The Aeneid

Book Description

Robert Fagles's translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and become the standard translations of our era. Now, his stunning modern verse translation of Virgil's Aeneid is poised to do the same. This beautifully produced edition of the Aeneid will be eagerly sought by readers desiring to complete their Fagles collection—and the attention it receives will stimulate even greater interest in his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey. BACKCOVER: Praise for Robert Fagles's translation of the Odyssey:
“Wonderfully readable . . . just the right blend of sophistication and roughness, it seems to me.”
—Ted Hughes

“A memorable achievement . . . Mr. Fagles has been remarkably successful in finding a style that is of our time and yet timeless.”
—Richard Jenkyns, The New York Times Book Review

“Remarkably seductive . . . In Fagles's hands, this `perennial poem of adventure' is again a work of entertainment, of majesty and epic beauty great enough to stun the senses.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Customer Reviews:

The Aeneid.......2007-10-09

I have yet to read the book, but I'm very excited about reading it. The book was in perfect condition and arrived on time.

Exactly what I thought it'd be! .......2007-09-22

The book is new, just like I ordered it, and it came within a week of my online order. Great job, Amazon!

Another atrocious Aeneid translation by an unpoetical professor.......2007-05-29

I should preface this review by saying that I am fluent in Latin (or at any rate I read it about as easily as I read English or French.)

This particular translation of the Aeneid is the worst I have ever seen. The so-called blank verse is devoid of metre, and amounts to nothing more than prose - very awkward, uninspired prose - artificially chopped up into lines of a more or less constant length. This sort of travesty has been common in English translations of the classics since the 1940's or so, but Fagles adds his own inexpressible sense of bad taste. The result is absurd rubbish.

For the benefit of monolingual anglophones, I observe that Virgil is at least equal to Shakespeare as a poet. As a stylist he is far superior. Does anyone imagine that some professor in say, Egypt, could translate Shakespeare into say, Arabic, in a way that could give Arabs a sense of just how wonderfully beautiful and moving Shakespeare is at his best? Of course not. The only example in English of a great poet being translated into really great English verse is Fitzgerald's Omar Khayyam. And Fitzgerald was a great English poet, not a professor.

In American culture however, only professors get the chance to translate the Greek and Latin classics any more, for only they know the originals well enough to attempt this. Further, English poetry is virtually dead - very few people read poetry, and even fewer have any idea of what poetry is, or how it differs from prose.

The result is the worst possible cultural climate in which to translate a sublime poet like Virgil. The translators are dull professors with no real knowledge of English poetry, no knowledge of metre or rhyme, no knowledge of the resources of English poetry, and certainly no ability to innovate in English poetry without making fools of themselves.

If you really want to gain some idea of the poetical beauty of the Aeneid, don't bother reading any modern translation, or even any of the older translations like Dryden or Gawain Douglas - they are all miserable failures - though not as embarrassingly bad as Fagles. Instead, get an English interlinear of the Aeneid and a Latin grammar, and invest a few years of your spare time in learning Latin.

Or wait for my own translation of the Aeneid....

Terrific translation.......2007-05-13

The original author was great; this translator is superb...as exciting as anything yhou can imagine. Don't get it if you think it will put you to sleep at night.

sound and action.......2007-05-07

Fagles's Aeneid is swift, vivid, and sonorous. With his translations of Homer behind him, Fagles enjoys a surety of reference that allows him--and the reader--to concentrate on the visual and auditory and intellectual action. Fagles gets a lovely running-before-the-wind feel by alternating fourteeners and hexameter, trimming the course with pentameter. Some transitional phrases seem too smooth, as if perhaps Fagles has stolen the ball, and occasionally I missed the poetic precision in the English that more delicate translations e.g. C.Day Lewis's achieve at points. Bernard Knox's introduction is interesting and moving, if hastily written. The glossary of persons/gods and places is useful and ample and in the back of the book where it can be ignored as desired. This reads wonderfully aloud, perhaps 1/2 to 1 book per evening, aloud with friends or family or by yourself. This is delectable action poetry, to take you lands away--to Rome no less.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Rendition of a Classic
A Stone Waste!
A classic of Western literature that is often a fun read (or listen)
Translation and reading great, pity the original isn't
Wonderful read...annoying listen.

