Customer Reviews

The Aeneid (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There is no such thing as a "best" translation, only translations that suit one's purpose. If you want to read the Aeneid as a gripping story, Fagles's version does very well. I have just finished reading book 4, and Dido's fury, as set against the implacable higher purpose of Aeneas, has perhaps never been as vividly, even scarily, portrayed.

On the other hand, it could be argued that Fagles's verse does not convey the stately or epic quality of the Latin in the way that, for instance, Fitzgerald's does. A short comparison may suffice:

"sed nullis ille mouetur / fletibus aut uoces ullas tractabilis audit; / fata obstant placidasque uiri deus obstruit auris." (Vergil)

"But no tears move Aeneas now. / He is deaf to all appeals. He won't relent. / The Fates bar the way / and heaven blocks his gentle, human ears." (Fagles)

"But no tears moved him, no one's voice would he / Attend to tractably. The fates opposed it; / God's will blocked the man's once kindly ears." (Fitzgerald)

Fitzgerald's version is closer to the Latin (other than not using the present tense), better reflects its formal nature, and achieves a Vergilian metrical effect with the three successive beats of "God's will blocked." But Fagles's free and fluid rendition is undoubtedly more engaging to the modern reader.

Occasionally Fagles does introduce a modern idiom that is trite or jarring. For instance, when the sea-nymph speeds Aeneas's ship on its way in Book 10, she does so skillfully ("haud ignara modi") because she "knows the ropes".

The book has a useful introduction, a few notes, and a pronouncing glossary. Fagles's postscript is, however, a tedious pastiche of quotations from previous critics and could have been omitted.

I got my first look at Fagles' Aeneid today. My test passage was the death of Turnus. Fagles' work is perfectly good, of course, but that wasn't the point of my looking; I wanted, instead, to see if he had improved on Allen Mandelbaum's masterful version. (I don't want a good English Virgil, I want the best English Virgil.) I'll look microscopically at word choices, but I am not a bean-counter, and the point I'm driving at here has to do with how they read and feel as poetry.

12.940, Latin flectere, Mand. "move," Fagles "sway"; 12.941, Latin infelix, Mand. "luckless," Fagles "fateful"; 12.943, Latin Pallantis pueri, Mand. "of Pallas, of the boy," Fagles "young Pallas"; 12.944, Latin straverat, Mand. "stretched," Fagles I forget exactly, something like laid low, felled, killed, etc.

My judgment on these differences: Fagles' words are diffuse and lose some of Mandelbaum's admirable simplicity and directness. When he chooses to be less literal, it seems he's aiming for polish, which I don't want. No doubt he wants to avoid vulgar overliteralness--he knows that the Romans didn't feel the full specific and literal impact of every verbal stem--but instead of deepening the accuracy through attention to idiom, I feel that his choices intrude just a bit too much stuffiness between me and Virgil. Mandelbaum is passionate, his Virgil's pathos unmistakably aimed at the English reader's heart (much like his Dante). Fagles is refined, but without the crisp focus refinement needs. Mandelbaum writes a noble and sober American English that is literary in all of the good senses but none of the bad.

I'll be the first to admit that these are quick and irrational prejudices speaking. I enjoy reading Homer in Greek and Virgil in Latin, and I enjoy reading these epics in English. I will say that Fagles' Virgil is way better than his Homer, where he seizes on every stately epithet and falsely tries to wring dramatic significance out of it (I prefer Lattimore: let Homer speak for himself in his own language). But I beg you, even if you loved Fagles' Homer, check out Mandelbaum's Virgil, because you may not know what you're missing.

Bottom line: Anyone who thought Fitzgerald was better than Mandelbaum should give Fagles a good look, because these two versions do rival each other. But no one who appreciated what Mandelbaum achieved beyond Fitzgerald will find any reason to abandon Mandelbaum here.

A great new translation. Hold onto your copy of Fitzgerald, but don't hesitate to check out this new edition. This will be my go-to copy of The Aeneid. The book has a useful map, an informative forward, and a handy glossary and list of names. It also goes a long way towards capturing the timelessness of Virgil's poem. Simply put, I enjoyed it immensely and would recommend it to any reader. If you have never read Virgil (or Homer), then you need look no further for an illuminating, essential translation.

I find the Fagles translations superb, and personally I appreciate their moderate modern colloquialism. I have read (but not listened to) his rendition of Homer's Odyssey, and I have heard (but not read) this audiobook of the Aeneid. The latter experience revealed clearly, in a way that silent reading did not, Fagles' extreme care with assonance and alliteration in his translations. This is both useful and beautiful. If you have only read Fagles' Aeneid, you may appreciate both Virgil and Fagles in new ways if you are lucky enough to hear this audio version.

Callow's performance is theatrical, yes, but I welcome that: When the storm thunders so does Callow, when a harpie screeches so does Callow. His enunciation is crystal clear and yet so agile that it carries the listener in a compelling flow. He races when the action does, and stops dead at profound moments. I felt myself in the hands of a master throughout.

Ancient poetry was meant to be performed, heard. Give yourself the gift of hearing this one -- though it's in English, those of us with no Latin could do no better than these CDs, and this is a noble and delicious English rendition.

