent the Trojans from ever reaching Italy, but her plan is thwarted when Ascanius and Aeneas intervene. Aeneas prays to Jupiter to quench the fires, which the god does with a torrential rainstorm. An anxious Aeneas is comforted by a vision of his father, who tells him to go to the underworld to receive a vision of his and Rome's future. In return for safe passage to Italy, the gods, by order of Jupiter, will receive one of Aeneas' men as a sacrifice: Palinurus, who steers Aeneas' ship by night, is put to sleep by Somnus and falls overboard.


title: Aeneid

text: Aeneas, with the guidance of the Cumaean Sibyl, descends into the underworld. They pass by crowds of the dead by the banks of the river Acheron and are ferried across by Charon before passing by Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld. Then Aeneas is shown the fates of the wicked in Tartarus and is warned by the Sibyl to bow to the justice of the gods. He also meets the shade of Dido, who remains unreconcilable. He is then brought to green fields of Elysium. There he speaks with the spirit of his father and is offered a prophetic vision of the destiny of Rome.


title: Aeneid

text: Upon returning to the land of the living, Aeneas leads the Trojans to settle in Latium, where King Latinus received oracles pointing towards the arrival of strangers and bidding him to marry his daughter Lavinia to the foreigners, and not to Turnus, the ruler of another native people, the Rutuli. Juno, unhappy with the Trojans' favourable situation, summons the fury Alecto from the underworld to stir up a war between the Trojans and the locals. Alecto incites Amata, the Queen of Latium and the wife of Latinus, to demand that Lavinia be married to noble Turnus, and she causes Ascanius to wound a revered deer during a hunt. Hence, although Aeneas wishes to avoid a war, hostilities break out. The book closes with a catalogue of Italic warriors.


title: Aeneid

text: Given the impending war, Aeneas seeks help from the Tuscans, enemies of the Rutuli, after having been encouraged to do so in a dream by Tiberinus. At the place where Rome will be, he meets a friendly Greek, King Evander of Arcadia. His son Pallas agrees to join Aeneas and lead troops against the Rutuli. Venus urges her spouse Vulcan to create weapons for Aeneas, which she then presents to Aeneas as a gift. On the shield, the future history of Rome is depicted.


title: Aeneid

text: Meanwhile, the Trojan camp is attacked by Turnus—spurred on by Juno, who informs him that Aeneas is away from his camp—and a midnight raid by the Trojans Nisus and Euryalus on Turnus' camp leads to their death. The next day, Turnus manages to breach the gates but is forced to retreat by jumping into the Tiber.


title: Aeneid

text: A council of the gods is held, in which Venus and Juno speak before Jupiter, and Aeneas returns to the besieged Trojan camp accompanied by his new Arcadian and Tuscan allies. In the ensuing battle many are slain—notably Pallas, whom Evander has entrusted to Aeneas but who is killed by Turnus. Mezentius, Turnus' close associate, allows his son Lausus to be killed by Aeneas while he himself flees. He reproaches himself and faces Aeneas in single combat—an honourable but essentially futile endeavour leading to his death.


title: Aeneid

text: After a short break in which the funeral ceremony for Pallas takes place, the war continues. Another notable native, Camilla, an Amazon character and virgin devoted to Diana, fights bravely but is killed, poisoned by the coward Arruns, who in turn is struck dead by Diana's sentinel Opis.


title: Aeneid

text: Single combat is proposed between Aeneas and Turnus, but Aeneas is so obviously superior to Turnus that the Rutuli, urged on by Turnus' divine sister, Juturna—who in turn is instigated by Juno—break the truce. Aeneas is injured by an arrow but is soon healed with the help of his mother Venus and returns to the battle. Turnus and Aeneas dominate the battle on opposite wings, but when Aeneas makes a daring attack at the city of Latium (causing the queen of Latium to hang herself in despair), he forces Turnus into single combat once more. In the duel, Turnus' strength deserts him as he tries to hurl a rock, and Aeneas' spear goes through his thigh. As Turnus is on his knees, begging for his life, the epic ends with Aeneas initially tempted to obey Turnus' pleas to spare his life, but then killing him in rage when he sees that Turnus is wearing Aeneas' friend Pallas' belt over his shoulder as a trophy.


title: Aeneid

text: Critics of the "Aeneid" focus on a variety of issues. The tone of the poem as a whole is a particular matter of debate; some see the poem as ultimately pessimistic and politically subversive to the Augustan regime, while others view it as a celebration of the new imperial dynasty. Virgil makes use of the symbolism of the Augustan regime, and some scholars see strong associations between Augustus and Aeneas, the one as founder and the other as re-founder of Rome. A strong teleology, or drive towards a climax, has been detected in the poem. The "Aeneid" is full of prophecies about the future of Rome, the deeds of Augustus, his ancestors, and famous Romans, and the Carthaginian Wars; the shield of Aeneas even depicts Augustus' victory at Actium in 31 BC. A further focus of study is the character of Aeneas. As the protagonist of the poem, Aeneas seems to constantly waver between his emotions and commitment to his prophetic duty to found Rome; critics note the breakdown of Aeneas' emotional control in the last sections of the poem where the "pious" and "righteous" Aeneas mercilessly slaughters the Latin warrior Turnus.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" appears to have been a great success. Virgil is said to have recited Books 2, 4 and 6 to Augustus; the mention of her son, Marcellus, in book 6 apparently caused Augustus' sister Octavia to faint. The poem was unfinished when Virgil died in 19 BC.


title: Aeneid

text: According to tradition, Virgil traveled to Greece around 19 BC to revise the "Aeneid". After meeting Augustus in Athens and deciding to return home, Virgil caught a fever while visiting a town near Megara. Virgil crossed to Italy by ship, weakened with disease, and died in Brundisium harbour on 21 September 19 BC, leaving a wish that the manuscript of the "Aeneid" was to be burned. Augustus ordered Virgil's literary executors, Lucius Varius Rufus and Plotius Tucca, to disregard that wish, instead ordering the "Aeneid" to be published with as few editorial changes as possible. As a result, the existing text of the "Aeneid" may contain faults which Virgil was planning to correct before publication. However, the only obvious imperfections are a few lines of verse that are metrically unfinished (i.e., not a complete line of dactylic hexameter). Other alleged "imperfections" are subject to scholarly debate.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" was written in a time of major political and social change in Rome, with the fall of the Republic and the Final War of the Roman Republic having torn through society and many Romans' faith in the "Greatness of Rome" severely faltering. However, the new emperor, Augustus Caesar, began to institute a new era of prosperity and peace, specifically through the re-introduction of traditional Roman moral values. The "Aeneid" was seen as reflecting this aim, by depicting the heroic Aeneas as a man devoted and loyal to his country and its prominence, rather than his own personal gains. In addition, the "Aeneid" gives mythic legitimization to the rule of Julius Caesar and, by extension, to his adopted son Augustus, by immortalizing the tradition that renamed Aeneas' son, Ascanius (called Ilus from "Ilium", meaning Troy), "Iulus", thus making him an ancestor of the "gens Julia", the family of Julius Caesar, and many other great imperial descendants as part of the prophecy given to him in the Underworld. (The meter shows that the name "Iulus" is pronounced as three syllables, not as "Julus".)


