Author: Gabriel Josipovici (Great Britain 1940)
Genre: Radio play
Production: RIAS 1992
Director: Götz Naleppa
Length: 90 min.
Translation: Hubert von Bechtolsheim
Sound and technology: Lutz Pahl; Schwutke

Contributors:
Vergil: Jürgen Hentsch

Content: 'Brindisi, not Athens as I had hoped. It was to be a new beginning. No more poetry at last. No more lies. Truth. Peaceful study of the truth. And now?'
The Roman poet Publius Vergilius Marus (70 BC - 19 BC) arrived at the palace of Emperor Augustus in Brindisi in poor health after travelling from Athens. After a period of exile and wandering, a triumphant return to Rome awaits him. A party is being held to celebrate the emperor's birthday. Virgil, however, withdraws and on his last night wrestles with doubts about the validity of his great work, the "Aeneid", which has remained a fragment. He wants to destroy it, unable to accept its artistic imperfection. But he fails by accepting the incomplete and fleeting nature of life and art - as well as his impending death.