The Aeneid
Virgil
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0143059025
Release Date: 2006-11-02

Book Description

The much-anticipated new translation of Virgil's epic poem from the award-winning translator of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Unabridged CDs - 10 CDs, 12.5 hours

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Rendition of a Classic.......2007-07-26

I don't think that anyone could ask for a better presentation of Virgil's classic. Fagles's translation is scintillating. When I listen to a work like this I generally simultaneously read or consult a number of translations, and Fagles definitely has created a wondrous and exceptional work in English. Simon Callow's rendition is simultaneously exhilarating and haunting. Highly recommended.

A Stone Waste!.......2007-07-26

I understand that many readers in the United States find Robert Fagles' translation easy to read. Some likely appreciate his use of colloquialisms. A reader with a European accent surely wasn't the best choice for this translation.

Most importantly, Penguin should never have allowed this audio book to leave its shop in the present condition. Sometimes Mr. Callow was so loud that my ears hurt and at other times he sort of muttered. Some of his presentation was enjoyable, but I gave up on the second CD. I use a reasonably good sound system to listen to audio books and have never before had such difficulty.

A classic of Western literature that is often a fun read (or listen).......2007-06-13

This is a review of the CD audio book version of Robert Fagles' translation of Virgil's Aeneid.

Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli once quipped, "My wife is a lovely woman, but she can never remember which came first: the Greeks or the Romans." The Greeks "came first" in two senses. Their civilization produced great works of literature, philosophy and art when Rome was still a primitive village, and although the Romans later conquered the Greek world their cultural achievements never quite matched those of Greece, and they knew it.

The Aeneid is an epic poem that tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan who flees his city as it is being sacked by the Greeks. (The story of the Trojan Horse is actually not in the Iliad, but there is a moving account of it in the Aeneid.) Aeneas wanders for many years and eventually comes to Italy and founds what becomes Roman civilization. Aeneas is thus conquered by the Greeks, but founds the civilization that will conquer them. And this poem about Aeneas is meant to rival the Iliad (with its accounts of battles) and the Odyssey (with its accounts of the wanderings of its hero on his way home).

The Aeneid is also a commentary on the politics of the era in which it was composed. Virgil lived in the time when the Roman Republic had come to an end and Octavian had succeeded Caesar as emperor. Aeneas is the supposed founder of the Roman royal line, so in honoring him Virgil is honoring his patron. And Octavian came to power only after a period of warfare (just like Aeneas). Further parallels are provided by the relationship between Aeneas and Dido, Queen of Carthage. Aeneas and Dido fall in love, and he is tempted to stay with her. But he remembers his sacred duty to found a new empire in Italy, so he leaves her behind. (I don't want to spoil the story for you, but what happens with Dido after Aeneas leaves her is one of the most famous parts of the Aeneid.) Carthage was a city that fought two wars with Rome. (Remember Hannibal leading the elephants over the alps? That was the Carthaginians.) So Aeneas's psychological victory over the temptations of Carthage foreshadows the later conflict between the empires. Furthermore, Octavian's rule was secure only after he defeated Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony allowed himself to be seduced by a foreign queen (Cleopatra in this case). So in showing Aeneas's resolve against the temptations of a foreign queen, Virgil is condemning Octavian's opponent.

The Aeneid is considered one of the greatest works (perhaps THE greatest) of Latin literature. It was so highly esteemed that it was sometimes used as a book of divination: you opened it up to a random page and stuck your finger on a line, which was your "fortune." (I tried it: apparently I am going to be shot dead with an arrow by a goddess.)

As a story, I find the Aeneid good but uneven. Parts of it are quite gripping. In addition to some of the events I've mentioned, the account of Aeneid's visit to the underworld, and the poetically appropriate punishments that the vicious receive, is engaging. We can see why Dante was so inspired by it that, in the Divine Comedy, he makes Virgil be his guide through Hell. At his worst, though, Virgil can be a bit bombastic. This isn't helped by the actor who reads the text for this audio book. His delivery reminds one of a stodgy British professor delivering a commencement address.

