The Aeneid (Library Edition) [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Virgil (Author), Frederick Davidson (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1997

[This is the Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.]

[Translated into English prose by W. F. Jackson Knight]

[Read by Frederick Davidson]

The Aeneid is considered by some to be one of the most important epic poems of all time. The story is as much one of the great epic hero, Aeneas, as it is of the foundation of the great Roman Empire. Aeneas, a Trojan Prince who escapes following the fall of troy, travels with others to Italy to lay the foundations for what would become the great Roman Empire. Virgil's Aeneid is a story of great adventure, of war, of love, and of the exploits of a great epic hero. In the work Virgil makes commentary on the state of Rome during the Rule of Augustus. It was a time that had been previously ravaged by civil wars and with the reign of Augustus order and peace had begun to be restored. That order had a price though. Many of the freedoms of the old Roman Republic had been lost under the new Imperialistic Rome. This loss of freedom and the debate over the virtues of a Republican Rome versus an Imperialistic Rome was central to Virgil's time and is interwoven throughout the poetic narrative of The Aeneid.Virgil's work forms the historical foundation for the argument of the empire over the republic as the best form of government.

Editorial Reviews

Review

''From the beginning to the end of this English poem . . . the reader will find the same sure control of English rhythms, the same deft phrasing, and an energy which urges the eye onward.'' --New Republic

''[A] sweeping epic filled with adventure and mythology, heroes and gods. There is a lot of material here for students of history, Greek and Roman mythology, ancient literature . . . [Davidson's] diction and pacing are quite good.'' --Kliatt

About the Author

VIRGIL (70 -19 B.C), regarded as the greatest Roman poet, was born in a small village near Mantua in Northern Italy and attended school at Cremona, Milan, and Rome, where he studied mathematics, medicine, and rhetoric. He devoted his life, from 30 to 19 B.C., to the composition of The Aeneid, the national epic of Rome.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786103167
• ISBN-13: 978-0786103164
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,578,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Translation, August 25, 2001

By 

T. Kearns (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aeneid (Wordsworth Classics) (Wadsworth Collection) (Paperback)

This review is one of the this particular translation and not of Virgil's Aeneid. This translation is outstanding. It is a prose translation undoubtedly made by some nineteenth century British Classicist. That, however, takes nothing away from it. This is the one translation I have found that actually succeeds at keeping the beauty of Virgil's words. It makes for great sounding language and it is not spoiled by modern idioms or expressions. The translator keeps his text very literal and yet somehow manages not to sound redundant or awkward. Indeed, the words simply flow. I do not know who the translator is and oddly enough, the book doesn't tell you either. I highly recommend this translation especially to anyone who is tired of the classics not sounding like classics.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor translation., January 28, 2010

By 

Marsha E. Wood (Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aeneid (Paperback)

This review is directed towards this, apparently anonymous, translation. It is written in "poetry," so that every two lines rhyme, but it is almost impossible to make sense of because of the archaic sentence structure. I am a Latin major who has read most of the Aeneid in Latin. In my opinion, it will be easier for potential buyers to learn Latin than to read this particular translation.

10 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Imitation of an Epic From the Oral Tradition, August 21, 1998

By 

Eugene G. Barnes (Dunn Loring, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Aeneid (Library Edition) (Audio Cassette)

The Roman poet Virgil, normally content with evocations of farming, animal husbandry and rustic scenes, here takes up the task of crafting an epic worthy of Rome's greatness and success as a world power. Taking as his model the Odyssey of Homer, Virgil traces the wanderings of Aeneas, hero of the Trojan Wars, as he wends his way toward Italy and his destiny -- to found Rome. Along the way he falls in love with Queen Dido of Carthage. There are lots of scenes of battles and one-on-one fighting, and they are occasionally more gory than Homer ever was (or perhaps it just seems that way because we know more about the victims' psyches than we did with Homer's characters). Be prepared for a rather abrupt ending, but the good news is you won't have to wade through obsequies and other formalisms in a denouement that could only have been anticlimactic. The prose translation I heard (on the Blackstone unabridged tapes) was undoubtedly accurate but not very noble. Someday I'll try it again with a poetic version.