How did Virgil’s Aeneid influence Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene?

The influence of Virgil’s Aeneid on Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene was foundational to Spenser’s ambition to create a heroic, national epic for England.1

The Aeneid served as a primary model for Spenser’s work, providing the structural and thematic framework necessary for him to compose his own epic poem. Just as Virgil was celebrated for glorifying Rome and the Latin language, Spenser sought to glorify England and the English tongue through his allegorical masterpiece. Virgil’s influence is described as a constant inspiration for the fanciful beauty found within The Faerie Queene.123

While Spenser’s poem also draws heavily from Italian romantic epics—such as those by Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso—the classical epic tradition established by Virgil was essential to the poem's conception. By emulating the stature of the Aeneid, Spenser aimed to embody a vision of the virtuous life within a Christian universe, effectively positioning himself as a master poet who elevated English literature to the level of the classical tradition.12