The CD case includes a booklet with the introduction to Fagles' translation by classicist Bernard Knox. This is very helpful, situating Virgil in his time, summarizing the poem (I found this useful as a review after having listened to the whole thing), and offering some personal reflections on the meaning Virgil has for him.

In the final analysis, the Aeneid is very good, but not as great as the Iliad or the Odyssey. I guess the Greeks do still "come first."

Translation and reading great, pity the original isn't.......2007-05-12

This is by far the best translation of The Aeneid I have found. And the reading suits the translation and Virgil's intentions. But the original Latin work is over-ornamented, derivative, very violent (likely the highest body count of any ancient epic), and pure propaganda for Augustus. The main character is totally without personality. It was written for the entertainment of educated pampered Romans reveling in their triumph over the rest of the world. That being said, this is a classic of Western Literature and has been widely praised for centuries. It (literally) speaks volumes about the Romans of this period! One is uneducated unless he or she knows this work and this audio version is the most painless way to approach it. Unfortunately, Virgil isn't Homer and this epic lacks much found in the Greek epics.

The translator has given us the real Virgil in English. And it is neat to know how to pronounce all those ancient names that I have been stumbling over for years.

Wonderful read...annoying listen........2007-04-27

5 stars for the translation: The meaning and context is clearly understandable and easily readable. Mandelbaum's translation was very good. The Fitzgerald translation was passable. I always felt that Fitzgerald "rewrote" the Aeneid in a style HE thought should have been written. Fagles' translation does justice to Virgil in that Fagles has translated it in a style and manner more closely to what Virgil orginally wrote.

MINUS 2 stars: voicing and voice characterization
This is the most annoying aspect of this reading. Simon Callow is no George Guidall or Frank Muller as fans of recordedbooks will quickly notice.

Callow's voice characterization can only be described as high screechy/wailing and raspy for female reading parts. This includes all harpies, sibyls and most disappointing of all Dido. He just seems to use the same characterization for all of them and it gets rather tiresome quickly. And to top it off, sometimes he starts in this high screeching raspy voice and then reverts to his stentorian Shakespearean voice for the rest of the part.

Most disappointing considering that Simon Callow does have a very forceful dramatic voice when he reads in his own style. I just wish he had used it for the entire read.

MINUS 1 star: Voice dynamics
His voice dynamics is uneven...sometimes his voice is booming and at other times it is almost at an inaudible whisper. I listen to this in my car and I find that I have to rewind numerous times to hear what he said.

Summary: Until there is a better audio - read the poem instead and let your imagination take you to a time and place long gone but whose hero's travails are somehow relevant to this time and place. I guess that's why this poem is still being read today.

Cicero: Select Letters (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)

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Cicero: Select Letters (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521295246

Book Description

Professor Shackleton Bailey is renowned for his major scholarly editions of Cicero’s letters already published by Cambridge University Press. This selection from the complete correspondence is designed specifically for students at universities and in the upper forms at schools, and offers them a representative introduction to one of the most varied and most important literary correspondences in any language. In choosing letters for inclusion the editor concentrates on Cicero as a man and writer and on his relationship with his contemporaries, but he has also included letters which deal with people and events of special significance in the turbulent political history of the period. The edition includes an introduction, the text of the letters with critical notes, and a commentary which gives help with linguistic problems as well as elucidating the historical and social background.

Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages

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Very Useful for Palaeographers

Latin Palaeography: Antiquity and the Middle Ages
Bernhard Bischoff
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521367263

Book Description

First published in 1979, this work, by the greatest living authority on medieval palaeography, offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date account in any language of the history of Latin script. It contains a detailed account of the role of the book in cultural history from antiquity to the Renaissance and outlines the history of book illumination. By setting the development of Latin script in its cultural context, it provides an unrivalled introduction to the nature of medieval Latin culture.

