Customer Reviews

The Aeneid

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been a student of the classics since I was young. Naturally, I had been exposed to the Aeneid early on in the fashion that most students are: with the revered Robert Fitzgerald translation. Through the years many translations, both good and bad, have been published: Humphries, Lombardo (probably one of the best), and Mandelbaum to name a few of the most popular.

My adoration of the Ruden translation started in the most modest way. I was browsing through volumes in a used book store and came across the Yale University Press publication of the Aeneid, a translation that I had not heard of, from a translator I knew nothing about. I hopped on the internet while in the store and did some research, and came up with almost unanimously positive reviews, so I purchased it after reading a few, impressive passages.

Currently, all the rage is over the Penguin translation by Robert Fagles. To my understanding, his is the translation most widely taught in schools next to Fitzgerald. I am a fan of Fagles. His storytelling is grand and vivid. However, anyone who is versed in Classical Latin and has read the Aeneid in its original language can tell you that Fagles takes far too many liberties, embellishing Vergil's epic very subjectively (and not sparingly). This is problem to those who want a faithful reading of Vergil. Fagle's is far from a faithful translation of Vergil's poetry. Latin is a very compact, concise, and flowing language, with many subtle nuances. It is not grandiose and cumbersome like Fagles.

But Sarah Ruden has done something uncanny here. It is a popular saying that "one cannot translate poetry," which is true. It is inevitable that when translating poetry, much of the vigor and hidden meanings are lost. But Ruden's is the closest to the original one can get in modern English idiom. She avoids the flowery embellishments that Fagles is guilty of, preserves the conciseness of Vergil's Latin, without sacrificing the elegance of her or Vergil's pens (Ruden is, after all, an accomplished poet from what I understand). And, even more laudable, is the fact the Ruden's is practically a line-by-line translation, using the exact same number of lines used by Vergil. She also has a talent for preserving Vergil's meter whenever possible. The Aeneid, to some theorists, was made to be orated and heard. And Ruden's is a translation that is a pleasure hear as well as read.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed Ruden's Aeneid, I like to say that Ruden is to Fagles, as Chickering is to Heaney. Ruden's translation might not be as famous as Fagles', but it is more scholarly, more faithful, and elegant in a different, yet more authentic way (just as Chickering's Beowulf may never achieve the status of Heaney's, yet Chickering preserves the spirit of the original in a more convincing way.

Get Ruden's Aeneid! Whether you are a novice to Vergil's Aeneid, a casual reader (it is a relatively quick read), or a full-on Latinist/Classicist, you will not be dissatisfied with this text.

I could not agree more with the other positive reviews of the this translation. My Vergil professor assigned this translation for our Aeneid course a few years back, and I read it cover to cover during the first two weeks of class.

Before opening this book, I thought that I knew the Aeneid well enough from reading Fitzgerald's version in high school, reading selections from the Latin, etc. I was wrong. This translation is, as others have mentioned, concise and vivid. So many of the details stand out to me after having read Ruden's translation; the same cannot be said for the bulky prose renditions of Vergil's magnum opus.

Ruden's verse is perfect for the serious Latinist wishing to quickly read the whole work, the literature/humanities enthusiast looking to add the Aeneid to their reading list, or even the casual reader who can appreciate the conventions of epic poetry.

It goes without saying that Vergil's Aeneid is one of the greatest works of literature, but Ruden's translation does it particular justice.

I am not a fan of Verse...I've always prefered Prose but I think this is the first time I actually fell in love with Verse!

Sarah Ruden's translation is absolutely incredible! I can't believe how powerful and exciting (not to mention poetic) it is!

It almost seems that it could have even been written in (high) English verse

After comparing multiple versions I have to say that it is perhaps the most faithful, epic and poetic translation I've come by written in Verse.

It ranks at the top together with Jackson Knight's and Stanley Lonbardo's translations.

Hats off to Sarah Ruden and all who read this magnificent version!

Ryan

This is a great, fresh new translation of this favorite classic by Yale's Dr. Sarah Ruden. I first heard about it on PBS's Fresh Air, with Terry Gross. I am glad I was listening to the radio that afternoon on my one hour drive to work in Boston.

Best Aeneid translation since Alexander Pope's.

After so many wonderful and not so wonderful translations over 2000+ years, you would think that nothing more could be said and that only the oldies are goodies. This new translation is really something everyone who loves the Illiad should read. The poetry is smooth and the translation fits the meter and feet scheme just so. Also, one of its best qualities, it is not overly wordy. Just right. Enjoy

Since I first read Virgil some sixty years ago, a young Latin student in a New England prep school, I have returned again and again to renew the experience. Every time it has been meaningful. This time with this translation it makes even a more profound mark on me. The translation is brilliant, and Virgil scholars will long be indebted to Ms. Sarah Ruden for her insight and wisdom.

sarah ruden's translation has been so critically esteemed that I can only offer my thanks to her for bringing Vergil to the 21st century so beautifully and in such a dynamic manner

If ever you needed a definitive reason not to read The Aeneid, this translation provides it. What's next for this translator.? Translating The Aeneid so it can be read on Twitter? I gave it a one star because the rating does not provide for a black hole which is where this work should be consigned.

Ghastly translation. Unreadable.

Try the opening:
"Arms and a man I sing, the first from Troy,
"A fated exile to Lavinian shores
"In Italy.

Should be re-titled "The Telegraphic Aeneid." Or "The Aeneid--A Machine Translation."

One can only conclude that the glowing reviews were written by the translator herself or by her mentors, students, and friends.

Stick with Mandelbaum for a verse translations or West for a prose translation.