The Aeneid

By: Virgil

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Paperback | 29 December 2000 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
368 Pages

Age
18+

Dimensions(cm)
1.8 x 13 x 19.9

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Published: 19th January 2011

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W. F. Jackson Knight's prose translation captures the vitality and music of the original, while his introduction discusses Virgil's life and literary career, and his poetic style and vision.

Aeneas the True - son of Venus and of a mortal father - escapes from Troy after it is sacked by the conquering Greeks. He undergoes many trials and adventures on a long sea journey, from a doomed love affair in Carthage with the tragic Queen Dido to a sojourn in the underworld. All the way, the hero is tormented by the meddling of the vengeful Juno, Queen of the Gods and a bitter enemy of Troy, but his mother and other gods protect Aeneas from despair and remind him of his ultimate destiny - to found the great city of Rome. Reflecting the Roman peoples' great interest in the 'myth' of their origins, Virgil (70-19 BC) made the story of Aeneas glow with a new light in his majestic epic.

Industry Reviews

After giving us perhaps the finest modern versions of Homer (rivaled only by Lattimore), Fitzgerald has now translated a spirited, eloquent, fresh Aeneid - though some will still prefer Allan Mandelbaum's. Fitzgerald has had his eye on Virgil for many years - he edited Dryden's Aeneid, with notes and an expert Introduction, in 1964 - but his own poetic voice is decidedly un-Virgilian: brisk, bold, hearty, a sociable baritone. His irregular pentameters, with continual enjambment, come in great fluid rushes (less "faithful" but more readable than Mandelbaum's slower-paced lines), often making a spring tide of a quiet Virgilian stream. Virgil's discreet rhetorical emphasis sometimes becomes startlingly colloquial: e.g., "Fortune has made a derelict/ Of Sinon, but the bitch/Won't make an empty liar of him, too." And even when Fitzgerald tries to echo the original, he can't help sounding more direct and homespun. Lively rather than exquisite, vigorous and risky, with only a few outright anachronistic clinkers: the most accessible Aeneid (since Dryden, anyway) for a Latin-less modern audience, especially helpful in sustaining readers through the often-wearisome battle scenes in the later books. (Kirkus Reviews)

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