Customer Reviews:

Very Useful for Palaeographers.......1999-09-27

Bischoff is one of the greatest and ablest scholars for such a work. The volume's 289 pages gives a good overall picture of the Latin scripts in the period covered. Very good facsimiles of actual manuscripts accent the text. Though not acid free (apparently), the paper is very fine and the paperback seems sturdy. It has all of the necessary indexes, including MSS referred to, but no index of Latin terms within the text. Bischoff could have devoted more space to ligatures and tachyography at least the topic is not ignored. The representations of the various scripts are clear, and the volume is well referenced. It is most likely the best text on Latin palaeography for this period of Latin. The price is also right. Mr. Gary S. Dykes (Sept. 1999)

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Things change...
Myths in poetry
An Anthology of Greek Mythology, Clothed in Latin Dress
(Un) pleasant surprises and no happy endings.
Superb Translation and Edition

Metamorphoses (Oxford World's Classics)
Ovid
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 019283472X

Book Description

Metamorphoses--the best-known poem by one of the wittiest poets of classical antiquity--takes as its theme change and transformation, as illustrated by Greco-Roman myth and legend. Melville's new translation reproduces the grace and fluency of Ovid's style, and its modern idiom offers a fresh
understanding of Ovid's unique and elusive vision of reality.

Customer Reviews:

Things change..........2007-08-07

Maidens become trees. Young hunks turn into flowers. Men become women; women become invincible warriors. And every time you blink, another poor wretch becomes a bird or turns to stone. In Ovid's Metamorphosis, nothing stays the same for long. A rich compendium of Greco-Roman mythology and history all ingeniously linked together by the theme of transformation, the Metamorphosis is a surprisingly sophisticated, erotic, and gory classic of ancient literature.

Rapes, murders, wars, and all manner of perversion abound. Death is lingered over with almost forensic precision. The slaughter of arrogant Niobe's fourteen children, for example, is recounted in an exhaustive detail that would do any contemporary slasher flick justice, as one by one they're picked off in various grisly ways. This is classical gore--Ovid sounding like the Clive Barker of ancient Rome as in this excerpt from the massacre of the centaurs:

[Exadius] found a weapon, a stag's antlers
Hung on a pine tree...
And Gryneus' eyes were pierced by those twin prongs,
Eyeballs gouged out; one of them stuck to the horn,
The other rolled down his beard till a blood clot caught it.

This is the sort of wonderfully nauseating detail that is repeated countless times in a masterpiece that often reads like the National Enquirer. It's hard not to believe that Ovid, like Shakespeare, was aiming his work for the mass audience of his time, which just goes to show you that the product of one age's pop culture is another's venerated classic. One only has to read Ovid's over-the-top account of the love-sick Cyclops to realize that black comedy ala the B-movies of Herschel Gordon Lewis had already been mastered some two thousand years ago.

There are a bewildering proliferation of translations of Ovid's Metamorphosis to choose from. In selecting Humphries, I chose the text that struck me as the least encumbered by the translator's attempt to distinguish himself from his rivals. Many translators feel the pressing need to do something new, and to `recast' the Metamorphosis into what they consider a facsimile of contemporary poetry. The result is all-too-often a needless accretion of unnecessary words and poetic tropes that do nothing whatsoever to enhance the text, and much towards rendering it more difficult for novelty's sake alone, and to call attention to the translator--two things a translation should avoid at all costs.

Rolf Humphries renders the Metamorphosis into a clear, straightforward English verse whose easy-going casualness facilitates readability and comprehension, as well as reflecting the apparently colloquially style of Ovid's original. And Humphries accomplishes all this without sacrificing any of the poetry--his translation is often quite beautiful, not only in its clarity and apparent simplicity, but in its adept use of language that breathes life back into this ancient work. By stepping back and lending his breath to the ancient poet, Humphries allows Ovid himself to sing again.

One of the truly seminal works of world literature, not to mention an invaluable storehouse of myths and legends, Ovid's Metamorphosis is not only must reading for any lover of great literature, but also a heck of a lot of fun.

Myths in poetry.......2007-08-05

This book by Ovid tells in verse the story of all the Greek myths. I used to read it to my son when he was younger, translating into Spanish because it is our first language, but he loved it so much that now that he is 18 he searched for it to purchase one for us and one to give as a present to a friend from school.

Ovid's theory is that everything metamorphoses or changes and he starts with the story of the creation and moves accordingly to the stories of the Titans, the Gods and the heroes. It is beautifully written, the images very rich and poetic. One of my favorite stories is of Echo and Narcissus. The English is antique, and since it is in verse, reading can be a little difficult, but if you go past this it is a book to cherish and remember.

