The Aeneid (Penguin Classics)

This review is not a review of the story of Aeneas, but rather a review of Robert Fagles's translation of the Aeneid. Fagles's work in this translation is readable, accessible, and over-all well executed.The Penguin Classics version of Fagles's translation is a great book to hold in your hand. The book FEELS good. Also, the book has some extras that make it essential. First, Barnard Knox has written an excellent introduction to the text. He explains Virgil's cultural and literary context, and he discusses the Aeneid's relationship to its Homeric predecessors. Highly recommended reading. Second, the book has a helpful map of Aeneas's wanderings which helps orient the reader. Third, in the back of the book is a pronunciation guide and glossary. Some of these names are a bit strange, so it's a good idea to refer to the back sometimes for some help. Every character and place in the book, no matter how minor, is explained in the glossary.In addition to all these benefits, this translation of the text is quite good. Fagles has produced a verse translation, which preserves the poetic nature of the original. If you're looking for a prose version of the Aeneid, then this book might not be for you (but I'd suggest you give the verse a try). The other verse translation that I would recommend is Robert Fitzgerald's ( The Aeneid ). Both translations are very good, and I believe that some passages in Fitzgerald's are better than Fagles's, and vice versa. However, the Fitzgerald translation does not contain the same helpful extras that I mentioned above. Penguin Classics provides superb auxiliary materials in all their volumes.The following are the opening lines of both Fitzgerald and Fagles to provide an example of their stylistic differences.Fagles:Wars and a man I sing--an exile driven on by Fate, // he was the first to flee the coast of Troy, // destined to reach Lavinian shores and Italian soil, // yet many blows he took on land and sea from the gods above-- // thanks to cruel Juno's relentless rage--Fitzgerald:I sing of warfare and a man at war // From the sea-coast of Troy in early days // He came to Italy by destiny, // To our Lavinian western shore, // A fugitive, this captain, buffeted // Cruelly on land as on the sea // By blows from powers of the air--behind them // Baleful Juno in her sleepless rage.

There are scores of translations of the Aeneid, with many being excellent choices - but for me, Fagles' rendering is the most readable, fluid, and clear option available. There are other very good translations that typically sacrifice clarity for the sake of poetry, and while this is understandable given the genre, for the first-time reader there really needs to be more of a balance. For me, that balance came with Fagles' translation. The introduction by Knox, who has provided introductions for all of Fagles translations, is, once again, excellent and adds just that much more value to an already outstanding work. Of course there will be those that parse the text and quibble over this or that choice of words, but this is largely for the much more serious Latinist to debate; for the average reader just looking for an easy version of the epic to enter - this is it. But, Fagles is hardly a slouch when it comes to academic credentials or previous success with translating, so I think it's reasonable to assume we're in good hands. If you REALLY want to understand Virgil, learn Latin (there is, of course, no substitute for that), but if you want a wonderfully fluid, engaging and clear translation, you'd due well to pick up Fagles' work. Other translations that I liked and are very close behind Fagles are that by Mandelbaum and Fitzgerald.

Many other reviewers have pointed out that this edition of The Aeneid has major formatting issues on the Kindle. I really wanted to read the Robert Fagles translation, as I had enjoyed his versions of The Iliad and The Odyssey. I decided that I could probably deal with some spacing issues if it meant I could read the Fagles translation.I was pleasantly surprised once I purchased the eBook. There are NO formatting issues of any kind on my Kindle Paperwhite. I'm not sure if this was because of an update to the document itself, or just because of the specific Kindle I was using.Fagles, again, does a great job making the epic poetry readable. But The Aeneid ultimately gets four stars because it's a somewhat contrived, convoluted story, especially in comparison to Homer's epics. It's definitely not bad, though.The Aeneid is a sequel to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, written around 700 years after them. Written by Virgil, a Roman poet, The Aeneid is the missing link in our pop-culture portrayal and understanding of the Trojan War. This is the volume that describes the Trojan Horse episode, the fall of Troy, and the Trojan invasion of Italy. The epic follows Trojan warrior Aeneas as he journeys from Troy and invades Italy.By linking Rome with Troy, Virgil gave the Roman people a sense of entitlement in conquest and revenge against Carthage and Greece. But since Rome and Troy are not linked together in historical reality, Virgil manufactures a bunch of cop-out reasons for why the Italians maintained their own culture even after being conquered by the Trojans. This entire epic reminded me of an unnecessary Hollywood sequel, made purely as a cash-in. That being said, there are many really interesting and entertaining moments in this epic, and I enjoyed it overall.

Wanted the book in the original format and not damaged. This is disappointing.

I have a number of other versions of The Aeneid but this is the first that I've felt which can read out aloud in order to enjoy it's sonorous music. Wonderful.

I DID NOT ORDER THIS BOOK, I HAVE TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO CANCEL, PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME ANY KINDLE ITEMS I DO NIOT USE IT ,PLEASE CANCEL THIS ORDER THANK YOU

Com relação a obra de Virgílio em língua inglesa, gosto notadamente das traduções de Robert Fitzgerald e Allem Mandelbaum. Virgílio pode ser considerado o poeta do pesadelo: a sua versão da deusa Juno – um monstro – é a mais incisiva representação literária do medo universal masculino com relação à força da mulher. Juno pode ser considerada a Musa do épico, pois a ira e o ressentimento da deusa empurram o poema como marcha fúnebre, rumo à destruição fulgurante. Na “Eneida”, o amor é uma espécie de suicídio. Dido, a figura mais cativante do épico, mata-se antes de suportar a humilhação de ser abandonada pelo puritano e carola Enéas, mais parecido com o protetor de Virgílio, o Imperador Augusto, do que com Aquiles ou Ulisses. Virgílio foi em vários aspectos discípulo do grande poeta epicurista Lucrécio (ver resenha). “Eneida” é um poema infinitamente paradoxal, pois, de certo modo, o herói épico, protagonista, é baseado em Otávio César, o Imperador Augusto (sobrinho e herdeiro de Júlio César), que derrotou António e Cleópatra e, indiscutivelmente, fundou o Império Romano. Tudo o que Virgílio encontra no épico é sofrimento, sofrimento sem fim. Enéas é o herói do poema, mas não de Virgílio, divergência que torna o épico ainda interessante, pois inserir o herói errado no poema certo é antecipar a arte de Shakespeare. O gênio de Virgílio está, em parte, contido na extraordinária capacidade de expressão do poeta e em sua fantástica sensibilidade ao sofrimento. Tais qualidade compensam a relativa fraqueza de Virgílio, no aspecto em que, geralmente, o gênio manifesta toda a sua potência: a originalidade. Na primeira metade da “Eneida”, Virgílio dedica-se a imitar a “Odisséia”, na segunda, a “Ilíada”. Quando o leitor pensar em “Eneida”, após ter lido o épico, lembrar-se-á da humilhação de Dido, abandonada por Enéas, o cafajeste virtuoso, insuportável em pobreza. Como o incolor Enéas provocou tamanha paixão? Temos a sensação que Dido encontrou o homem errado. Quem não desejaria que Dido tivesse atirado uma lança em Enéas? Enfim, um dos principais atributos estéticos da “Eneida” é o avanço constante da ação. A discrepância entre a inexorabilidade da narrativa e o sofrimento implícito do poeta constitui um traço extremamente original da “Eneida”, raro até mesma na literatura criativa. Boa leitura!

A fine translation for anyone challenged by the text as part of their Latin studies in school but also a beautifully lyrical translation, consistent with Fagles' Iliad and Odyssey. Can't wait to read Seamus Heaney's book VI