The Destruction of Troy

by Virgil, W.F. Jackson Knight (Translator)

FATED TO BE AN EXILE, A HERO MUST ROAM THE WORLD TO FOLLOW HIS DESTINY..

The city of Troy has fallen. Only a few of its citizens remain. The brave hero Aeneas must save his family and escape before the invading Greeks murder them all.

But he is cursed by Juno, Queen of Heaven. Chasing him across the seas, the revenging goddess summons up every torment in her powers to destroy him. Can Aeneas survive to fulfill his destiny and create the proud city of Rome? Or will the charms of the beautiful Dido tempt him to abandon this great task.

Genres: Classics, Mythology, Fiction, Epic

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 20

About the author

born 15 October 70 BC
died 21 September 19 BC

Roman poet Virgil, also Vergil, originally Publius Vergilius Maro, composed the Aeneid , an epic telling after the sack of Troy of the wanderings of Aeneas.

Work of Virgil greatly influenced on western literature; in most notably Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

Reviews

[Lorraine]

If I am tough on contemporary 'writers,' it is because I have read Virgil and know how exquisite writing can be. Philosophically though, the seeds of sexism are already sewn here as Aeneas is saddened but steadfast in pursuing his public mission of founding Rome at the cost of turning his back on Dido, while Dido descends into irrationality under the influence of her emotions when she discovers Aeneas has bigger public things to do against which the sacrifice of private fulfilment carries no weight especially (most disquietingly,) when it is the gods who command Aeneas and demand he completes the task. The beauty of the language and echoes of the cadence of the original verse are pleasures not to be missed.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too much and very far out. Extraordinary prose from the first century BC and worth every denarius!
I believe that Virgil composed almost ten thousand words in his epic poem, which comprised some twelve books. My Penguin edition runs to just the first four books, which is the only reason for knocking one star off my rating.
Read on the eve of this great man's demise on the 21st September 19 BC.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once again in reading the Greek or Roman histories, a lot of jerky people and petulant gods. Unlikeable characters and women suffering needlessly. What is redeeming about the story is the action involved in trying to stay one step ahead of destruction.

[Pure Ideology · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story about the origin of Rome.

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Translated from Latin by W.F. Jackson Knight, this book obviously representing part of the whole story is, I think, considered as an introduction to the great epic poem, The Aeneid. I found reading it relatively understandable due to its unfamiliar plot, setting, characters, etc. So it should be a good idea to read for background knowledge from this website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneid because there is another task concerned with the writer himself whom his readers should know his life as well as his aim in writing the poem.