The Aeneid

by Virgil; West, David (Translator); West, David (Introduction by)

• ISBN13: 9780140449327
• ISBN10: 0140449329
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-29
• Publisher: Penguin Classics

Summary

"Written by the Roman poet Virgil more than two thousand years ago, the story of Aeneas' seven-year journey from the ruins of Troy to Italy, where he becomes the founding ancestor of Rome, is a narrative on an epic scale: Aeneas and his companions contend not only with human enemies but with the whim of the gods. His destiny preordained by Jupiter, Aeneas is nevertheless assailed by dangers invoked by the goddess Juno, and by the torments of love, loyalty, and despair. Virgil's supreme achievement is not only to reveal Rome's imperial future for his patron Augustus, but to invest it with both passion and suffering for all those caught up in the fates of others." "Frederick Ahl's new translation captures the excitement, poetic energy, and intellectual force of the original in a way that has never been done before. Echoing the Virgilian hexameter the verse stays almost line for line with the original in an accurate style."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Virgil, born in 70 B.C., is best remembered for his masterpiece, The Aeneid. He earned great favor by portraying Augustus as a descendant of the half-god, half-man Aeneas. Although Virgil swore on his deathbed that The Aeneid was incomplete and unworthy, it has been considered one of the greatest works of Western literature for more than two thousand years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vi
Introduction	vii
Further Reading	xliii
Note on the Translation	xlv
The Aeneid
Appendix I: The Parade of Future Romans in the Underworld (Book 6, lines 756--892)	291	(3)
Appendix II: The Shield of Aeneas (Book 8, lines 626--728)	294	(5)
Appendix III: Genealogical Trees
The Julian Family	295	(1)
The House of Priam	296	(1)
The House of Anchises	297	(2)
Maps, Gazetteer and Select Index	299	(5)
The Voyages of Aeneas	300	(2)
Rome during the Reign of Augustus	302	(1)
Gazetteer	303	(1)
Select Index	304