“This is the best version of the Aeneid in modern English: concise, readable,
and beautiful, but also as accurate and faithful to Vergil’s Latin as possible.
And the ‘Vergil’s Latin’ that Shadi Bartsch aims to stick close to reflects modern
scholars’ realization that Vergil’s Latin is often difficult and strange; here it helps
that she is one of the most accomplished Latinists to translate the poem, knows
all the latest research, and is willing to wrestle with the most difficult passages.
But this is not a translation just for scholars: Bartsch writes clear, vivid, concise
lines that read well and read rapidly as she aims for ‘a kind of parallel to the
experience of reading Vergil in Latin.’ Thee introduction and notes are concise,
helpful, informative, provocative, and interesting. Readers, teachers, and students
will find the kind of translation they need for private reading or a classroom
encounter with the poem, and scholars may find that Bartsch has noticed
new things in the Latin.”
—JA ME S J . O’H A R A , G EOR G E L . PA D D I SON P ROF E S SOR OF L AT I N,
U N I V E R S I T Y OF NOR T H C A ROL I NA AT C H A P E L H I L L
“Pure Vergil . . . alive, fast-paced, and at its best in the drumbeat of blood and
fire that builds to the final stroke of the steadfast Aeneas.”
—A MY R I C H L I N , D I S T I N G U I S H E D P ROF E S SOR OF L AT I N , U C L A
“Blending solid scholarship with poetic sensibility, classicist [Shadi] Bartsch delivers
a new version of the foundational poem of Imperial Rome. . . . This translation]
gives some sense of the Latin and the tautness of its lines; most other
English versions are fully 30 percent or more longer than the original, but not
hers. . . . _ rough seductions, treacheries, murders, deicides, and other episodes,
Bartsch—her scholarly notes as vigorous as her verse—produces an excellent
companion for students of the poem and of Roman history. A robust, readable,
reliable translation of a hallmark of world literature.”
—K I R K U S R E V I EWS ( S TA R R E D R E V I EW)
“A tight, readable translation with a welcome feminist outlook and savvy engagement
with the poem’s political and imperial themes and imperialist legacy. Its
natural iambic voice, clear language, and faithfulness to the tight, fast-moving
pace of Vergil’s original make it a refreshing way for modern audiences to access
the Aeneid’s power.”
—A DA PA L ME R , AWA R D -WI N N I N G AU T HOR OF R E A D I N G LU C R E T I U S
I N T H E R E N A I S S A N C E A N D T H E T E R R A I G NOTA S E R I E S