has been moulded by Virgil into a perfect instrument capable of infinite varieties and responsive to every phase of emotion while as regards his literary power it is impossible not to read ten lines anywhere without coming across one of those felicitous phrases the charm of which is beyond question as it is beyond analysis." (Page's "Aeneid VI, pp. "Virgil is a master of melodious rhythm, and he is a master of literary expression. At the same time, Page's introduction provides Virgil's reader with precisely the inspirational references to Virgil's poetry which Gould & Whiteley's notes lack. On the other hand Page's notes, while they are far too erudite for the schoolboy or girl of today, and are surely the main target for Gould & Whiteley's reference in their introduction to annotated classical texts which "give too little practical help in translation and yet at the same time have their commentaries overloaded with unnecessary information on points only remotely connected with the text", are for the maturer student an absolute goldmine of allusions to previous classical writings, such as the works of Homer and Plato, and of parallels in the Bible and later literature, involving the works of Dante, Shakespeare, Bunyan, Milton, etc.Ĭ) Praise of Virgil and especially of Book VI. Gould and Whiteley's practical assistance with the complex task of doing justice to Virgil in English brings the Latin language to life in a way which the artificiality of the traditional grammar books cannot do, although as Sabidius has pointed out before, in the introduction to his translation of Book VIII of the "Aeneid" (see the entry on .uk dated 20 October 2015), it is disappointing that their commentary lacks any reference at all to the quality of Virgil's poetry. Indeed, perusing these two books is an education in itself. Whiteley, also published by Macmillan, in this case in 1946, which are, in their different ways of the highest quality. Page, first published by Macmillan in 1888, and, secondly, that of H.E. One reason why translating this book is such an intellectual and aesthetic pleasure, as well as a challenge, is that one has available two school textbooks of this work, that of T.E. However, one is never entirely satisfied with any translation one makes of Virgil, and, so Sabidius has revised his rendering of Book VI, which he now offers below.ī) Two high quality textbooks.
Sabidius first translated this book on 16 February 2010. Opinions differ on which of these two books is pre-eminent, but the majority view is, perhaps, in favour of the latter. He is best known for his epic poem, the "Aeneid", but in practice both the Romans and present day readers have tended to concentrate on the first six books of this work, and, in particular, on Book IV, which highlights Aeneas' love affair with Queen Dido, and Book VI, which features his visit to the Underworld to meet his dead father Anchises. When one reads commentaries on the works of Virgil one is almost exhausted by the number of superlatives one encounters.
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