Students held the annual Virgil Vigil, reading a book of Virgil’s “Aeneid” each hour for 12 hours, from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. March 27-28. 

Classics honorary Eta Sigma Phi hosted the event. It took around 45 minutes to read each book in English, with students pausing for breaks between books. 

“It is a great experience to read one of the most artfully written poems that has been written, and yet one that, for some reason, we probably don’t know as well as we ought to,” said junior Tripp Keeton, president of Eta Sigma Phi. 

While Homer’s “Iliad” and  “Odyssey” often get more attention, the “Aeneid” came from a written tradition and not an oral tradition, Keeton said. 

“There is something about the ‘Aeneid’ definitely coming from a single author, which gives it a certain internal cohesiveness,” Keeton said. “And I think it’s worth exploring that a little bit more.”

Throughout the evening, students stopped by the Dorothy D. and Joseph A. Moller Amphitheater between Delp Hall and the library to listen to parts of the epic. 

“It’s nice to be walking by, and then someone’s reading, and you get to just hop in and listen for about 20 minutes to one of the greatest works ever written, and then pop out,” Keeton said.

Freshman Carina Fiorella, who said she wants to major in classics and art, read Book 5 at 6 p.m.  

“It’s really cool, and it’s a really fun way to interact with the classics,” Fiorella said. “Though I do wish more people would show up outside of the classics department.”

Freshmen Luka Stevlic and Aislinn Hawkins took turns reading Book 8 at 9 p.m. Stevlic said that he enjoyed reading out loud. 

“I feel like it helps you develop your reading voice,” Stevlic said. “And it’s fun to go through the book and really comprehend it differently by reading it out loud.” 

Hawkins said reading the “Aeneid” aloud reminded her of reading the Psalter. 

“It’s actually great because I was reading and because I’m a freshman, I’m in Great Books right now, and we were reading Dante,” Hawkins said. “I was reading this, and I was like, ‘This is reminding me of a lot of things in Dante. This makes sense why Dante was writing like this.’” 

Senior Olivia Finch, who read Book 9 at 10 p.m., said this is her second time at the Virgil Vigil. Finch said she has attended the Homerathon, an annual event hosted by Eta Sigma Phi in the fall where they read aloud all of the “Iliad” or “Odyssey,” every year.

“I have never missed a classic, epic marathon,” Finch said. “I just think it’s a great tradition to have. It’s great to have people hearing these words spoken out loud live, because it’s really different when you’re reading it out loud versus just reading it for a class.”