Sorry this is so off the topic but I was wondering about the significance
of the name Elissa, versus Dido. My AP students were intrigued that Aeneas
used Elissa in referring to the queen at line 335 of Bk IV. We don't
think that this name was applied to her before this line and therefore, we are
wondering if there is any significance that to its use at this particular
juncture? ----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2004 12:01
AM
Subject: Re: VIRGIL: teaching Aeneid in
translation
David:
I was one of those history-challenged high
school, and then college, Virgil
students and I vote for the
all-at-once. After college, I read Syme's Roman
Revolution and
Scullard's From the Gracchi to Nero, and they opened up whole
new
dimensions in the text of the Aeneid for me. Of course, Syme
isn't
something you can speed through as a quick read, though. Even a
25-page
down-and-dirty summary of the history, however, would add greatly
to the
richness of the experience. In Latin the poetry can hypnotize
without
assistance; a translation may need a background of political
tensions to
create the same kind of excitement as the Odyssey
creates. Once one
understands the political environment, the Aeneid
can be as interesting for
what it does not say as for what it does
say: an exercise in subtlety and
obliqueness. Subtlety is not
the first thing that comes to my mind when I
think of the Odyssey;
they are useful counterpoints in this regard.
- Oliver
Metzger
----- Original Message -----
From: "David
Wilson-Okamura" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent:
Thursday, January 08, 2004 10:12 AM
Subject: Re: VIRGIL: teaching Aeneid in
translation
> On Virgil and Tolkien: what can be said has now
been said. Back, then, to
> the original question, of how to teach the
Aeneid in translation. Do you
> give the history all at once, before
starting the poem, or do you let it
> dribble out as needed? I confess
to being a dribbler, but as I have
> mentioned earlier, I don't think I
have been teaching the poem very
> effectively.
>
>
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> East Carolina
University Virgil reception, discussion, documents,
&c
>
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