Virgil

Incorporating the most up–to–date classical scholarship, Virgilian scholar R. Alden Smith presents a comprehensive introduction to Virgil s literary works and narrative technique. In addition to exploring the historical context within which Virgil wrote, Smith considers the literary reception of Virgil s works and reveals how they have been reshaped in art, literature, and film. While focusing on the major works –– the Eclogues, Georgics, and his great national epic of Rome, the Aeneid –– the entire Virgilian corpus is considered. Other topics include manuscript tradition, problems associated with establishment of the text, and Virgil s influence on the poetry of Ovid, Dante, Milton, and the importance of Virgil to the arts, including painting, the plastic arts, and film. Combining scholarly rigor and an accessible writing style, this book offers an insightful introduction to the world of Virgil.

List of Figures viii

Preface ix

Note on Abbreviations xi

1 Generalizing about Virgil: Dialogue, Wisdom, Mission 1

2 Publius Vergilius Maro: A Preamble 26

3 Eclogue Dialogues 40

4 The Georgics: A Repast of Wisdom 75

5 The Aeneid: Mission and Telos 104

6 Virgilian Manuscripts: Codex to Critical Edition 150

7 The Virgilian Legacy 168

8 Further Reading 188

Index 205

R. Alden Smith is Professor of Classics at Baylor University. He is the author of Poetic Allusion and Poetic Embrace in Ovid and Virgil (1998) and The Primacy of Vision and Virgil s Aeneid (2005), as well as many articles on Latin and Greek poetry and Greek epigraphy.

The real gem of this book comes in Chapter 6, where Smithoffers a wonderfully concise and comprehensible overview of theVergilian manuscripts with examples of textual problems that heteases out carefully to show why and how editors emend; teacherswho wish to introduce textual criticism to advanced Latin studentsor to explain how Vergil got from ancient Rome to modern readerswill find this section a superb resource . . . Chapter 8 closes thevolume with ample suggestions for further reading that will beespecially useful for those teaching Vergil for the first time,including much readily accessible material that can be used to fillthose gaps in Smith s book that will present difficulties tonewcomers to Vergil and Classical literature.  (Classical Journal,  1 December 2012)

"Overall this is a highly successful volume ... He is to becommended on producing a sensitive, sensible, and thoroughly usefulbook that will be of great help to students, teachers, and thosewho would like to gain insights on Vergilian matters andscholarship." (Vergilius, 2011)

"The present book contains eight chapters, one of the mostvaluable of which is a handsomely illustrated guide to theVirgilian manuscript tradition that constitutes a welcome primerwith useful analyses of several textual cruces ... While volumes ofthis sort have little to offer seasoned scholars, S.′s book will beof interest and use to students of Virgil at all levels. The moreexperienced, too, will care to see how a gifted Virgilian treatsboth familiar problems and less travelled Maronian byways." (TheClassical Review, 2011)

"Smith has written a guide that should become a standard for thenext generation of Vergilian readers." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review,11 June 2011)