| Product: |
The Aeneid - Virgil |
| Date: |
19/01/05 (291 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: Ancient text that has endured through the ages., Can be exciting and gripping at points., Aeneas is an interesting character.
Disadvantages: Can be a bit dry at times., Battle scenes can get a bit repetitive.
I suppose when most people peruse library/bookshop shelves looking for a weighty tome to pass the hours, the don't automatically jump on ancient Roman literature. They might go as far as Dickens, but most people tend to draw the line at Vergil (in case you're thinking this is a spelling mistake, Vergil can be spelt both this way and as Virgil). It's a shame, really, as it is a rather interesting read.
The Aeneid is, in effect, a continuation of the Homeric epic cycle concerning Troy. Before you attack The Aeneid, therefore, you might want to read at least Homer's Iliad and possibly The Odyssey, too.
The Aeneid was written at the point in Roman history when Caesar Augustus was trying to establish himself as emperor and so his right-hand man Maecenas patronised Vergil to compose works that glorified Augustus. Therefore, even though The Aeneid is meant to be documenting events in the distant past, Vergil occassionally brings up modern Rome.
The Aeneid's hero is Aeneas who fought at Troy on the Trojan side. He, and the surviving Trojans, have been wandering for some time now as the goddess Juno still despises them, but Jupiter has other plans for them: he has decided that Aeneas will found a city that will ultimately become established as Rome (although not in Aeneas' life time). The Aeneid follows his journey with the first half of the book being a more action-adventure type of affair with Aeneas seeing a Cyclops, going down to the Underworld and having a bit of fun with the Queen of Carthage, Dido. The second half is more your sword and sandals warfare affair, which I personally find gets a bit dull and boring. After all, there's only so much hacking and slashing and odd and impossible to pronounce names you can bear, really.
As far as heroes go Aeneas is particularly pious. He always gives the gods their due and loves his father and son dearly, but he isn't your passionate Achilles type, nor does he always make the commanding, all-seeing, all-knowing leader type. However, you can't dispute his bravery. He fights in battle as good as anyone and even goes down to Hades to visit his father (as you do)!
If you've read Homer you'll see a lot of similar themes such as the Funeral Games chapter, the death of Pallas raising anger in Aeneas as the death of Patroclus does to Achilles, the final battle between Turnus and Aeneas being similar to the final battle of Achilles and Hector etc. However, originality wasn't considered particularly important in the ancient world. In fact, they tended to stick rigidly to respected forms of literature. Nevertheless, Vergil was brave in shaping his work as an epic poem as this type of work was not at all popular at his time.
So do I recommend it? Well, if you're looking for a bit of light reading then this is probably not for you. It's not particularly hard to understand as a text, but it can get a bit dry at bits and you might have to battle to keep yourself from drifting off or just giving up on the book entirely. However, if you're looking for something a bit different and a bit more challenging than the usual pulpy fodder then this may just be the book for you. If nothing else, reading this on the commute to work in the morning will make you look rather intelligent and cultured, and that's as good a reason as any to read it!
You should be able to get a Penguin Classics translation of this for under a tenner.
Summary:
|
Last comment:
 |
jens26 - 24/01/05 Great review, not really my sort of book though. Thanks for reading and rating my review. Jens
|
View all
7
comments
|