An Anthology of Greek Mythology, Clothed in Latin Dress.......2006-03-09

Ovid was undoubtedly the most prolific Latin poet; his enormous corpus of poetry gives credence to that fact. Naso's works ranged from lusty love poetry and somber exile literature (all elegies) to the sweeping heroic epic, of which his immortal Metamorphosis is styled upon. The work itself is an anthology of traditional Greek mythology, clothed in Latin dress. Its aim seems to have been twofold: for one, to establish a historical link between the gods of old and the new Roman empire, and two, to popularize the myths of Greece for the Roman nobility and populus. And so, as the Metamorphosis contains many tales, and is in a sense many books within a book, it invites us to read it in small doses. Moreover, it hardly has the capacity to steal your imagination like Virgil's Aenied, but it does have the virtue of being poetic and encyclopedic, while at the same time being entertaining and didactic. A.D. Mellville's translation is suggested; his English is so smooth it is almost therapeutic.

(Un) pleasant surprises and no happy endings........2006-01-16

Publius Ovidius Naso was born in 43 B.C and died in 18 A.D.
He was banished for unknown reasons to Tomi, a barren place near the coast of the Black Sea. A few scholars believe that this was a literary hoax created by Ovid himself. It would enable him to write the 'Tristia' and 'Letters From The Black Sea'.

'Metamorphoses' is his main achievement. It contains 250 stories from the Greek Mythology and they all have in common that the principal character changes into another form. Most of the time they turn into an animal or a tree but also in a river, a constellation of stars, a rock or a flower and other pleasant surprises.

If you read this book you won't find many happy endings. The ancient Greeks didn't know the meaning of that expression.
It's not an easy read but if you persist it will be a rewarding literary experience.

Superb Translation and Edition.......2005-09-30

This book is wonderful. The Rolfe Humphries is THE translation. This printing is also very nice. The paper, the type, everything makes it a good book. When you turn the page, it turns nicely and lies flat; how refreshing.

The stories of the Metamorphoses are, of course, wonderful. It's the book itself that I want to talk about.

The beautiful Waterhouse painting on the cover spans the front and part of the back covers. The line numbers at the top of each text page are those of the Latin text in the Loeb edition; how many translators would go to that kind of trouble for you? Rolfe Humphries' introduction is light, funny, and enjoyable. His love of his work shines through. The last line of his intro is, "So - here he is [Ovid], and I hope you like him."

The table of contents is annotated, making it easy to find any major story you are looking for. I also love the designs at the beginning of each book/chapter: such details enhance my enjoyment of reading this edition.

If you have never read Ovid's Metamorphoses, don't be intimidated. It is a collection of mythology stories, and you will find much that is probably familiar to you (Echo and Narcissus, Jason, Pygmalion, and more). If you are at all serious about literature, this is a basic building block in your knowledge. And even if you're not, it's just a damn good book.

The translation itself is so fluent and enjoyable. Just listen to the introduction:

My intention is to tell of bodies changed
To different forms; the gods, who made the changes,
Will help me - or so I hope - with a poem
That runs from the world's beginning to our own days.

This is exciting, eloquent stuff! Please do yourself a favor and make sure you read this at some point during your lifetime. To die without having read it would be almost like not having lived at all.

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Virgil: Critical Assessments
Philip Hardie
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415152453

Book Description

This set collects eighty-four of the most important articles published on Virgil in the last hundred years, many of which remain the starting-points for modern scholarship and criticism.

Lexique de la prose latine de la Renaissance / Dictionary of Renaissance Latin from Prose Sources: Deuxieme edition revue et considerablement augmentee, Bilingual

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Lexique de la prose latine de la Renaissance / Dictionary of Renaissance Latin from Prose Sources: Deuxieme edition revue et considerablement augmentee, Bilingual
Rene Hoven
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 9004139842

Book Description

René Hoven's Dictionary of Renaissance Latin from Prose Sources has since its first appearance in 1994 become a recognised and valued resource for Latinists and Neo-Latinists, and all those historians of Humanism, of the Renaissance, of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

Now revised and expanded for this second edition (with the collaboration of Laurent Grailet), it contains almost 11,000 entries (excluding variant spellings and other simple repetitions).