title: Aeneid

text: The perceived deficiency of any account of Aeneas' marriage to Lavinia or his founding of the Roman race led some writers, such as the 15th-century Italian poet Maffeo Vegio (through his "Thirteenth Book of the Aeneid" widely printed in the Renaissance), Pier Candido Decembrio (whose attempt was never completed), Claudio Salvucci (in his 1994 epic poem "The Laviniad"), and Ursula K. Le Guin (in her 2008 novel "Lavinia") to compose their own supplements.


title: Aeneid

text: Despite the polished and complex nature of the "Aeneid" (legend stating that Virgil wrote only three lines of the poem each day), the number of half-complete lines and the abrupt ending are generally seen as evidence that Virgil died before he could finish the work. Some legends state that Virgil, fearing that he would die before he had properly revised the poem, gave instructions to friends (including the current emperor, Augustus) that the "Aeneid" should be burned upon his death, owing to its unfinished state and because he had come to dislike one of the sequences in Book VIII, in which Venus and Vulcan made love, for its nonconformity to Roman moral virtues. The friends did not comply with Virgil's wishes and Augustus himself ordered that they be disregarded. After minor modifications, the "Aeneid" was published. Because it was composed and preserved in writing rather than orally, the text exhibits less variation than other classical epics.


title: Aeneid

text: As with other classical Latin poetry, the meter is based on the length of syllables rather than the stress, though the interplay of meter and stress is also important. Virgil also incorporated such poetic devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia, synecdoche, and assonance. Furthermore, he uses personification, metaphor, and simile in his work, usually to add drama and tension to the scene. An example of a simile can be found in book II when Aeneas is compared to a shepherd who stood on the high top of a rock unaware of what is going on around him. It can be seen that just as the shepherd is a protector of his sheep, so too is Aeneas to his people.


title: Aeneid

text: As was the rule in classical antiquity, an author's style was seen as an expression of his personality and character. Virgil's Latin has been praised for its evenness, subtlety and dignity.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid", like other classical epics, is written in dactylic hexameters: each line consists of six metrical feet made up of dactyls (one long syllable followed by two short syllables) and spondees (two long syllables). This epic consists of twelve books, and the narrative is broken up into three sections of four books each, respectively addressing Dido; the Trojans' arrival in Italy; and the war with the Latins. Each book has roughly 700–900 lines. The "Aeneid" comes to an abrupt ending, and scholars have speculated that Virgil died before he could finish the poem.


title: Aeneid

text: The Roman ideal of "pietas" ("piety, dutiful respect"), which can be loosely translated from the Latin as a selfless sense of duty toward one's


title: Aeneid

text: filial, religious, and societal obligations, was a crux of ancient Roman morality. Throughout the "Aeneid", Aeneas serves as the embodiment of


title: Aeneid

text: "pietas", with the phrase "pious Aeneas" occurring 20 times throughout the poem, thereby fulfilling his capacity as the father of the Roman people.


title: Aeneid

text: For instance, in Book 2 Aeneas describes how he carried his father Anchises from the burning city of Troy: "No help/ Or hope of help existed./


title: Aeneid

text: So I resigned myself, picked up my father,/ And turned my face toward the mountain range." Furthermore, Aeneas ventures into the underworld, thereby fulfilling Anchises'


title: Aeneid

text: wishes. His father's gratitude is presented in the text by the following lines: "Have you at last come, has that loyalty/ Your father counted on conquered the journey?


title: Aeneid

text: However, Aeneas' "pietas" extends beyond his devotion to his father: we also see several examples of his religious fervour. Aeneas is consistently subservient to the gods, even in actions opposed to his own desires, as he responds to one such divine command, "I sail to Italy not of my own free will."


title: Aeneid

text: In addition to his religious and familial "pietas", Aeneas also displays fervent patriotism and devotion to his people, particularly in a military capacity. For instance, as he and his followers leave Troy, Aeneas swears that he will "take up/ The combat once again. We shall not all/ Die this day unavenged."


title: Aeneid

text: Aeneas is a symbol of "pietas" in all of its forms, serving as a moral paragon to whom a Roman should aspire.


title: Aeneid

text: One of the most recurring themes in the "Aeneid" is that of divine intervention. Throughout the poem, the gods are constantly influencing the main characters and trying to change and impact the outcome, regardless of the fate that they all know will occur. For example, Juno comes down and acts as a phantom Aeneas to drive Turnus away from the real Aeneas and all of his rage from the death of Pallas. Even though Juno knows in the end that Aeneas will triumph over Turnus, she does all she can to delay and avoid this outcome.


title: Aeneid

text: Divine intervention occurs multiple times, in Book 4 especially. Aeneas falls in love with Dido, delaying his ultimate fate of traveling to Italy. However, it is actually the gods who inspired the love, as Juno plots:


title: Aeneid

text: Juno is speaking to Venus, making an agreement and influencing the lives and emotions of both Dido and Aeneas. Later in the same book, Jupiter steps in and restores what is the true fate and path for Aeneas, sending Mercury down to Aeneas' dreams, telling him that he must travel to Italy and leave his new-found lover. As Aeneas later pleads with Dido:


title: Aeneid

text: Several of the gods try to intervene against the powers of fate, even though they know what the eventual outcome will be. The interventions are really just distractions to continue the conflict and postpone the inevitable. If the gods represent humans, just as the human characters engage in conflicts and power struggles, so too do the gods.


title: Aeneid

text: Fate, described as a preordained destiny that men and gods have to follow, is a major theme in the "Aeneid". One example is when Aeneas is reminded of his fate through Jupiter and Mercury while he is falling in love with Dido. Mercury urges, "Think of your expectations of your heir,/ Iulus, to whom the whole Italian realm, the land/ Of Rome, are due." Mercury is referring to Aeneas' preordained fate to found Rome, as well as Rome's preordained fate to rule the world:


title: Aeneid

text: It is important to recognize that there is a marked difference between fate and divine intervention, as even though the gods might remind mortals of their eventual fate, the gods themselves are not in control of it. For example, the opening lines of the poem specify that Aeneas "came to Italy by destiny", but is also harassed by the separate force of "baleful Juno in her sleepless rage". Even though Juno might intervene, Aeneas' fate is set in stone and cannot be changed.