Robert Fagles translation turns a classic piece of literature into a readable text. I bought the book because I so enjoyed Fagles translations of The Illiad and The Odyssey, and I have not been disappointed. The translation eschews hexameter verse (almost impossible to preserve in a translation) in favor of the story and readability, but he preserves the poetry which makes these works such a marvel. It makes me want to read the text aloud so the drama will be felt. The introduction by Bernard Knox was tedious and prolix, so I would skip it unless you need background in the classics. I believe Virgil was the first to use a woman, Dido, as a main character. The story of her love of Aeneas and depression when he leaves her at the behest of Mercury is both powerful and contemporary--mankind has not changed. Kudos to Fagles. If you have not read Greek or Roman classics before, the translations by Fagles are sure to captivate you.

Simon Callow is a wonderful narrator, and his booming, mellifluous voice is remarkably suited to this poem. Also, this is unabridged, which is wonderful, if rare. This recording inspired me to go out and buy the unabridged Odyssey and the (regrettably) abridged Iliad, read by Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi respectively. I wish recordings of the classics were available, unabridged, and read by any of these three masters.

It is a shame that Vergil's Aeneid is not as well known as Homer's works today. Starting almost immediately upon its publication during the reign of Rome's first Emperor Augustus, this book, the most highly-esteemed work in the Latin language, remained at the heart of Western European self-image until the rediscovery of Homer well into the Renaissance. In the Middle Ages it was an almost holy text, describing the founding of the Holy City (Rome), and written by 'The' Secular Prophet, who in another poem purportedly prophesied the coming of Christ. Vergil was so revered through the ages that the greatest epic writer of the Middle ages, Dante, chose to not only model his own work upon Vergil's, but has Vergil as his guide through the after-life.
The plot is many-layered, telling three tales with one cleverly directed stroke. It tells of the founding of Rome, choosing to describe an episode prior to that of the embarrasing she-wolf myth; the family history and exploits of Rome's new imperial family-line, the Julians, starting with Aeneas himself and his divine mother Venus; and also the entire history of Rome up to that point, including Rome's fights against the Carthaginians, and the battles of Augustus Caesar against Cleopatra. Combined with the story-telling is philosophical wisdom from the stoics, epicureans, and platonists, which contributed to Vergil's reputation as a great polymath and wise teacher. The poetry is modelled on that of Homer and other famous Greek bards such as Apollonius who wrote the definitive tale of Jason and the Argonauts. To many Romans and Medievals, Vergil's epic represented a compendium of knowledge, artfully worked into a poetic adventure with the highest degree of skill.
Having lived through brutal civil war himself, Vergil brings a great deal of personal life experience dealing with uncertainty, violence, fear and loss, to his endeavour. While clearly uneasy with the loss of freedom the establishment of the Empire and the fall of the Republic brought, he weighs this loss against the previous civil strife and mayhem, and accepts order over chaos even though he retains feelings of nostalgia for the former ways.
Vergil's perfectionism towards his work is reflected in the stories told by his contemporaries that he only composed a few lines of the epic a day, working from a prose model he had written beforehand, and how he asked on his deathbed that the epic be burnt because it was not yet in its fully completed state. To other eyes, the few unfinished lines and very minor discrepancies were hardly of note, and the epic was proudly published by the Emperor, and quickly became the standard text of study by students of Latin, and the patriotic book and fundamental epic of the Empire.
For those of us today wishing the chance to travel to other places and times, the Aeneid whisks us off to Ancient Rome, and in some ways, in some mystical sense, makes us Romans.

Allen Mandelbaum's translation of Virgil's Aeneid won the National Book Award in 1973. Of that translation Robert Fagles wrote: it "has a wonderful, detailed liveliness in every line."

That's true. I love the Mandelbaum Aeneid and have taught undergrads from it for nearly a quarter-century.

But into this year of stock depressions and women not being worthy of the Oval Office comes a ray of pure joy. (Yes, OK, Obama is a ray of hope, yes he is. But I don't teach him twice or three times a year.)

The Robert Fagles translation is beyond lively: it's lyrical. It's compelling, like the poem itself. I think it may move even the least-motivated undergrad to feel . . . . something.

Of the death of Dido:

Mandelbaum:

For as she died
A death that was not merited or fated,
but miserable and before her time
and spurred by sudden frenzy, Proserpina
had not yet cut a gold lock from her crown,
not yet assigned her life to Stygian Orcus.

Fagles:
Since she was dying a death not merited or deserved,
no, tormented, before her day, in a blaze of passion -


While I miss the reiteration of "fate" (arguably Virgil's favorite noun) -- nam quia nec fato merita nec morte peribat,'sed misera ante diem subitoque accensa furore, -- I still find the Fagles lines more liquid and agonizing, more urgently pulling the reader along to an awful consequence.

There's a similar comparison even in the best of Mandelbaum, the speech Aeneas makes to Dido, when the reader realizes how much he hates his life and how he longs to have been allowed to stay in Troy.

And the text itself is a thousand time more helpful. Here is a longer glossary than in Mandelbaum's and maps and a genealogy and the best thing: digressive notes on the translation with sound-bites from other translations. Check out the info on the pictures on the temple doors in Book I. The best is the discussion - complete with quotes from Dryden writing about his own translation - on Mercury's line to Aeneas in 4.710-11. Anyone who doubts the inherent misogyny of Rome need read no further.

Mandelbaum probably didn't get any control over the textual apparatus in the Bantam edition, but for a teacher - and I would think, a reader - that's really beside the point. What the Fagles' translation offers is much more helpful. Much.

For this I may have to do that least-favorite thing: copy all my notes into a new edition. Sigh.

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.

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.