Virgil: The Aeneid

The Aeneid is a landmark of literary narrative and poetic sensibility. This 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.

• New edition of a widely used and helpful guide to one of the greatest works of world literature - including a fully updated guide to further reading • This introduction examines the significant after-life of the Aeneid • Updated by an expert in the field who has taught this text for many years

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.

\'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