The Aeneid

Customer Reviews

• The "other" side of the Trojan war  Feb 20, 2000 (115 of 119 found this helpful)

  Publius Vergilius Maro was commisioned by Caesar Augustus to author a national epic for Rome. The work which Virgil composed for this purpose was the Aeneid. It is an epic poem that tells the story of a minor character from Homer's Iliad who leads a rag-tag band from the smouldering ruins of Troy in order to found a "New Troy" to the west: Rome. It is in the Aeneid, not the Iliad (as most people who have not read the works tend to believe) that we see the spectacle of the Trojan Horse & the famous line "I do not trust Greeks bearing gifts." The Iliad ends with the death of Hektor - before the plan of the Trojan Horse is devised by Odysseus. The Odyssey picks up after the sack of Troy. The Aeneid fills in the gaps & narrates the story of the few Trojans who escape the wrath of the Greeks. According to legend, Romulus & Remes (the two brothers who eventually founded the city itself) were descendents of Aeneas. As is usual, Fitzgerald's translation is top notch. I have read Mandelbaum's rendition as well & much prefer Mr. Fitzgerald. The book also contains a useful glossary & postscript which help elucidate the allusions to Hannibal & Cleopatra which the Romans of Virgil's day would have picked up right away, but which might be unfamiliar to modern day readers. Also, it is HIGHLY recommended that one read the Iliad & the Odyssey before embarking on Virgil's work. [...] But, for a quick answer: the reason that Juno (Hera in the Greek) has a vendetta against Aeneas is due to the fact that he is Trojan. This all derives from the judgment of Paris when Juno was "jilted" by the bribe that Aphrodite offered Paris (also a Trojan). To offer any more info at this point would be too great of a digression, but what I will say is that this work is NOT (I repeat NOT) for someone to merely pick up & dive into w/out doing his or her pre-requisite reading. Do your homework, become familiar with the myths & tales of what has gone on before, then read the Aeneid. You will be glad you did, for this is an extraordinary epic. Also, for those who harbor the ambition, the university of Oxford professor Peter Levi has recently written a wonderful, succinct biography of Virgil. "The Death Of Virgil" by Hermann Broch is a mind-blowing masterpiece as well. Indeed, one can never get enough Virgil.

• imagine that he almost burned it  Jun 11, 2000 (63 of 67 found this helpful)

  Although Virgil spent years writing the Aeneid, by his death, he felt that it was imperfect and asked that it be burned. Luckily for all concerned, his request was denied or we'd never have this epic. If you are new to Greek and Roman epics, I'd recommend starting with the Iliad and the Odyssey first. Not only will most novices find them more readable (especially the Odyssey), any reader will pick up important background information that will help immeasurably in following the Aeneid. Although I'm a huge fan of the Aeneid and have read many of the books in the original Latin, I'd suggest to most readers just to read books 1,2,4 and 6 unless you are really drawn in. It's not that the other books are not great (they are), it's just that unless you are a specialist, you won't want to read all about the battles and extra stuff -- book 4 is the love story of Dido and Aeneus and for many is the highlight of the poem. Book 6 is the trip to to the underworld which is so important to later writers and poets like Dante, TS Eliot, etc.... The fall of Troy is contained in books 1 and 2. I enjoy Fitzgerald's translation, but as an amateur Latinist, I prefer Allan Mandelbaum's translation with Moser's illustrations. When I was translating from the Latin, only Mandelbaum was so close to the original that he could help a student. I think Mandelbaum is a genius for rendering the poem so close to the original. It's unfair to call him wooden -- Virgil wrote the whole thing in Dacytlic hexameter which is hardly wooden in Latin, although it can be repetitive at times. Not to worry -- he used a lot of spondaic substititions (altering a long, short short with a long, long) to vary the meter.

  So, if you just want a taste, read books 1,2,4 and 6 and if you love it, by all means read the whole epic.

• Diamond Hard and Bright.  Mar 7, 2006 (24 of 24 found this helpful)

  The editorial reviews shoud be heeded: this is, and remains, the best Aeneid in English. Fitzgerald's rendition is hard as a diamond and as crystal clear and brilliant, stately and spell-binding as watching a tall ship move across the bay.
  
  For many years there was no satisfactory Virgil in modern English, and this was the first. There are now several, and many interesting, but this one should remain paramount because acquaintence with this poem is absolutely essential. It is often overlooked in world lit survey courses which go no farther than the Greeks. There is a lingering prejudice that Roman literature is inferior. That may well be generally true, but Virgil towers above all his Roman peers -- no one approaches him. He is the necessary link and pivot between the ancient understanding of man and civilization and ours; he is our ground, as Dante well recognized by honoring him as guide in the the Divine Comedy.
  
  Love the Greeks as one must, the added dimension of heterosexual passion brought into classical literature by Virgil is breath-taking. Hopefully, you will never be the same after reading the great Aeneas-Dido affair -- to date there is really nothing like it in world literature. Oh yes, the Greeks were interested in women, even intelligent ones, especially honorouble ones, frequently devilish and playful and meddling ones. But Woman was first conveyed in all wholeness, dimensionality and grandeur by this poet -- perhaps something your teacher or mum failed to mention -- but no excuse for missing it now. Makes that business about Helen and Troy seem like bad comix . . . .

• As beautiful as writing gets  Mar 1, 2000 (43 of 48 found this helpful)

  Fitzgerald's translation of the Aeneid is absolutely stunning--beautiful, deeply moving--this is the Aeneid to read. As re: the Aeneid itself, it's fun comparing it to Fitzgerald's Iliad and Odyssey--the latter are serious matters of myth and oral tradition transcribed into written text, whereas the Aeneid is something of a classical potboiler, commissioned to look like Homer's work while aggrandizing certain aspects of Roman history--essentially, Virgil was trying to write a Homeric-flavored bestseller for his emperor. It shows beautifully in this translation--without detracting from the majesty of this epic or the beauty of Virgil's poetry, I think Fitzgerald conveys a lighter, faster-moving feel in this translation than in his treatment of Homer. A lot of the reviews I've read here have praised the beauty of this book--but I'd like to add that along with all that, the Aeneid is also a fun, fast read. There's a reason this story has survived two thousand years... and is still in print! Jump in and read it--you don't need to be an expert to enjoy it, as long as you have a basic acquaintance with the tale of Troy and the Greek pantheon.

• Not for a Classics scholar  Nov 3, 2004 (23 of 24 found this helpful)

  I've read several English translations of The Aeneid, and have translated the majority of it. Unfortunately, this is not a terribly good translation. While it flows nicely, and keeps a poetic form, Fitzgerald takes far too many liberties with the Latin language for my tastes. It is difficult to follow along with the actual Latin text, as he does not keep the same lines as Virgil. My recommendation is Mandelbaum's translation; he sticks closely to the Latin.