title: Aeneid

text: Later in Book 6, when Aeneas visits the underworld, his father Anchises introduces him to the larger fate of the Roman people, as contrasted against his own personal fate to found Rome:


title: Aeneid

text: From the very beginning of the "Aeneid", violence and conflict are used as a means of survival and conquest. Aeneas' voyage is caused by the Trojan War and the destruction of


title: Aeneid

text: Troy. Aeneas describes to Dido in Book 2 the massive amount of destruction that occurs after the Greeks sneak into Troy. He recalls that he asks his men to "defend/ A city


title: Aeneid

text: This is one of the first examples of how violence begets violence: even though the Trojans know they have lost the battle, they continue to fight for their country.


title: Aeneid

text: This violence continues as Aeneas makes his journey. Dido kills herself in an excessively violent way over a pyre in order to end and escape her worldly problem: being heartbroken


title: Aeneid

text: over the departure of her "husband" Aeneas. Queen Dido's suicide is a double edged sword. While releasing herself from the burden of her pain through violence, her last words


title: Aeneid

text: Furthermore, her people, hearing of their queen's death, have only one avenue on which to direct the blame: the already-departed Trojans. Thus, Dido's request of her people


title: Aeneid

text: and her people's only recourse for closure align in their mutual hate for Aeneas and his Trojans. In effect, Dido's violent suicide leads to the violent nature of the


title: Aeneid

text: Finally, when Aeneas arrives in Latium, conflict inevitably arises. Juno sends Alecto, one of the Furies, to cause Turnus to go against Aeneas. In the ensuing battles, Turnus


title: Aeneid

text: kills Pallas, who is supposed to be under Aeneas' protection. This act of violence causes Aeneas to be consumed with fury. Although Turnus asks for mercy in their final encounter,


title: Aeneid

text: This final act of violence shows how Turnus' violence—the act of killing Pallas—inevitably leads to more violence and his own death.


title: Aeneid

text: It is possible that the recurring theme of violence in the "Aeneid" is a subtle commentary on the bloody violence contemporary readers would have just experienced during the Late Republican


title: Aeneid

text: civil wars. The "Aeneid" potentially explores whether the violence of the civil wars was necessary to establish a lasting peace under Augustus, or whether it would just lead to more violence in the future.


title: Aeneid

text: Written during the reign of Augustus, the "Aeneid" presents the hero Aeneas as a strong and powerful leader. The favourable representation of Aeneas parallels


title: Aeneid

text: Augustus in that it portrays his reign in a progressive and admirable light, and allows Augustus to be positively associated with the portrayal of Aeneas.


title: Aeneid

text: Although Virgil's patron Maecenas was obviously not Augustus himself, he was still a high figure within Augustus' administration and could have personally


title: Aeneid

text: In the "Aeneid", Aeneas is portrayed as the singular hope for the rebirth of the Trojan people. Charged with the preservation of his people by divine authority, Aeneas is symbolic of Augustus' own accomplishments in establishing order after the long period of chaos of the Roman civil wars. Augustus as the light of savior and the last


title: Aeneid

text: hope of the Roman people is a parallel to Aeneas as the savior of the Trojans. This parallel functions as propaganda in support of Augustus, as it depicts the Trojan people,


title: Aeneid

text: Later in Book 6, Aeneas travels to the underworld where he sees his father Anchises, who tells him of his own destiny as well as that of


title: Aeneid

text: the Roman people. Anchises describes how Aeneas' descendant Romulus will found the great city of Rome,


title: Aeneid

text: Virgil writes about the fated future of Lavinium, the city that Aeneas will found, which will in turn lead directly to the


title: Aeneid

text: regime's destiny to bring glory and peace to Rome. Rather than use Aeneas indirectly as a positive parallel


title: Aeneid

text: to Augustus as in other parts of the poem, Virgil outright praises the emperor in Book 6, referring to Augustus as a harbinger for the glory


title: Aeneid

text: The poem abounds with smaller and greater allegories. Two of the debated allegorical sections pertain to the exit from the underworld and to Pallas' belt.


title: Aeneid

text: Aeneas' leaving the underworld through the gate of false dreams has been variously interpreted: one suggestion is that the passage simply refers to the time of day at which Aeneas returned to the world of the living; another is that it implies that all of Aeneas' actions in the remainder of the poem are somehow "false". In an extension of the latter interpretation, it has been suggested that Virgil is conveying that the history of the world since the foundation of Rome is but a lie. Other scholars claim that Virgil is establishing that the theological implications of the preceding scene (an apparent system of reincarnation) are not to be taken as literal.


title: Aeneid

text: This section has been interpreted to mean that for the entire passage of the poem, Aeneas, who symbolizes "pietas" (piety or morality), in a moment becomes "furor" (fury), thus destroying what is essentially the primary theme of the poem itself. Many have argued over these two sections. Some claim that Virgil meant to change them before he died, while others find that the location of the two passages, at the very end of the so-called Volume I (Books 1–6, the "Odyssey"), and Volume II (Books 7–12, the "Iliad"), and their short length, which contrasts with the lengthy nature of the poem, are evidence that Virgil placed them purposefully there.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" is a cornerstone of the Western canon, and early (at least by the 2nd century AD) became one of the essential elements of a Latin education, usually required to be memorized. Even after the decline of the Roman Empire, it "remained central to a Latin education". In Latin-Christian culture, the "Aeneid" was one of the canonical texts, subjected to commentary as a philological and educational study, with the most complete commentary having been written by the 4th-century grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus. It was widely held to be the pinnacle of Latin literature, much in the same way that the "Iliad" was seen to be supreme in Greek literature.


title: Aeneid

text: The strong influence of the "Aeneid" has been identified in the development of European vernacular literatures—some English works that show its influence being "Beowulf", Layamon's "Brut" (through the source text "Historia Regum Britanniae"), "The Faerie Queene", and Milton's "Paradise Lost". The Italian poet Dante Alighieri was himself profoundly influenced by the "Aeneid", so much so that his magnum opus "The Divine Comedy", itself widely considered central to the western canon, includes a number of quotations from and allusions to the "Aeneid" and features the author Virgil as a major character – the guide of Dante through the realms of the Inferno and Purgatorio. Another continental work displaying the influence of the "Aeneid" is the 16th-century Portuguese epic "Os Lusíadas", written by Luís de Camões and dealing with Vasco da Gama's voyage to India.


