Illuminating virgils underworld the sixth book of the aeneid. Hey everyone, its been a little while since ive come around. Perhaps more than any other episode in the aeneid, book vi exemplifies the purpose of virgil s epic. Virgil is said to have recited books 2, 4 and 6 to augustus. A commentary working in the shadow of eduard norden in the authors own words, nicholas horsfall has written his own monumental commentary on aeneid 6. His knowledge of vergils poetry, the technicalities of latin verse, the poems connections to earlier and contemporary ideas and works, ancient commentators and the the best of modern critics, even the archeology, is truly. There aeneas prays that the trojans may now be allowed to escape the doom of troy and promises to build temples for apollo and diana.
The cambridge green and yellow series includes individual commentaries by different scholars on each of the last 6 books the earlier books are covered by somewhat older oxford commentaries. This is nicholas horsfalls fourth commentary on a book of the aeneid and in scale and approach follows closely the earlier volumes. A poetic translation may convey the idea that the aeneid is a poem. Mar 05, 2017 this is the second video lecture for virgil s aeneid. As book 6 of the aeneid opens, aeneas is grieving the pilot he lost at sea. Infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem, troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum. Pages commentary notes have been pared down, and new and updated material has been included throughout. In book 6 of virgil s aeneid, the hero travels to the underworld to meet with his father, anchises. The aeneid virgil a translation into english prose by a. The commentary begins with a list of study questions, some of which are answered in the commentary proper which includes references to other relevant textsthe rest of the aeneid, the argonautica, greek tragedy, and so onand to scholarship. The relative sentences are in loose apposition to the previous lines, whose meaning they extend cr. And in the aeneid, virgils poem about the origins of rome, though his hero, aeneas, and the trojan invaders of italy are to build the city from which rome will eventually be founded, there is a constant and vibrant undertone of sympathy for and identification with the italians, which becomes a major. Vergilius maro, aeneid, book 6 perseus digital library. Ultimately, virgil hoped to appeal to roman audiences by creating a tale demonstrating that they were fated to become a glorious empire, and in particular to caesar augustus, his patron, lauding his leadership skills and the moral values that he.
The aeneid is a latin epic written by virgil in the 1st century bc that tells the legendary story of aeneas, a trojan who traveled to italy. Use the check boxes in the bottom bar to select the categories of notes to displayhide. Its a new year, and ive pledged to read the aeneid in its entirety this year. I wouldnt recommend either this book or williams aeneid viixii to the beginning latin student. This chapter discusses serviuss commentary on the aeneid, an epic poem by virgil. Following the savage slaughter in aeneid 10, the book opens in a mournful mood as the warring parties revisit yesterdays killing fields to attend to their dead. So aeneas spoke, weeping, gave his fleet full rein, and glided at last to the shores of euboean cumae.
This commentary was begun in 1967, but most of the period from 1971 to 1996 was spent on work that was in some sense an essential preliminary to a detailed study of aeneid 7. A commentary exclass, 6 168 here described, and its not clear to me how h. Horsfall is a commentators commentator writing with encyclopedic command of virgilian scholarship for. Aeneas and the sibyl approach the ferry over the styx and the sibyl explains that the. In the commentary to book one, servius comments on the life of the poet, the title of the work, the quality or nature of the poem, the authors intention, the number of books, and the order of books. It is aimed at the scholarly public and is not intended as a replacement for austins admirable school and undergraduate commentary of 1964. There are many other iconic scenes from the aeneid that had crossed my mind, such as the sack of troy in book ii or unrequited didos suicide in book vi, yet i was drawn to the imagery of the underworld in book vi. Book i 11 book ii 36 book iii 62 book iv 82 book v 110 book vi 2 book vii 157 book viii 181 book ix 203 book x 224 book xi 247 book xii 273. The work will serve as a guide to recent and future work on virgilian language, grammar, syntax and style. We say greatest hits because most scholars now believe that the underworld as depicted in book 6 of the aeneid is a composite of various belief systems, and probably does not, in its entirety, reflect the true religious beliefs of virgil of his roman contemporaries. Birth of the gods, the greek equivalent of genesis see above, chapter 3.