The number of authors from Western and Central Europe covered has risen from 150 to more than 230, adding to an original authors list which included Ficino, Petrarch, Pico de la Mirandola, Poggio, Politian, Valla, Budé, Calvin, Erasmus, Lipsius, Luther, Melanchton, More and Vives, the prose works of among others Ermolao Barbaro, Bembo, Giordano Bruno, Buchanan, John Colet, Copernicus, Olaus Magnus, Paracelsus, Perotti, Pontanus and Vesalius.

The revised work offers coverage of an even wider variety of genres, from literature to science and medicine, collections of correspondence, travelogues, scholarly works, art, historiography, law, rhetoric, philosophy, theology, questions related to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, as well as Neo-Latin translations of ancient Greek works.

The originally Latin-French dictionary now also gives an English translation for every entry of a Renaissance Latin term, with reference to context. The words or meanings which are already found in Le Grand Gaffiot - Dictionnaire latin-français are not taken into account. Entries carry indications of whether a word with a specifically Renaissance Latin meaning had earlier but different usages in Classical, Late Antique and Medieval Latin, and parallel usages are given from ancient Greek and the vernaculars. The work contains a full list of sources, separate lists of words of non-Latin origin, diminutives and of words classified by given suffixes or endings and an essay of Thomas More on the Neo-Latin usages.

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Review of revised Loeb Virgil - 2 volumes

Not a Verse Translation

Loeb does it right

Student Savior!

The Loeb series continues to deliver excellent translations

Virgil, I, Eclogues. Georgics. Aeneid: Books 1-6, Revised Edition (Loeb Classical Library)
Virgil , and G. P. Goold
Manufacturer: Loeb Classical Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Virgil, Volume II : Aeneid Books 7-12, Appendix Vergiliana (Loeb Classical Library, No 64)

The Iliad: Volume II, Books 13-24 (Loeb Classical Library No. 171)

Ovid III: Metamorphoses, Books I-VIII (Loeb Classical Library #42)

The Odyssey: Books 1-12 (The Loeb Classical Library, No 104)

The Odyssey: Books 13-24 (Loeb Classical Library, No 105)

ASIN: 067499583X

Book Description

Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) was born in 70 BCE near Mantua and was educated at Cremona, Milan and Rome. Slow in speech, shy in manner, thoughtful in mind, weak in health, he went back north for a quiet life. Influenced by the group of poets there, he may have written some of the doubtful poems included in our Virgilian manuscripts. All his undoubted extant work is written in his perfect hexameters. Earliest comes the collection of ten pleasingly artificial bucolic poems, the Eclogues, which imitated freely Theocritus's idylls. They deal with pastoral life and love. Before 29 BCE came one of the best of all didactic works, the four hooks of Georgics on tillage, trees, cattle, and bees. Virgil's remaining years were spent in composing his great, not wholly finished, epic the Aeneid, on the traditional theme of Rome's origins through Aeneas of Troy. Inspired by the Emperor Augustus's rule, the poem is Homeric in metre and method but influenced also by later Greek and Roman literature, philosophy, and learning, and deeply Roman in spirit. Virgil died in 19 BCE at Brundisium on his way home from Greece, where he had intended to round off the Aeneid. He had left in Rome a request that all its twelve books should be destroyed if he were to die then, but they were published by the executors of his will.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Virgil is in two volumes.

Customer Reviews:

Review of revised Loeb Virgil - 2 volumes.......2007-01-12

This new edition fulfils a longstanding need. The text is rightly updated, and the translation is modern. The explanatory notes are a useful feature.

Classics students depended on the older edition for its convenience and assistance (I used it myself nearly 40 years ago), but had to go to other editions for more scholarly purposes. This has now been remedied.

Not a Verse Translation.......2005-08-11

Don't get me wrong, the translation is fine, but if you're looking for a verse translation of the Eclogues, the Georgics, or the Aeneid, look elsewhere. Unfortunately, I had to purchase the item without knowing whether it was verse or prose, since none of the reviews indicates that it is, in fact, prose. I suppose I can't have too much Virgil, but it's nice to know ahead of time, right? Well, now all the other people in the world looking for a verse translation of Virgil's works (all twenty of them, right?) will know that this isn't what they want.