title: Aeneid

text: The importance of Latin education itself was paramount in Western culture: "from 1600 to 1900, the Latin school was at the center of European education, wherever it was found"; within that Latin school, Virgil was taught at the advanced level and, in 19th-century England, special editions of Virgil were awarded to students who distinguished themselves. In the United States, Virgil and specifically the "Aeneid" were taught in the fourth year of a Latin sequence, at least until the 1960s; the current (2011) Advanced Placement curriculum in Latin continues to assign a central position to the poem: "The AP Latin: Virgil Exam is designed to test the student's ability to read, translate, understand, analyze, and interpret the lines of the "Aeneid" that appear on the course syllabus in Latin."


title: Aeneid

text: Many phrases from this poem entered the Latin language, much as passages from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope have entered the English language. One example is from Aeneas' reaction to a painting of the sack of Troy: "Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt"—"These are the tears of things, and our mortality cuts to the heart" ("Aeneid" I, 462). The influence is also visible in very modern work: Brian Friel's "Translations" (a play written in the 1980s, set in 19th-century Ireland), makes references to the classics throughout and ends with a passage from the "Aeneid":


title: Aeneid

text: "Urbs antiqua fuit"—there was an ancient city which, 'tis said, Juno loved above all the lands. And it was the goddess' aim and cherished hope that here should be the capital of all nations—should the fates perchance allow that. Yet in truth she discovered that a race was springing from Trojan blood to overthrow some day these Tyrian towers—a people "late regem belloque superbum"—kings of broad realms and proud in war who would come forth for Libya's downfall.


title: Aeneid

text: The first full and faithful rendering of the poem in an Anglic language is the Scots translation by Gavin Douglas—his "Eneados", completed in 1513, which also included Maffeo Vegio's supplement. Even in the 20th century, Ezra Pound considered this still to be the best "Aeneid" translation, praising the "richness and fervour" of its language and its hallmark fidelity to the original. The English translation by the 17th-century poet John Dryden is another important version. Most classic translations, including both Douglas and Dryden, employ a rhyme scheme; most more modern attempts do not.


title: Aeneid

text: Recent English verse translations include those by British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis (1963), who strove to render Virgil's original hexameter line; Allen Mandelbaum (honoured by a 1973 National Book Award); Library of Congress Poet Laureate Robert Fitzgerald (1981); Stanley Lombardo (2005); Robert Fagles (2006); Sarah Ruden (2008); Barry B. Powell (2015); David Ferry (2017); Len Krisak (2020); and Shadi Bartsch (2021).


title: Aeneid

text: There have also been partial translations, such as those by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (Book 2 and Book 4), and Seamus Heaney (Book 6).


title: Aeneid

text: One of the first operas based on the story of the "Aeneid" was the English composer Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" (1688). The opera is famous for its aria "Dido's Lament" ('When I am laid in earth'), of which the first line of the melody is inscribed on the wall by the door of the Purcell Room, a concert hall in London.


title: Aeneid

text: The story of the "Aeneid" was made into the grand opera "Les Troyens" (1856–1858) by the French composer Hector Berlioz.


title: Aeneid

text: The "Aeneid" was the basis for the 1962 Italian film "The Avenger" and the 1971–1972 television serial "Eneide".


title: Aeneid

text: In the musical "Spring Awakening", based on the play of the same title by Frank Wedekind, schoolboys study the Latin text, and the first verse of Book 1 is incorporated into the number "All That's Known".


title: Aeneid

text: Ursula Le Guin's 2008 novel "Lavinia" is a free prose retelling of the last six books of the "Aeneid" narrated by and centered on Aeneas' Latin wife Lavinia, a minor character in the epic poem. It carries the action forward to the crowning of Aeneas' younger son Silvius as king of Latium.


title: Aeneid

text: A seventeenth-century popular broadside ballad also appears to recount events from books 1–4 of the "Aeneid," focusing mostly on the relationship between Aeneas and Dido. The ballad, "The Wandering Prince of Troy", presents many similar elements as Virgil's epic, but alters Dido's final sentiments toward Aeneas, as well as presenting an interesting end for Aeneas himself.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua is a Danish-Norwegian Europop and Dance-pop band, best known for their 1997 multi-platinum crossover and novelty single "Barbie Girl". The group formed in 1989 as Joyspeed, and achieved international success around the globe in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band released three albums: "Aquarium" in 1997, "Aquarius" in 2000 and "Megalomania" in 2011. The group sold an estimated 33 million albums and singles, making them the most profitable Danish band ever.


title: Aqua (band)

text: The group managed to top the UK Singles Chart with three of their singles. The group also caused controversy with the double entendres in their "Barbie Girl" single, with the Barbie doll makers Mattel filing a lawsuit against the group. The lawsuit was finally dismissed by a judge in 2002, who ruled "The parties are advised to chill".


title: Aqua (band)

text: The band's members are vocalists René Dif and Lene Nystrøm, keyboardist Søren Rasted, and guitarist Claus Norreen. During their split, Nystrøm, Dif and Rasted all achieved solo chart success, and Norreen continued in the music industry remixing other artists' material. At a press event on October 26, 2007, the group announced a reunion tour, as well as the release of a compilation album featuring new material. Their third album, "Megalomania", was released on 3 October 2011.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua's history together dates back to 1989. They were originally called Joyspeed. Claus Norreen and Sóren Rasted met in 1989, and throughout the early 1990s, they wrote songs together. At that time, René Dif was working in the Netherlands as a club DJ, and Rasted and Norreen were starting out as producers. Rasted and Norreen had won a contest and were hired to produce a soundtrack. For some of the songs they hired Dif. The three were brought in to make part of the soundtrack for a little-known film titled "Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner". The recording of the soundtrack began in 1993. After getting along well, the trio decided that they would work together again on a future project. A few months after the film was released, Dif spotted Lene Nystrøm singing on the Norway–Denmark ferry, "M/S Peter Wessel". He approached her and hired her as the lead singer of Joyspeed, later renamed Aqua. The formation of Joyspeed was on the basis that both Norreen and Rasted would do the production for the group, with Dif rapping and Nystrøm performing the main vocals. A small Swedish record label signed them in 1994, and their very first single "Itzy Bitzy Spider" was released in Sweden. The single failed to become popular, and after one week at the lower end of the Swedish charts, it disappeared completely. The four were disappointed and canceled their contract with the record label (although the label wanted to keep the group on for further releases).