Lots of commentary on each book one by one, line by line. But unlike homers first lines, virgil says hell sing both of a man and of armsthis is a story about a hero who faces war. Aeneid, vergil, vergil aeneid commentaries book 2 abstract good information on poetic figures with examples in introduction. John conington, commentary on vergils aeneid, volume 1, p. Im a proficient latin reader, although i have difficulty with vocabulary something i can struggle with on my own. A commentary exclass, 6168 here described, and its not clear to me how h. In book 6 the tiber is twice connected with war and mourning, first at 6. Virgil, aeneid book 6 theoi classical texts library. Book of the aeneid london, 1920 seems today closer to.
This description of fama acts as an interlude, covering the passage of time and enabling. Horsfall is a commentators commentator writing with encyclopedic command of virgilian scholarship for the most demanding reader. This tale follows the trials and tribulations of aeneas, the son of a trojan man named anchises priams second cousin and the goddess aphroditevenus. Maurus servius honoratus, commentary on the aeneid of vergil georgius thilo, ed. This is the first comprehensive commentary on aeneid 11. Austins commentary on the sixth book is as i remember those on other books, i.
In both theme and placement, book vi, which many consider to be virgil s greatest literary accomplishment, is of central importance to the development and the ultimate meaning of the aeneid. Or is virgil making a commentary on the political lies of the empire, the flaws of empire and colonization, and the prideful exaggerations of roman identity. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. Aeneis complete the aeneid of virgil edited with introduction and notes by r. On the questions of 1 the existence of a place laurentum, 2 the exact extent of the territory apparently. Tarrant is clearly at home discussing any variety of topics in this book. Vergils arrangement of the infernal rivers admits of no explanation. Vergil, aeneid ii 120 dickinson college commentaries. Rumor flies through libyarumor, a winged monster of huge growth and speed, covered with eyes, tongues, and earsand tells the tale of didos passion everywhere, but above all to iarbas, didos rejected suitor page. Summary aeneas sails on weeping, and they land at cumae, where aeneas seeks the temple where the sibyl speaks the oracles of apollo. In this class, i will provide a brief overview of the history and culture of the hellenistic world and early rome. The only area where i felt some disappointment is, curious to say for a commentary on book 2, and for a commentary by horsfall, the city of ilion.
This is horsfalls fifth largescale commentary on the aeneid, and as his earlier commentaries on books 7, 11, 3, and 2, this is not a commentary aimed at undergraduates. The fourth book of virgil s aeneid and the ninth book of voltaires henriad, also by voltaire gutenberg ebook. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of the aeneid and what it means. With almost no fanfareand certainly no explanation or apology anchises.
This is horsfalls fifth largescale commentary on the aeneid, and as his earlier commentaries on books 7, 11, 3, and 2, this is not a commentary. The name used most often by virgil for the greeks, and least often by homer austin. The world of the dead in book 6 of the aeneid jstor. Though its late at night and hes anguished to recall such sad events, hell do it for dido. Anchises points out to aeneas the future kings of rome and some of. After the destruction of troy, the trojan prince aeneas leads a small band of survivors in search of a new home in italy. He elucidates a number of fine points in vergils work, and i appreciated reading the 12th book of the aeneid more thanks to his commentary and, to a slightly lesser extent, his introduction. Virgil is said to have recited books 2, 4, and 6 to augustus. They turn the prows seaward, then with the grip of anchors teeth made fast the ships, and the round keels fringe the beach. M p 506507, 508525 the old king had put on his armor and was on his way to meet death at the hands of the enemy when hecuba prevailed on him to. Buy aeneid 1 6 the focus vergil aeneid commentaries bilingual by vergil, isbn.
Then from his high couch our forefather aeneas began. This book i found on amazon for free to be used with my kindle. Several avenues are available for members of the uva community needing library resources, including hathitrusts newlyreleased trove of ed digital material, open educational resources, online journals, databases, and ebooks. When i was beginning to study virgil, i found this book to be incredibly more helpful. The sixth book of virgils aeneid is widely acknowledged as the pivotal point of the whole work. For the more advanced student, however, the notes should be adequate. Vergil, aeneid iv 173197 dickinson college commentaries. It is designed for the intermediate latinlanguage student in upper division courses teaching the aeneid in departments of classics or latin language. They were all silent, and turned their faces towards him intently. Lattimore and correspond to the original greek text. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Book 1, part of the the focus vergil aeneid commentaries series, includes an introduction, latinlanguage text, commentary, and other student materials. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.