Loeb does it right.......2005-07-29

Roman society was enamoured of Greek culture -- many of the best 'Roman' things were Greek; the major gods were derivative of the Greek pantheon; philosophy, literature, science, political ideals, architecture -- all this was adopted from the Greeks. It makes sense that, at the point of their ascendancy in the world, they would long for an epic history similar to the Homeric legends; the Iliad and the Odyssey, written some 500 years after the actual events they depict, tell of the heroism of the Greeks in their battle against Troy (Ilium). The Aeneid, written by Vergil 700 years after Homer, at the commission of Augustus (himself in the process of consolidating his authority over Rome), turns the heroic victory of the much-admired Greeks on its head by postulating a survivor from Troy, Aeneas, who undergoes as journey akin to the Odyssey, even further afield.

Vergil constructs Aeneas, a very minor character in the Iliad, as the princely survivor and pilgrim from Troy, on a journey through the Mediterranean in search of a new home. According to Fitzgerald, who wrote a brief postscript to the poem, Vergil created a Homeric hero set in a Homeric age, purposefully following the Iliad and Odyssey as if they were formula, in the way that many a Hollywood director follows the formulaic pattern of past successful films. Vergil did not create the Trojan legend of Roman origins, but his poem solidified the notion in popular and scholarly sentiment.

Vergil sets the seeds for future animosity between Carthage and Rome in the Aeneid, too -- the curse of queen Dido on the descendants of Aeneas of never-ending strife played into then-recent recollections of war in the Roman mind. Books I through VI are much more studied than VII through XII, but the whole of the Aeneid is a spectacular tale.

True to the Loeb translations generally, this offers the Latin text on one page and an English translation on the facing page; this translation is done by G.P. Goold, working from H.R. Fairclough's standard edition (which is true also for the second half of the Aeneid, in the second volume of the Loeb printing). The translations are careful and work more at being faithful to the text in literal without being choppy manner; poetic license (which can often wreak havoc on a comparison of original language to translation analyses) is kept to a minimum, but not entirely absent here.

Vergil died before he could complete the story. He wished it to be burned; fortunately, Augustus had other ideas. Still, there are incomplete lines and thoughts, and occasional conflicts in the storyline that one assumes might have been worked out in the end, had more editing time been available. Despite these, the Aeneid remains a masterpiece, and the Loeb editions will remain standards for academic scholarship for some time to come.

Student Savior!.......2003-07-24

As a student preparing for the "AP Latin: Vergil" exam largely on my own, I can say from experience that this book is a great tool for students, regardless of the intensity at which you are studying Vergil.

Unlike the Mandelbaum or Fitzgerald translations, the Loeb is very literal, which helped me to see how the words fit together syntactically. A page of Latin text faces its translation, and it is easy to look back and forth to understand the translation. Because there are no vocabulary words or footnotes, the Loeb cannot be used alone by a student first learning Vergil. However, used in conjunction with the Boyd or Pharr edition of the Aeneid, it is a wonderful help.

Whether to help with translation or to study for tests, I highly recommend the Loeb. Because the Latin is on a page by itself with the English translation facing it, students can translate without any help whenever they are ready, making the Loeb a uniquely flexible aid to studying Vergil.

The Loeb series continues to deliver excellent translations.......2000-04-23

Just for those who have never seen a Loeb-it has the original Latin (or Greek) on one side with the translation on the following page. The Loeb series are known for their excellent translations and are vital to any researcher or historian who wants to return to the orginal for their primary source. Virgil's Georgics alone make this book a necessity (the Georgics used to be standard reading before and after the revolution in universities) and the Aeneid provides an excellent balance to the Eclouges and the Georgics. Virgil's writings are fairly simple yet convey both the message and the image of what he wishes to get across to the reader. The Loeb series are a bit more pricey than the Penguin translations but the added luxury of the Latin text make this series indispensable to the student or reseacher of Rome or the Latin language.

