The Aeneid
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- 1,49 €
Publisher Description
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Written between 29 and 19 B.C., The Aeneid tells the legendary tale of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the heroic ancestor of the Romans. This epic poem tells the story of Aeneas’ nomadic travels from Troy to Italy, followed by the Trojans’ victorious war against the Latins. Following on from his appearance in The Iliad, Aeneas’ disconnected wanderings and vague association with the founding of Rome were compiled by Virgil into a compelling, epic and fantastical national foundation myth.
About the author
Virgil (70-19 BC) studied rhetoric and philosophy in Rome, where he became a court poet. As well as The Aeneid, his Eclogues earned him the reputation as the finest Latin poet.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Princeton scholar Fagles follows up his celebrated Iliad and Odyssey with a new, fast-moving, readable rendition of the national epic of ancient Rome. Virgil's long-renowned narrative follows the Trojan warrior Aeneas as he carries his family from his besieged, fallen home, stops in Carthage for a doomed love affair, visits the underworld and founds in Italy, through difficult combat, the settlements that will become, first the Roman republic, and then the empire Virgil knew. Recent translators (such as Allen Mandelbaum) put Virgil's meters into English blank verse. Fagles chooses to forgo meter entirely, which lets him stay literal when he wishes, and grow eloquent when he wants: "Aeneas flies ahead, spurring his dark ranks on and storming/ over the open fields like a cloudburst wiping out the sun." A substantial preface from the eminent classicist Bernard Knox discusses Virgil's place in history, while Fagles himself appends a postscript and notes. Scholars still debate whether Virgil supported or critiqued the empire's expansion; Aeneas' story might prompt new reflection now, when Americans are already thinking about international conflict and the unexpected costs of war.
