Books by Virgil

Book XII brings Virgil's Aeneid to a close, as the long-delayed single combat between Aeneas and Turnus ends with Turnus' death - a finale that many readers find more unsettling than triumphant. In this, the first detailed single-volume commentary on the book in any language, Professor Tarrant explores Virgil's complex portrayal of the opposing champions, his use and transformation of earlier poetry (Homer's in particular) and his shaping of the narrative in its final phases. In addition to the linguistic and thematic commentary, the volume contains a substantial introduction that discusses the larger literary and historical issues raised by the poem's conclusion; other sections include accounts of Virgil's metre, later treatments of the book's events in art and music, and the transmission of the text. The edition is designed for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students and will also be of interest to scholars of Latin literature.

These delightful poems-by turns whimsical, beautiful, and vulgar-seem to have primarily survived because they were attributed to Virgil. But in David R. Slavitt's imaginative and appealing translations, they stand firmly on their own merits. Slavitt brings to this little-known body of verse a fresh voice, vividly capturing the tone and style of the originals while conveying a lively sense of fun.

One of the greatest poems of the classical world, Virgil's Georgics is a glorious celebration of the eternal beauty of the natural world, now brought vividly to life in a powerful new translation.'Georgic' means 'to work the earth', and this poetic guide to country living combines practical wisdom on tending the land with exuberant fantasy and eulogies to the rhythms of nature. It describes hills strewn with wild berries in 'vine-spread autumn'; recommends watching the stars to determine the right time to plant seeds; and gives guidance on making wine and keeping bees. Yet the Georgics also tells of angry gods, bloody battles and a natural world fraught with danger from storms, pests and plagues. Expansive in its scope, lush in its language, this extraordinary work is at once a reflection on the cycles of life, death and rebirth, an argument for the nobility of labour and an impassioned reflection on the Roman Empire of Virgil's times. Kimberly Johnson's lyrical verse translation captures all the rich beauty and abundant imagery of the original, re-creating this ancient masterpiece for our times.

Appendix Vergiliana

Frederick Ahl's new translation captures the excitement, poetic energy, and intellectual force of Virgil's epic poem in a way that has never been done before. Echoing the Virgilian hexameter the verse stays almost line for line with the original in a thrillingly accurate and engaging style.

Dido, queen of Carthage, is inflamed by love for Aeneas. The goddesses Juno and Venus plot to unite them, and their 'marriage' is consummated in a cave during a hunt. However, Jupiter sends Mercury to remind Aeneas of his duty, and the hero departs despite Dido's passionate pleas. Dido commits suicide.

This text of the first book of the "Aeneid" includes a detailed commentary.

This text of the fourth book of the "Aeneid" includes a detailed commentary.

Virgil's Georgics is considered one of the greatest poems in western literature. It purports to be a didactic poem on agriculture, but its true subject is man and his place in literature and society. Sir Roger Mynors's definitive text is presented here, and his accessible commentary is the fullest understanding of the work available for students and scholars.

In this edition Robert Coleman describes the earlier pastoral tradition, sets Virgil's poems in historical perspective and evaluates the poet's distinctive contribution to the genre.

This text of the sixth book of the "Aeneid" includes a detailed commentary.

A sophisticated blend of "Arcadian" idyll and contemporary Roman history, Virgil's ten short pastoral poems have intrigued scholars and poets alike. This is a full-scale commentary on the "Eclogues", edited by a world expert on Latin literature.

Book VIII is one of the most attractive and important books of Virgil's Aeneid. It includes the visit of Aaneas to the site of the future Rome, the story of Hercules and Cacus, the episode between Venus and Vulcan and the description of the great symbolic shield of Aeneas.

Hailed by T.S. Eliot as 'the classic of all Europe', Virgil's Aeneid has enjoyed a unique and enduring influence on European literature, art and politics for the past two thousand years.

These two volumes provide a commentary, with text on Virgil's "Georgics" written between 35 and 29 BC. The background of the poem and its relationship to the early years of Augustan Rome are considered and a section interprets the poem in the light of recent scholarship.

This volume, the second of two companion volumes which provide a detailed commentary, with text, on the whole of Virgil's Georgics, is devoted to Books III and IV of the poem. Professor Thomas describes the Georgics as 'perhaps the most difficult, certainly the most controversial, poem in Roman literature'.

The first major single-volume edition in English of the pivotal book in Virgil's Aeneid , featuring the expedition of Nisus and Euryalus.

Aeneid Book 2

This is the first major commentary on the tenth book of Vergil's Aeneid, the national epic of Rome and one of the great poems of world literature. Vergil's text, with a facing translation, is explained for the modern reader and its literary qualities are fully assessed.

The first volume of R.D. Williams' classic edition of the Aeneid, covering books I-VI.

Haunting and enigmatic, Virgil's Eclogues combined a Greek literary form with scenes from contemporary Roman life to create a work that inspired a whole European tradition of pastoral poetry. For despite their rustic setting and the beauty of their phrasing, the poems in Virgil's first collection are also grounded in reality. Shepherds are overwhelmed by the torments of poetic love - but they must also endure such real-life events as the tragic consequences of Julius Caesar's murder in 44 bc and a civil war. In giving unforgettable expression to the disasters of the day through poetry, the Eclogues paved the way for the Georgics and the Aeneid, the two greatest works of Latin literature, and are also a major masterpiece in their own right.

A eulogy to Italy as the temperate land of perpetual spring, and a celebration of the values of rustic piety, The Georgics is probably the supreme achievement of Latin poetry.

'The most truthful translation ever, conveying as many nuances and whispers as are possible from the original' The TimesAfter a century of civil strife in Rome and Italy, Virgil wrote the Aeneid to honour the emperor Augustus by praising his legendary ancestor Aeneas. As a patriotic epic imitating Homer, the Aeneid also set out to provide Rome with a literature equal to that of Greece. It tells of Aeneas, survivor of the sack of Troy, and of his seven-year journey: to Carthage, where he falls tragically in love with Queen Dido; then to the underworld,; and finally to Italy, where he founds 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'.Translated with an Introduction by DAVID WEST