I have always been fond of Frank Copley's translation of the Aeneid but
Robert Fitzgerald's is what we use in AP Latin IV at Watterson HS.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2004 1:38
PM
Subject: RE: VIRGIL: teaching Aeneid in
translation
It sounds like we teach a similar class. I
haven't,
though have thought about, using the Aeneid in a
course on epic
literature from the ancient world to
the modern, but I've been afraid that
it would be too
heavy for a lower division course. So I'm
curious
about your experience with it that you hint at below.
On
another note, those who teach or would teach the
Aeneid in translation,
which translation(s) would you
recommend?
L. J. Swain
---
alexander bril <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
>
> This is a poem that I know rather well,
and I have
> been writing about
> the reception of the Aeneid for
several years. Over
> the course of the
> last five years, I have
taught the poem four times,
> and will do so again
> in about a
month. I confess, however, that I am
> consistently
> dissatisfied
with what happens when I bring this
> book into the
> classroom.
Lately I have been teaching the poem in
> translation,
> alongside
of the Odyssey, Beowulf, and the Lord of
> the Rings. The Aeneid
>
is the second book we read, and it always feels like
> a struggle.
>
> [alexander wrote this:]
>
> W. Anderson
in his *Art of the Aeneid* wrote: 'It is
> the common
> experience
of teachers dealing with humanities
> courses or courses in
>
Greek and Roman literature that the Aeneid fails to
> impress the
average
> student, to a large degree because of the inadequacy
>
of all
> translations... Vergil placed insuperable problems
> in
the way of
> translators: his style, an essential aspect of the
>
total epic, has not
> been, and probably cannot be translated.
Unlike
> Homer, Vergil did not
> produce a poem which would be a
"good story" in
> itself. Anyone can enjoy
> the Odyssey, for
example, whether presented in
> Victorian prose or in
> racy
modern verse; its power does not depend so
> heavily on the
>
techniques of oral composition. When Vergil wrote
> the Aeneid,
the
> different times and his own special talents demanded
> a
thoroughly
> conscious exploitation of every relevant stylistic
>
technique. The art
> of the Aeneid, therefore, involves many
technical
> skills which Vergil,
> starting from the experiments
of his predecessors,
> developed to
>
near-perfection...'
>
> There is much food for thought in
these words. If
> one accepts them, how
> is one to escape the
feeling that teaching Vergilian
> epic in translation
> is rather
a waste of time? Granted that teaching any
> text in translation
>
inevitably leads to a certain degree of
> dissatisfaction on the part
of
> both teacher and students, how much more is this the
> case
with the
> Aeneid, which, as Anderson argues, depends little on
>
the story for its
> claim to greatness?
>
> But if
one MUST teach the Aeneid in translation, I
> think the only way
to
> go about doing this is to concentrate on a few parts
> only
-- preferably
> the more dramatic parts. I suggest that it will
help
> students to
> appreciate something of the Aeneid's
greatness if
> one can by means of
> these few selected sections
illustrate -- along the
> lines set out by the
> great Vergilian
scholar Heinze -- some of the
> salient features of
> Vergil's
consummate epic technique, especially his
> handling of the
>
mythological and literary traditions of his
> predecessors, his
judicious
> composition (unity, sequence of scenes, organisation
>
etc.), his subtle
> exploitation of dramatic and emotive elements,
his
> intellectualisation
> of simplistic traditional characters
and plot
> situations etc. Much of
> this illustration can be done
with little or no
> reference to language
> and style, the two
stumbling blocks for many
> Latin-less students which
> stand in
the way of their more profound appreciation
> of the text. Like
>
Heinze, one can easily show how Vergil's accounts,
> for the purposes
of
> epic, far surpass analogous accounts in Quintus,
>
Apollodorus,
> Tryphiodorus etc.
>
> This method
also has the virtue of circumventing the
> need to give crash
>
courses on ancient geography and history, the
> benefit of which must
be
> weighed against the time constraints imposed on the
>
text-in-translation
> course.
>
> Only a detailed
study of a few selected passages
> (given the time
> constraints
of teaching a course within one year in
> which other texts
> are
also studied) can, in my view, leave students
> with something
>
approaching true appreciation of the Aeneid's
> greatness. Anything
more
> rapid or superficial, will only result in something
> like
those idiotic 2
> week pan-European tours for the
>
culturally-illiterate epicurean swine
> brigade. Those who've been on
them, can say they've
> been there (to
> Europe) and they've seen
the sights, but none of
> them can tell you
> anything really
significant about what they've seen
> and (should) have
>
experienced.
>
>
> alexander
>
perth, australia
>
>
>
> ---
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