Umbro is a valorous (''fortissimus'') warrior-priest of the Marruvians that appears in Book 7 of
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
's ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...
'' and his role has received significant academic coverage.
[Dinter (2005, p. 167 n. 30) reports Horsfall (2000) as providing an extensive bibliography on this.] Dinter reports several interpretations of his role. These include his being a part of the old Italy that needs to die, or on his death the end of a localism that is being replaced by the Trojan's founding of their new empire. He has the power to make snakes sleep but his herbs and hymns cannot save him from the Trojan's spear. Virgil's lamentation for his death is described as being particularly beautiful and poignant by
Adam Parry: ''For you the grove of Angitia mourned, and Fucinus' glassy waters, And the clear lakes'' ().
Notes
Bibliography
* Dinter, M. (2005). Epic and Epigram—Minor Heroes in Virgil’s Aeneid. ''The Classical Quarterly'', 55(1), 153-169.
*
Horsfall, Nicholas (2000) ''Virgil, Aeneid 7: A Commentary, Mnemos. Bibliotheca Classica Batava, Supplementum'' Leiden-Boston-Köln
* Putnam, Michael C. J. (1992) Umbro, Nireus and Love’s Threnody. ''Vergilius'' 38:12-23 pp. 12–23. JSTOR,
*
Parry, Adam (1963). The Two Voices of Virgil’s “Aeneid.” ''Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics'', 2(4), 66–80.
{{Aeneid
Characters in the Aeneid