title: Aqua (band)

text: With a new manager and no record deal, the group started over, and began to develop their famous bubblegum pop sound. The four began to produce and write melodic, catchy European pop songs, attracting the attention of major label Universal Music Denmark. They renamed themselves Aqua, choosing the name seen on a poster for an aquarium in their dressing room, and eventually accepted Universal Music Denmark's offer of a recording contract in 1996. The group's first release under their new name was "Roses Are Red", a dance song with a distinct pop sound. It was released in Denmark in September 1996, and was expected to break into the Danish top ten. The single far surpassed all expectations set by the label, though, and stayed in the charts for over two months, eventually selling enough copies to be certified platinum. The success of the single was further proven when Aqua received a nomination for "Best Danish Dance Act", although the group did not win.


title: Aqua (band)

text: The instant success of "Roses Are Red" proved to Aqua that their new sound was popular with the public, and as a result their follow-up single followed the same formula. Titled "My Oh My", the single again featured catchy lyrics paired with a soft, melodic beat. Upon its release in February 1997, "My Oh My" broke all Danish sales records by being certified gold within six days. The single went straight to number one in Denmark, and made Aqua a household name in the country. The first two singles proved to Universal Music Denmark that Aqua was a very marketable group, and as a result the label looked to start marketing their music across the continent. Aqua released their debut album "Aquarium" in Denmark on 26 March 1997. The album contained 11 tracks, including their first two singles and their then upcoming third single "Barbie Girl". Universal Music Group had by now begun to market the group in other countries, releasing "Roses Are Red" in Japan in February 1997 and in various countries across Europe in late 1996. The single had proven popular everywhere it was sold, convincing Universal that the group should not just focus on the Danish market, but instead on the general European market.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua released their third single "Barbie Girl" in May 1997. The song, at first glance, appears to be about the Barbie doll. However, at a second glance, the song contains several sexual overtones, such as "You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere", "You can touch, you can play", and "Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky-panky." Despite complaints about the double meanings in "Barbie Girl", Universal Music released the single around the world in 1997. The release was highly successful, making number one in the United Kingdom for four weeks, in Australia for three weeks, and making the top ten of the "Billboard" Hot 100, something rarely achieved at the time by European pop acts.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua released their album "Aquarium" around the world in the autumn of 1997. Although the album sold well, many still wrote the group off as a one-hit wonder. Despite this, and much criticism from the media, Aqua had made their international breakthrough, and were now known around the world. Aqua's follow-up to "Barbie Girl" in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom was "Doctor Jones", although another single, "Lollipop (Candyman)", was released in the United States through MCA Records. "Doctor Jones" entered at number one in several countries, including the United Kingdom, where it stayed at the top spot for two weeks, and Australia, where it spent seven weeks at #1. "Lollipop (Candyman)" became the group's second Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at #23 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The song peaked at #3 in Australia. In Japan both songs were released as a double A-side, and achieved reasonable success in the singles chart.


title: Aqua (band)

text: "Doctor Jones" was followed up by "Turn Back Time", a song which proved to be accepted well by both Aqua fans and critics. The song, unlike all other previous releases, dropped the bubblegum pop sound in favour of a slow, mainstream rhythm. The song was featured on the soundtrack to the film "Sliding Doors", and unlike many other Aqua releases achieved a large amount of radio and video airplay. The song became their third single to make it to number one in the United Kingdom. As of 2005, only a handful of other artists have managed to achieve that kind of initial success in the UK (acts that have included Westlife and the Spice Girls). Elsewhere, the song also performed well, including reaching #10 in Australia, however it would not be a success in the US and thus marked the end of Aqua's involvement Stateside.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua's second Danish single, "My Oh My", was resurrected in August 1998. The single was also released in several other European countries where it had not been released initially. Following the release of "Good Morning Sunshine", which achieved limited success, Aqua decided to concentrate on their second album, and on touring around Australia. This marked the end of a period Aqua's fans dubbed the ""Aquarium" age". The group also released a documentary on 1 December 1998 containing several live performances of songs from the "Aquarium" album and interviews with the members.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua were relatively quiet during 1999, deciding to concentrate on recording "Aquarius". According to promotional interviews with the group, over 30 songs were recorded for the album, although eventually only twelve made it onto the final version. The group released their second album "Aquarius" in February 2000. The album instantly proved popular with their fan base, despite some changes to their sound. "Aquarius" contained several different musical styles. Tracks such as "Cartoon Heroes" and "Bumble Bees" preserved the pop sound of their debut album. "Cartoon Heroes" was released as the first single, and sold well across Europe and Australia, reaching #1 in Denmark, #7 in the United Kingdom, and #16 in Australia. The song is often best remembered for its music video. Aqua released their follow-up single "Around the World" in June 2000, although it was not as successful as "Cartoon Heroes", peaking at #26 in the UK and #35 in Australia. Despite this, it reached the top spot in Denmark. Although not expected at the time, "Around the World" would be Aqua's final UK single release.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua released "Bumble Bees" as a single in Scandinavia, Europe and Australia, achieving reasonable success. "We Belong to the Sea" followed as a fourth single in even fewer nations, failing to chart in most countries. At one stage, "Freaky Friday" was planned as a potential follow-up single for release in early 2001, but it was cancelled. Aqua then decided that they would concentrate on starting work on their third album, as opposed to releasing further singles from "Aquarius". Aqua spent the first few months of 2001 touring around the world, and working on material for their third album. The group also performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, collaborating with the Safri Duo and providing the music during the voting stages of the competition. This performance also caused controversy, as a number of offensive phrases and gestures were added during the performance of "Barbie Girl" (which was involved in a major lawsuit). During a couple of low-key events in Denmark the group performed live versions of songs intended for inclusion on the third album, including "Couch Potato" and "Shakin' Stevens Is a Superstar", the latter a tribute to the 1980s performer Shakin' Stevens. The songs were said to have incorporated a rock sound into their music.


title: Aqua (band)

text: In December 2000, Mattel filed a lawsuit against the group's record label "Mattel v. MCA Records", 296 F.3d 894 9th Cir. 2002, claiming that "Barbie Girl" had damaged the reputation of the Barbie brand. Judge Alex Kozinski writing for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the district court finding the use of Mattel's trademark in "Barbie Girl" fell within the noncommercial use exemption to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. Judge Kozinski concluded his opinion by writing, "The parties are advised to chill."