The commentary treats fully matters of linguistic and textual interpretation, metre and prosody, grammar, lexicon and idiom, of roman behaviour, social and ritual, as well as virgil s sources and the literary tradition. Aeneass personally narrating the trojanss adventures gives an intimacy to his story that would be lacking if it were. I have my oct of the aeneid and im looking for a standalone commentary to add to the reading, something that will expand the text rather than help. Quae and quorum line 6 are relative, not interrogative, pronouns, hence the change of mood. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The secret life a speculative commentary on the ancient vitae, both in a longer and a shorter version, a twopart introduction to virgil s art, a school commentary on aeneid 4, and a brief discussion of the earliest virgil manuscripts and how they were read. Virgils beginning echoes the beginnings of the iliad and the odyssey, making it clear that virgil intends to write an epic for rome on par with those great greek works. They are the most uptodatethe last, on book 12 by r. Here, just after the trojans land permanently in italy, aeneas descends to the underworld for his longanticipated rendezvous with anchisess ghost, who. His primary focus is language and the function of the poet as a potential model for students. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. And in the aeneid, virgil s poem about the origins of rome, though his hero, aeneas, and the trojan invaders of italy are to build the city from which rome will eventually be founded, there is a constant and vibrant undertone of sympathy for and identification with the italians, which becomes a major. In this book, virgil displays his lyrical style through a series of similes that gives the events of the. Also useful but only for the first six books is pharrs aeneid.
Virgil begins the aeneid with his story in medias res. May 04, 2012 this video gives the background to virgil s aeneid and a very brief summary of book 2, where aeneas recounts the story of the trojan horse and troys demise by the greeks. This is the second video lecture for virgil s aeneid. Working in the shadow of eduard norden in the authors own words, nicholas horsfall has written his own monumental commentary on aeneid 6.
The aeneid book vi summary and analysis gradesaver. A dead boy pallas and the death of a girl camilla loom over the opening and the closing part of the eleventh book of the aeneid. Vergil, aeneid vi 295336 dickinson college commentaries. The destructive invasion of troy by the greeks, the subject of book ii, occurs at the chronological beginning of the aeneid and is the first crucial event of the epic, the one from which all others follow in sequential order. Vergil, aeneid ii 506525 dickinson college commentaries. Older, but still very useful for literary commentary and grammar, is knapps aeneid. All pictures are from wikimedia commons, unless otherwise annotated. Blackwell, 1924, also by andrew leicester irvine, trans. He is equally generous in tracing much of virgils material to. View entire discussion 7 comments more posts from the latin community. His amazing word play seen in his use of alliteration and interlocking word order would be. Nov 27, 20 working in the shadow of eduard norden in the authors own words, nicholas horsfall has written his own monumental commentary on aeneid 6. This commentary takes as its starting point the valuable school edition of aeneid 2 by t.
Although the truth of this claim is subject to scholarly scepticism, it has served as a basis for later art, such as jeanbaptiste wicars virgil reading the aeneid. But so splendid an ancient text requires fresh scholarly instruments and this commentary discusses fully the acutely controversial helenepisode spurious, matters of linguistic and textual interpretation, metre, prosody. Vergil, aeneid vi 801853 dickinson college commentaries. Barbara weiden boyds vergils aeneid 2004 is also useful but does not contain the entire text. Clicking on a word in the latin text will move the commentary to the relevant position and conversely, clicking on a comment will autoscroll the latin text.
What literary reasons might have influenced virgil to include this grim. Aeneas and his fleet finally arrive in italy, landing at cumae, home of the sybil a priestess of apollo and diana who sees the future. Maurus servius honoratus, commentary on the aeneid of. Unfortunately, as they sail on their way, they get spotted by the goddess juno. It covers books 1 6, including the theme of pietas duty, parallels with homers odyssey, literary contexts of the characters of aeneas and.