"No man who has read The Aeneid with full perception remains an adolescent... In making his one legend symbolical of the destiny of Rome, Virgil has, willy-nilly, symbolized the destiny of man." -C.S. Lewis
"[O]ur ancestors found in the Aeneid a purpose, a pathos, and a profundity that moved them. It was Virgil-not in opposition to but alongside the Bible-who taught Christian Europe the shape of history, the cost of empire, the primacy of duty, the transience of fame, the inevitability of death, the pain of letting go, and the burden of adapting new strategies." -From Louis Markos's Introduction
As Troy burns and King Priam dies in his own blood, a star descends to herald the birth of a new empire from the ashes. But to lay their new city's foundations, Aeneas and his people must cross the seas, evade harpies, resist the allurements of Queen Dido, and even pass through Hades itself before reaching Latium and winning the hand of a princess. Virgil celebrates the greatness of Rome and its destiny to rule unflinchingly and bring peace to the world.
This Canon Classic is a beautiful verse translation by Christopher Pearse Cranch that makes accessible a thrilling epic of fortitude, adventure, duty, and destiny. The Canon Classics series presents the most definitive works of Western literature in a colorful, well-crafted, and affordable way. Unlike many other thrift editions, our classics are printed on thicker text stock and feature individualized designs that prioritize readability by means of proper margins, leading, characters per line, font, trim size, etc. Each book's materials and layout combine to make the classics a simple and striking addition to classrooms and homes, ideal for introducing the best of literary culture and human experience to the next generation.
This Worldview Edition features an introduction divided into sections on The World Around, About the Author, What Other Notables Said, Setting, Characters, & Plot Summary, Worldview Analysis, and 21 Discussion Questions & Answers.
About the Author: Publius Vergilius Maro - or Virgil - was born near Mantua in 70 BC and was brought up there, although he attended schools in Cremona and Rome. Virgil's rural upbringing and his affinity with the countryside are evident in his earliest work, The Eclogues, a collection of ten pastoral poems. As an adult Virgil lived mostly in Naples, although he spent time in Rome and belonged to the circle of influential poets that included Horace. He also had connections to leading men within the senatorial class and to the Emperor Augustus himself. Following The Eclogues, Virgil wrote The Georgics, a didactic poem, and thereafter began his longest and most ambitious work, The Aeneid. He died in Brindisi in 19 BC.