title: Aqua (band)

text: In 2008, Aqua reunited and promised a 25-concert tour that was to have commenced in the summer. Offers were received by the record company from locations in Denmark, Canada, United States and United Kingdom. Aqua finally performed 8 concerts around Denmark as part of the "Grøn koncert" festival. They released their second greatest hits album on 15 June 2009, which includes 16 old remastered tracks and three new songs: "My Mamma Said", "Live Fast, Die Young", and their first single in eight years, "Back to the 80s", which was released in Denmark on 25 May 2009. "Back to the 80s" debuted at number one in Denmark where it stayed for six weeks, becoming the band's fifth number-one single. It has since been certified platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales of 30,000 copies in Denmark. Aqua has also toured Scandinavia between May and August 2009 and performed at several gigs in Germany, United Kingdom and France. The greatest hits album was released in North America and many European countries on 22 September 2009 and in the UK on 29 September 2009.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua commenced the recording of "Megalomania" at the beginning of 2010, scheduled for a release in the spring of 2011. Aqua released the album's lead single, "How R U Doin?" on 14 March 2011, after a preview of the song was posted onto the band's official Facebook page on 10 March 2011. Co-written by Thomas Troelsen, the song peaked at number four in Denmark, becoming the band's tenth top-ten single. It has since been certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales of 15,000 copies in Denmark. Aqua were originally set to release their third studio album on 14 July 2011, however the release was pushed back to 5 September 2011 with the record label citing bad timing. The album, titled "Megalomania", was then further rescheduled to be released on 3 October 2011. On 7 September 2011, Aqua released a preview of their new single, "Playmate to Jesus", on their official Facebook page, which was released on 12 September 2011. On 8 September 2011, it was announced that "Like a Robot" would also be released as a single on 12 September, and would battle against "Playmate to Jesus" in the charts. After the moderate chart success of "Megalomania" in Denmark, an expanded version of the band featuring all four original members (Lene Nystrøm Rasted, René Dif, Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen), plus new additions Niels Lykke Munksgaard Rasmussen (guitar) Frederik Thaae (bass) and Morten Hellborn (drums), toured Australia in March 2012. They initially announced six concerts but quickly added three additional shows to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth (Fremantle) due to popular demand. Aqua appeared on "Sunrise", an Australian morning TV show on the Seven Network. They performed a slower tempo acoustic version of "Barbie Girl" and it was revealed that Lene had pneumonia, but the concerts would proceed as the group pride themselves on never having cancelled a show. They then appeared on the Seven Network's "The Morning Show", performing "Doctor Jones". After the tour, the band split again.


title: Aqua (band)

text: In September 2016, it was announced that Aqua will perform "at least 10 concerts" as part of the Vi Elsker 90'erne ("We Love the '90s") music festival. It was the first time Aqua performed live in Denmark since 2011. On 20 September 2016, Aqua announced that Claus Norreen would not return to the group. Norreen said in a statement that his "musical focus" has changed and that he no longer desires to tour with Aqua, but still considers the remaining members of Aqua "his family".


title: Aqua (band)

text: On 29 May 2018, Aqua announced "The Rewind Tour" in Canada, with fellow '90s acts Prozzäk and Whigfield. In June 2018, Aqua released their single called "Rookie".


title: Aqua (band)

text: On 29 April 2022 during a concert in Tivoli, Copenhagen, the band announced that they would be going on a tour that would continue through 2023.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Their influences include ABBA, Ace of Base, and C+C Music Factory. Aqua followed a more traditional verse-chorus structure. Usually, the verse would consist of Lene starting and finishing, while René would sing in the middle.


title: Aqua (band)

text: Aqua are best known for the dance tracks such as "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones", "Lollipop (Candyman)", and "My Oh My"; however, they also made slower tracks such as "Turn Back Time", "Good Morning Sunshine", and "We Belong to the Sea". There are also differences between the first album "Aquarium" and the second album "Aquarius"; "Aquarium" had many similar tracks whereas "Aquarius" experimented with acoustic instruments and genres like country and Latin music.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mikhail Vladimirovich Mishustin (; born 3 March 1966) is a Russian politician and economist serving as the prime minister of Russia since 16 January 2020. He previously served as the director of the Federal Taxation Service from 2010 to 2020.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: President Vladimir Putin nominated Mishustin to become prime minister on 15 January 2020, following the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev and the rest of the government to allow for sweeping constitutional changes. Hearings on his appointment took place in the State Duma on 16 January, and he was confirmed in office that day. His deputy, Andrey Belousov, served as acting prime minister from April to May 2020 after Mishustin tested positive for COVID-19.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mikhail Mishustin was born on 3 March 1966 in Lobnya, a town close to Moscow, or in Moscow itself, to the Mishustin family, Vladimir Moiseyevich and Luiza Mikhailovna. His mother was born in the city of Kotlas in the Arkhangelsk region while Mishustin's father, a jew from Belarussia, was born in Polotsk. Vladimir Moiseyevich Mishustin was a member of the Central Committee of the Komsomol.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In 1989, he graduated from the STANKIN, majoring in system engineering, and then in 1992, he completed postgraduate studies at the same Institute.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: After finishing graduate school, he began working as a director of a test laboratory facility. In 1992, Mishustin began working at the International Computer Club (ICC), where he worked on facilitating the integration of Russian and Western information technologies. He ultimately headed the board of the International Computer Club.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In 1998, he joined the state service as an assistant for information systems for accounting and control over the receipt of tax payments to the head of the State tax service of the Russian Federation. From 1998 to 2004, he worked as Deputy tax minister, being second-in-command at the State Tax Service. He worked as head of the Federal Agency for Real Estate Cadastre within the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, and head of the Federal Agency for Managing Special Economic Zones.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In 2008, Mishustin left the civil service and returned to the private sector. He spent two years as the president of UFG Asset Management, an investment fund, before resigning to become head of the Federal Tax Service.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In 2010, Mishustin was appointed head of the Federal Tax Service (FTS) by then–Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. After his appointment to this post, entrepreneurs expressed the hope that Mishustin, as coming from business, would be more "friendly" to Russian entrepreneurs. As head of the Federal Tax Service, Mishustin earned a reputation as a skilled technocrat and emphasized tax simplification and electronic tax services. During this period, however, the tax service was criticized for its overly strict approach to business; Mishustin rejected this criticism, pointing to a decrease in the number of on-site tax audits and tax inspections of large and medium-sized businesses.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: As head of the FTS, Mishustin declared war on "dirty data" and targeted problems with unjustified value-added tax (VAT) refunds. Mishustin emphasized digitization and big data, making extensive use of "techno-authoritarian" systems of government surveillance of economic activity, including the collection of data on almost every transaction in Russia. This data collection was facilitated by new legislation that required all business-to-business invoices to be submitted to the government and required all retailers to automatically transmit real-time transaction data to tax authorities through an "online cash register" process. The government used artificial intelligence to identify persons suspected of tax evasion. This system of surveillance resulted in a decrease in the share of VAT uncollected by Russian authorities during Mishustin's tenure; the "VAT gap" reportedly declined from 20% to less than 1%).


