Los Angeles Times : "A new edition of 'The Aeneid,' Virgil's imperial masterpiece, has arrived just as the whole world is witnessing the stress fractures in our own imperial enterprise. And I'm here to report that it is magnificent. When you are faced with something incredibly complex yet beautifully simple, you must bow your head before inexplicable greatness. That's the case with Robert Fagles' translation.
But to leave it at that is still a dishonor to his accomplishment. One must say more: This work, this miraculous beast of a text, is so enjoyable that you will hardly know you are reading an ancient masterpiece. Fagles gives us an 'Aeneid' so fresh, so of our moment, that even classicists may fail to recognize it, so long has the original languished in the hands of inadequate translators and academic windbags."
I've studied the Aeneid when I listened to a course from The Teaching Company taught by Professor Elizabeth VanDiver. Dr. VanDiver made the Aeneid come to life and I had planned to listen to an original translation that I purchased on Audible.com but now I'm intrigued by this latest release and think I prefer to read it based on Mr. Cahill's exhilarating review.
No comments:
Post a Comment