Virgil: The Aeneid

This 2004 guide gives a full account of the historical setting and significance of The Aeneid.

K. W. Gransden (Author), S. J. Harrison (Prepared for publication by)

9780521539807, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 November 2003

120 pages
19.9 x 12.8 x 0.8 cm, 0.127 kg

'This excellent introduction to the Aeneid appears as a reprint in CUP's reliable and attractive Landmarks of World Literature series … a welcome product of detailed and careful study … Gransden is readable and engaging and this is certainly a book that all students of Virgil, at school or university, should seek out … Gransden's Guide is an excellent addition to any academic library.' The Journal of Classics Teaching

The Aeneid is a landmark of literary narrative and poetic sensibility. This 2004 guide gives a full account of the historical setting and significance of Virgil's epic, and discusses the poet's use of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the most celebrated episodes in the poem, including the tragedy of Dido and Aeneas' visit to the underworld. The volume examines Virgil's psychological and philosophical insights, and explains the poem's status as the central classic of European culture. The final chapter considers the Aeneid's influence on later writers including Dante and the Romantics. The guide to further reading has been updated and will prove to be an invaluable resource to students coming to The Aeneid for the first time.

Preface
Part I. Background: 1. Virgil in the light of his time
2. Life of Virgil
3. The Eclogues
4. The Georgics
5. Metrical unity and continuity
Part II. Virgil and Homer: 6. 'Arms and the man'
7. The Aeneas legend
8. The 'Odyssean' Aeneid
9. The 'Iliadic' Aeneid
Part III. Reading The Aeneid: 10. The text
11. The story
12. Structure
13. Expression and sensibility
14. Narrative technique
15. The world of the dead
16. Father-figures
17. Juno
18. War and heroism
19. Fate and free will
20. Conclusions
Part IV. The After-Life of the Aeneid: 21. Influences and reputation
22. Virgil and Dante
23. Virgil and renaissance epic
24. Virgil and romanticism
Principal characters of the poem
Guide to further reading.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]