The Aeneid
The Aeneid by Virgil, published by Penguin on April 29, 2003, is a revised edition comprising 368 pages. This epic poem honors the emperor Augustus by celebrating Aeneas, his legendary ancestor, and reflects on the themes of arms and the man. Written during a time of civil strife in Rome, Virgil’s work serves as a patriotic narrative that parallels the grandeur of Homer’s epics, detailing Aeneas’s journey from the ruins of Troy to the founding of Rome.
Readers will encounter Aeneas’s seven-year odyssey, which includes his tragic love for Queen Dido and a descent into the underworld with the Sibyl of Cumae. This edition features David West’s acclaimed prose translation, along with a revised introduction and individual prefaces for each of the twelve books. The Aeneid encompasses elements of mythology and literary tradition, making it a significant work within the realms of fiction and classics.
Official synopsis Publisher
“I sing of arms and of the man”
After a century of civil strife in Rome and Italy, Virgil wrote The Aeneid to honour the emperor Augustus by praising Aeneas – Augustus’ legendary ancestor. As a patriotic epic imitating Homer, The Aeneid also provided Rome with a literature equal to the Greek. It tells of Aeneas, survivor of the sack of Troy, and of his seven year journey – to Carthage, falling tragically in love with Queen Dido; then to the underworld, in the company of the Sibyl of Cumae; and finally to Italy, where he founded Rome. It is a story of defeat and exile, of love and war, hailed by Tennyson as ‘the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man’.
David West’s acclaimed prose translation is accompanied by his revised introduction and individual prefaces to the twelve books of The Aeneid.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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