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A Nifty little resource for studying my Latin Bible
Just a warning.
Ecclesiastical latin
It's OK...for a dead form of communication
Good dictionary

Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin
Leo F. Stelten
Manufacturer: Hendrickson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565631315

Book Description

Leo Stelten has put to use his years of experience teaching Latin in compiling this concise reference book. The Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin includes approximately 17,000 words with the common meanings of the Latin terms found in church writings. Entries cover Scripture, Canon Law, the Liturgy, Vatican II, the early church fathers, and theological terms. This volume will prove to be an invaluable resource for theological students, as well as for those seeking to improve their knowledge of ecclesiastical Latin. An appendix also provides descriptions of ecclesiastical structures and explains technical terms from ecclesiastical law. The Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin has already been widely praised for its serviceability and indispensability in both academic and Church settings.

"For seminarians studying for the priesthood, the Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin by Leo F. Stelten will be helpful for examining Vatican documents in the original language, papal encyclicals and allocutions, publications on church liturgy, and Cannon Law volumes. This product of years of teaching, now updated, will be a happy resource in chanceries as well. The format is easy to follow and the vocabulary of some 17,000 words and phrases is quite adequate."
Â—Reverend Joseph F. Downey, S. J., Editorial Director, Loyola University Press, Chicago, Illinois

"A working knowledge of Latin is important for anyone who wishes to study the nearly two thousand years of living tradition of the Catholic Church. It is essential for those who wish to study seriously the sacred sciences of philosophy, theology, and cannon law. Father Leo Stelten, drawing upon his long experiences in teaching Latin to students for the priesthood, has developed in his Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin a most helpful tool both for those who are beginning their study of the church's lingua materna, as well as for those who are working to renew and improve their knowledge of church Latin."
Â—Monsignor Raymond L. Burke, Supremum Signaturae Apostolicae Tribunal, Vatican City, Rome

Customer Reviews:

A Nifty little resource for studying my Latin Bible.......2007-08-01

This is a superb dictionary for anyone wishing to read the Bible in Latin. One does not need to be familiar with Latin to use this dictionary. And no need to refer to a classical dictionary. It is based on the Oxford Edition of the New Testament where it does not seem to miss a word. I have also used it with other editions of the Latin Bible. I use it to read Church documents at the Lambeth Palace library. I also use another more general Collins dictionary but only to refer to occasionally as most of the words can be found in this dictionary.
If you are studying the Latin Bible the dictionary being smaller saves time. If you are studying the Latin language then it not suitable.

Just a warning........2007-06-16

The entries in this dictionary do not indicate long and short vowels: no macrons. Syllable stress is indicated by diacritic marks.

This may be the best or only Ecclesiastical dictionary on the market, but someone should write a new one with macrons. They are essential to pronunciation and syllable-emphasis understanding in Eccl. Latin education. By association, syllable emphasis decided the complex, beautiful inflectional system of Latin. And so macrons, whether disregarded or not, are essential to the presentation of the Latin language. Both this dictionary and TAN's "Latin Grammar" represent ignorance in language-acquisition by reducing Latin's rule-bound syllable-emphasis system based on a dual-vowel system to a mere diacritical mark above 'stressed vowel' which is to be memorized in a arbitrary manner. What ignorance. It's a real language!

But what the TAN book lacks in grammatical explanation and pronunciation, it makes up in zeal and piety, something "Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin" lacks from the get-go. I'd rather memorize diacritics in ignorance than ponder the mistake of a Latin Rite seperated from Latin.

Ecclesiastical latin.......2007-01-10

I use this almost every day and find it exactly what I was looking for.

It's OK...for a dead form of communication.......2006-10-29

If you enjoy research, reading the early fathers' sermons, keeping up with your Latin,or simply and old time Catholic that is more than ready for the Holy Father to allow a Latin Mass you need this dictionary. The missal is sure not going to tell you what the word means and even "Hail Holy Queen" looses something in translation. It is an adequate resource but for the money it is a great resource.

Good dictionary.......2006-10-01

This dictionary contains terms that one would need to know for reading Church documents. Unfortunately, I give it three stars because it only goes from Latin-English. If you're trying to write in Latin, you'll be quite frustrated and need to find another dictionary. But if you're simply reading, this book will do the job admirably.

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