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Virgil the Aneid
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 29, 2024
Roman knock off of the odyssey…
September 3, 2025
Confession: I have only ever read the Aeneid in Latin.
This will lapse my judgement of it, I am sure. Particularly because classics academics concern themselves far more with Greek epics than Roman epics, leading to poor translations. I recommend this text the same I do with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey: you must accept there will be gaps from translation of a dead language and that the translation can never do it justice. That with that what you will!
Virgil is a beautiful author. There’s a reason Dante, years and years later, essentially wrote self insert fan fiction about him (yes, that’s what The Devine Comedy is. Fight me on it?) The Aeneid is rightfully his magnum opus.
The first 6 books follow the premise of the Iliad: war. The last 6 books follow the premise of the odyssey: journey. I have— since I first read it— called it Homer Lite. But it is, and this is coming from someone who read the Iliad and Odyssey in both Latin and Ancient Greek. And obviously English. The Aeneid isn’t novel, but it’s novel that it combines these two separate tales to one man.
As with all translated works, it is much better in the original version. Rereading and translating this work again Reminded me why 16 year old me was so set on being a classics major: the modern English translations of so many Latin works sacrifice (and don’t mention!) the grammatical and syntactic beauty of these works.
This will lapse my judgement of it, I am sure. Particularly because classics academics concern themselves far more with Greek epics than Roman epics, leading to poor translations. I recommend this text the same I do with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey: you must accept there will be gaps from translation of a dead language and that the translation can never do it justice. That with that what you will!
Virgil is a beautiful author. There’s a reason Dante, years and years later, essentially wrote self insert fan fiction about him (yes, that’s what The Devine Comedy is. Fight me on it?) The Aeneid is rightfully his magnum opus.
The first 6 books follow the premise of the Iliad: war. The last 6 books follow the premise of the odyssey: journey. I have— since I first read it— called it Homer Lite. But it is, and this is coming from someone who read the Iliad and Odyssey in both Latin and Ancient Greek. And obviously English. The Aeneid isn’t novel, but it’s novel that it combines these two separate tales to one man.
As with all translated works, it is much better in the original version. Rereading and translating this work again Reminded me why 16 year old me was so set on being a classics major: the modern English translations of so many Latin works sacrifice (and don’t mention!) the grammatical and syntactic beauty of these works.
October 20, 2024
Not my favorite— just not into classics I can’t understand.
December 27, 2025
I know your English teacher/professor made you read it-go read it on your own again.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews