This is the first volume of R. Deryck Williams' classic edition of the Aeneid, covering books I-VI. It includes the Latin text, with English introduction, an extensive commentary and notes by this renowned Virgilian scholar. Designed for upper school and university students, the commentary discusses the life and works of Virgil, the legend of Aeneas, structure and themes and Virgil's hexameter. It interprets the poetic methods and intentions of the Aeneid, and explains not only what Virgil says, but how he says it and why he says it in the particular way which he chooses. Williams considers the limitations and similarities of diction from English poets - particularly Spenser and Milton - in order to illuminate the literary impact of the Virgilian passage. Williams' aim was to be "concise rather than omissive" and his notes remain an example of clarity and good sense for any student approaching the first half of the Aeneid in whole or in part.
Author
Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BCE – September 21, 19 BCE), usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜrdʒəl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Modeled after Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy—in Roman mythology the founding act of Rome. Virgil's work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably the Divine Comedy of Dante, in which Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.