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, along with his entire Cabinet, resigned on 15 January 2020, after President Vladimir Putin delivered the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, in which he proposed several amendments to the constitution. Medvedev stated that he was resigning to allow Putin to make the significant constitutional changes suggested by Putin regarding shifting power away from the presidency. Putin accepted the resignation. However, on Putin's instructions, the Cabinet continued its work as a caretaker cabinet until the formation of a new government.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 15 January 2020, Putin nominated Mishustin for the post of Prime Minister. According to Putin, he was offered four candidates, but Mishustin was not among them. As a result Putin independently decided to nominate Mishustin for the Prime Minister. The next day he was confirmed by the State Duma to the post and appointed Prime Minister by Putin's decree. This was the first time ever that a Prime Minister was confirmed without any votes against.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 21 January 2020, Mishustin presented to President Vladimir Putin a draft structure of his Cabinet. On the same day, the President signed a decree on the structure of the Cabinet and appointed the proposed Ministers.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: The cabinet contained multiple members from Medvedev's Second Cabinet. Only four Deputy Prime Ministers remained (three retaining their positions and one being appointed to another post), along with twelve Ministers.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: According to many political analysts, Mishustin is the only one of Putin's Prime Ministers who truly formed his "own" cabinet. He gathered a team of his own people and associates. Before that, in the 21st century, only Putin was able to do this. In particular, two Deputy Prime Ministers were deputies of Mishustin in the Federal Tax Service. According to experts, this means that Mishustin has been given "carte blanche" for changes.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 26 March 2020, Mishustin proposed to restore the Government's Presidium, a body in the structure of the Cabinet formed to solve operational issues. Previously, such a body existed in Medvedev's First Cabinet, but had been abolished in Medvedev's Second Cabinet.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mishustin cut the Federal budget for 2020 to 2022, in correspondence to the 2020 Presidential Address to the Parliament. Mishustin engaged in the digital economy and promised support to large companies. He also suggested creating a common electronic income database for Russians, where all citizens incomes will be tracked.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Since February 2020, Mishustin has started traveling around the country to make a real assessment of living conditions in various regions and identify issues on which it is necessary to strengthen work. Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Mishustin managed to visit four regions: Novgorod, Kurgan, Yaroslavl and Kostroma oblasts. In July 2020, after a decline in the active spread of the virus and the lifting of restrictions related to the pandemic, Mishustin resumed his trips, visiting Tatarstan.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 27 January 2020, Mishustin instructed the formation of an operational headquarters for the prevention of COVID-19 on 29 January, approved its composition. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova was appointed its chief. On 30 January, he signed an order to close the borders with China in the Russian Far East. On 18 February, Mishustin signed an order banning Chinese citizens from entering Russia. The ban has been in effect since 20 February.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 14 March, Mishustin created a Coordinating Council for the fight against coronavirus, which he personally headed. The next day, by presidential decree, a working group of the State Council was created, headed by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. However, according to Dmitry Peskov, Mishustin's Coordinating Council is more important than Sobyanin's Working Group.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Since 16 March 2020, flights to and from the European Union, Norway and Switzerland are limited to regular flights between capital cities (or Geneva in case of Switzerland) and Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport, and charter flights. Mishustin furthermore announced the closure of the border with Belarus for the movement of people, for which he was criticized by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and an entry ban for foreigners imposed from 18 March to 1 May. In addition, borders with other countries bordering Russia were also closed.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 18 and 19 March, Mishustin announced measures to support business. In particular, he instructed to defer the payment of taxes for travel agencies and airlines, as well as to defer insurance premiums for small businesses. On 19 March, he also announced the government's control over food and drug prices due to the coronavirus. It also temporarily lifted all restrictions on the supply of essential goods. On 20 March, Mishustin proclaimed that flights to the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates would be restricted. On the same day, Mishustin announced that six drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 had been developed in Russia and were being tested.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 27 March, as a follow-up to Putin's address to the nation, Mishustin ordered all reservations at pensions or holiday houses to be cancelled from 28 March to 1 June, recommended regional authorities to close all the pistes at resorts for the same period, instructed them to force all the public eating places (except for delivery services) to suspend activities from 28 March to 5 April, and recommend the citizens to refrain from travelling.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 30 March, as Moscow and Moscow Oblast declared a lockdown, Mishustin urged all regions to follow the example and take similar measures. He also announced a bill that would raise fines for breaching quarantine requirements. On 1 April, Mishustin and the Minister of Communications Maxut Shadayev announced creating a system of tracking quarantine violation based on data of mobile network operators. Violators will receive a text message, and if they breach it systematically, the information will be sent to the police.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: After testing positive for COVID-19 on 30 April, he suggested to President Putin that his deputy Andrey Belousov be appointed to take over for him as the acting Prime Minister. Putin signed a decree to that effect, appointing Belousov to the role on an acting basis, following Mishustin's recommendation. After recovering, Mishustin resumed discharging his duties as Prime Minister on 19 May, following Putin signing a decree permitting him to do so. He was the highest-ranking Russian official and the second head of government in the world (after British PM Boris Johnson) to become infected with the virus.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 1 June 2020, Mishustin announced that a national plan to restore the economy, employment and income of the population after the coronavirus pandemic is ready and on 2 June he presented the plan to President Putin. The plan includes 3 stages, 9 sections, 30 priority areas and about 500 events. According to the plan, the recovery of the economy was given one and a half years - until the end of 2021. The goals of the plan are to achieve sustainable growth in real incomes, reduce the unemployment rate to less than 5%, and ensure that GDP growth rates are at least 2.5% per year.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In June 2020, Mishustin proposed a tax maneuver for IT companies in order to reduce the load and create a comfortable competitive regime in this area. President Putin supported this idea and instructed the government to work on it. As part of the maneuver, Mishustin proposed to reduce the income tax on IT companies from 20% to 3%, as well as to reduce insurance premiums from 14% to 7.6%. On June 23, Putin officially announced the tax maneuver prepared by Mishustin.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 9 July 2020, Mishustin visited Tatarstan where he took part in the IT conference, where he met with the managers of the country's leading IT companies. During his speech, Mishustin spoke about the government's program for the development of the IT industry, which includes a new tax regime, support for innovation, assistance to startups, development of public-private partnerships, etc. According to him, the Russian jurisdiction should become the most attractive for IT companies. Mishustin stated: "It is obvious that following the leaders of digitalization leads countries to a new digital dependence. Russia cannot afford to take a place among the depend countries, which means that we have no choice, we must go forward and be leaders."


