Changes

=Origins=

=Origins=

The office of Poet Laureate, as a bureaucratic position with certain public duties attached, is a product of modern times and did not exist in antiquity. As a custom of honor, however, it has a long history that can be traced back to the ancient Greek practice of bestowing a laurel wreath on poets and athletes. The bay laurel (''Laurus nobilis'') that is traditionally used for this practice is called ''daphne'', a reference to the myth of Apollo and Daphne in which a nymph is transformed into a laurel tree.<ref>''The Greek Myths: Part 1'', by Robert Graves. 1955. p. 21</ref> The laurel is one of the symbols of Apollo, as it is said he made wreaths from this tree to allay the grief he suffered over his lost love.<ref>https://everything.explained.today/Laurus_nobilis/#Ref-18</ref>  

The office of Poet Laureate, as a bureaucratic position with certain public duties attached, is a product of modern times and did not exist in antiquity. As a custom of honor, however, it has a long history that can be traced back to the ancient Greek practice of bestowing a laurel wreath on poets and athletes. The bay laurel (''Laurus nobilis'') traditionally used for this observance is called ''daphne'' in Greek, a reference to the myth of Apollo and Daphne in which a nymph is transformed into a laurel tree.<ref>''The Greek Myths: Part 1'', by Robert Graves. 1955. p. 21</ref> The laurel is one of the symbols of Apollo, as it is said he made wreaths from this tree to allay the grief he suffered over his lost love.<ref>https://everything.explained.today/Laurus_nobilis/#Ref-18</ref>  

==Virgil==

==Virgil==

Although [[Virgil]] was never officially given the title of poet laureate, his name is closely associated with the [[Roman]] state due to his patriotic pastoral verse and his epic ''The Aeneid''. As a friend and supporter of the young [[Octavian]], Virgil praised the ascendant politician in his ''Eclogues'' by referencing “Jove’s ordering power, the reforming voice of Jove’s new progeny, and the allegory of divine Julius as a herdsman-god eternally guarding pastures and farms.” <ref>''Virgil’s Book of Bucolics: The Ten Eclogues'', by John Van Sickle. p. 33.</ref> According to John Van Sickle, Virgil became “the vatic voice of a new order,” and as Octavius’s faction rose to power, the poet was hailed as a prophet of “almost legendary status.” <ref>ibid.</ref> [[Tacitus]] relates an anecdote in which a crowd, after hearing the ''Eclogues'' recited in the public theatre, rose to applaud Virgil, “with a degree of veneration nothing short of what they usually offered to the emperor.” <ref>''Dialogue Concerning Oratory'', by Tacitus. “Dialogue XIII.” https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15017/15017-h/15017-h.htm</ref> Virgil amassed a large fortune of “nearly ten million sesterces” as a result of royal patronage, writes [[Suetonius]], and when visiting Rome he would be forced to “take refuge in the nearest house” from mobs of admirers who would follow and point at him.<ref>''The Life of Virgil'', by Suetonius. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/de_Poetis/Vergil*.html</ref> No poet before or since has ever garnered such wealth or public acclaim.

Although [[Virgil]] was never officially given the title of poet laureate, his name is closely associated with the [[Roman]] state due to his patriotic pastoral verse and his epic ''The Aeneid''. As a friend and supporter of the young [[Octavian]], Virgil praised the ascendant politician in his ''Eclogues'' by referencing “Jove’s ordering power, the reforming voice of Jove’s new progeny, and the allegory of divine Julius as a herdsman-god eternally guarding pastures and farms.” <ref>''Virgil’s Book of Bucolics: The Ten Eclogues'', by John Van Sickle. p. 33.</ref> According to John Van Sickle, Virgil became “the vatic voice of a new order,” and as Octavius’s faction rose to power, the poet was hailed as a prophet of “almost legendary status.” <ref>ibid.</ref> [[Tacitus]] relates an anecdote in which a crowd, after hearing the ''Eclogues'' recited in the public theatre, rose to applaud Virgil, “with a degree of veneration nothing short of what they usually offered to the emperor.” <ref>''Dialogue Concerning Oratory'', by Tacitus. “Dialogue XIII.” https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15017/15017-h/15017-h.htm</ref> Virgil amassed a large fortune of “nearly ten million sesterces” as a result of royal patronage, writes [[Suetonius]], and when visiting Rome he would be forced to “take refuge in the nearest house” from admiring mobs who would follow and point at him.<ref>''The Life of Virgil'', by Suetonius. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/de_Poetis/Vergil*.html</ref> No poet before or since has ever achieved such success or public acclaim.

=Notable recipients=

=Notable recipients=