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 10 July 2020, during his trip to Tatarstan, Mishustin launched the construction of the Moscow – Kazan highway, which will become part of the route Europe - Western China. Mishustin called this construction the largest road project in Russia. Given the significance of the project (which is one of the parts of the plan to restore the economy after the coronavirus crisis), Mishustin instructed to launch the highway in 2024, which is three years earlier than originally planned. For this purpose, he promised to allocate additional funds. In addition, he instructed Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich to work on the issue of extending the highway to Yekaterinburg by 2030.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 16 November 2020, Mishustin announced an administrative reform aimed at optimizing the state apparatus and its efficiency. As part of the reform, it is planned to reduce the number of civil servants (mainly at the expense of positions that remain vacant), and bring the structure of Federal Executive bodies to uniform standards. It is also planned to reorganize the majority of federal state unitary enterprises. According to the draft, they should be liquidated or transformed into joint-stock companies with further privatization.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 23 November 2020, Mishustin also announced the optimization of the so-called development institutions (state funds, agencies and companies engaged in stimulating innovation processes using public-private partnership mechanisms). As part of this reform, it is planned to form an investment block based on VEB.RF, with the transfer of a number of the development institutions under its management, as well as the direct transfer of the functions of the abolished institutions to it.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: According to the BBC, "Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has the unenviable task of rescuing the economy but has little say over" the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to sources close to the Kremlin, Mishustin was unaware of Putin's plans to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and does not want to be associated with the war.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: In response to the invasion, on 6 April 2022 the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury added Mishustin to its list of persons sanctioned pursuant to .


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mishustin is married and has three sons. He plays ice hockey. He is also an avid spectator of the sport, and is a member of the supervisory board of HC CSKA Moscow. It has been reported that, prior to his selection as Prime Minister, he and Putin developed a rapport with each other through their shared enthusiasm for the sport. Mishustin is an amateur musician, and is a pianist. As a hobby he has written pop music, including for the singer Grigory Leps. On 30 April 2020, Mishustin tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. He informed President Vladimir Putin of his infection via a video-call. He also stated that he was going into self-quarantine. Putin expressed sympathy and wished him a quick recovery. Mishustin was the first high-ranking Russian official to disclose his coronavirus infection to the public. His diagnosis also makes him the most high-profile political figure in Russia to contract the coronavirus.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mishustin's family owns real estate valued at $48.2 million in the Moscow area. The real estate is held by his father (Vladimir Mishustin), two oldest sons, and sister (Natalya Stenina).


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: On 16 January 2020, the Russia-based Anti-Corruption Foundation called on Mishustin to explain how his wife earned almost 800 million rubles (nearly £10 million) over 9 years. On 19 January, the "Kommersant" newspaper published a detailed analysis of all the financial activities of Mishustin, including his leadership of UFG Invest — one of the country's largest investment companies. When switching to the civil service in 2010, Mishustin, in accordance with the law, transferred all his assets and investment projects to his wife. Following the transfer, Vladlena Mishustina began receiving dividends, which is confirmed by official declarations. According to "Kommersant", a significant part of the assets were sold in 2013 and 2014, and the proceeds were placed in deposit accounts to receive interest.


title: Mikhail Mishustin

text: Mishustin's sister Natalya Stenina () was married to Alexander Evgenievich Udodov from 2008 until 18 December 2020. According to Alexei Navalny, Udodov was the beneficial owner of several apartments in the 20 Pine Street building in New York City that were purchased in December 2009 within 3 weeks of when Denis Katsyv's Prevezon Holdings, which was stolen from Sergei Magnitsky, acquired several properties in the same building near Wall Street in the New York City Financial District. Udodov relinquished control of these properties in 2018.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: "Olympische Sommerspiele 1936"), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: "Spiele der XI. Olympiade") and commonly known as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona at the 29th IOC Session on 26 April 1931. The 1936 Games marked the second and most recent time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games. Later rule modifications forbade cities hosting the bid vote from being awarded the games.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: To outdo the 1932 Los Angeles Games, Reich Führer Adolf Hitler had a new 100,000-seat track and field stadium built, as well as six gymnasiums and other smaller arenas. The Games were the first to be televised, with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games for $7 million. Her film, titled "Olympia", pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: Hitler saw the 1936 Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism, and the official Nazi Party paper, the "Völkischer Beobachter", wrote in the strongest terms that Jews should not be allowed to participate in the Games. German Jewish athletes were barred or prevented from taking part in the Games by a variety of methods, although some women swimmers from the Jewish sports club Hakoah Vienna did participate. Jewish athletes from other countries were said to have been side-lined to avoid offending the Nazi regime.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: Total ticket revenues were 7.5 million Reichsmark, generating a profit of over one million R.M. The official budget did not include outlays by the city of Berlin (which issued an itemized report detailing its costs of 16.5 million R.M.) or outlays of the German national government (which did not make its costs public, but is estimated to have spent US$30 million).


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: Jesse Owens of the United States won four gold medals in the sprint and long jump events, and became the most successful athlete to compete in Berlin, while Germany was the most successful country overall with 89 medals total, with the United States coming in second with 56 medals. These were the final Olympic Games under the presidency of Henri de Baillet-Latour and the final Games for 12 years due to the disruption of the Second World War. The next Olympic Games were held in 1948 (the Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland and then the Summer Games in London, England).


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: At the 28th IOC Session, held during 1930, in Berlin, 14 cities announced their intention to bid to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. The bidding for these Olympic Games was the first to be contested by IOC members casting votes for their own favorite host cities.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: The vote occurred on 26 April 1931, at the 29th IOC Session held in Barcelona, Spain that year. The vote was held 69 days after the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic and during the final years of the Weimar Republic. This was two years before Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany, in 1933.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: By the time of the 1931 IOC Session, only Barcelona and Berlin were left in contention for the delegate vote. Rome withdrew on the eve of the vote. How other candidates withdrew is unclear, as is the seriousness of intent behind all of the listed candidate cities. The other cities who announced an intention to hold the games, but which withdrew from the race, were Alexandria, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lausanne, Montevideo, Nuremberg, Rio de Janeiro, and Rome. Helsinki, Rome, Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro would go on to host the Olympic Games in 1952, 1960, 1992 and 2016, respectively.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: The selection procedure marked the second and final time that the International Olympic Committee would gather to vote in a city which was bidding to host those Games. The only other time this occurred was at the inaugural IOC Session in Paris, France, on 24 April 1894. Then, Athens and Paris were chosen to host the 1896 and 1900 Games, respectively.


title: 1936 Summer Olympics

text: The city of Barcelona held a multi-sport festival at the same time as the 1931 IOC Session. This included a football match between Spain and the Irish Free State, which was watched by 70,000 spectators. The political uncertainty around the declaration of the Second Spanish Republic, which had happened days before the IOC Session, was likely to have been a greater factor in the decision taken by delegates regarding the host city for 1936. Berlin prevailed.