"The Aeneid" of Virgil

Keeping up with the classics, I finally managed to read "The Aeneid" by Virgil, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, who is my favorite Greek translator for no particular reason; I just happened to have read his translation of "The Odyssey," thought it was fine, and continued to choose his works over others' ever since. I found a copy of this at Powell's for a dollar and thought it was one of the best finds, bought it right away, and let it gather dust in my room for months before finally motivating myself to read it.

I enjoy reading the epics to a certain degree. With every work that I have read so far--"The Odyssey," "The Metamorphoses," "Inferno," and "Paradise Lost"--there are parts that I find absolutely magnificent, and parts that I find terribly dreadful. Usually the latter are violent scenes of war and/or torture. Mind you, I am not easily bothered by violence; I just happened to find these scenes--which must have delighted ancient readers' minds, or other wise there wouldn't have been so many of them--to be such a bore. I don't remember there being so many of them in "The Odyssey," but there certainly are plenty in Virgil's work. These scenes are endless, extending over chapters, seemingly very similar. Somebody is mentioned; we learn a bit about their appearance, background, and mettles, then we watch them get killed in various ways. At one point somebody is mentioned having their brain dripping down their face--yeah, I did not need that.

"The Aeneid" tells the story of Aeneas, a half-god Trojan warrior, as he journeys home after the end of the Trojan War. His is in no way nearly as interesting as that of Homer's account of Odysseus' journey. His side having lost in the war, Aeneas and his family flee from Troy. Subsequently he loses his father Anchises and his wife Creusa. Guided by his mother Venus, he and his son Ascanius (or Iulus) find themselves in Carthage, where he meets Queen Dido, who was charmed by Cupid to fall in love with Aeneas as a part of Venus' plan to keep Aeneas safe in Carthage. She commits suicide after he leaves her. Later he is to find Italy, where a war breaks out over King Latinus' decision to give his daughter to Aeneas, upsetting King Turnus who also wants Lavinia's hand. All this madness is, as usual, stirred by the disagreement between the gods--Jupiter, Juno, and Venus.

As an epic, it is not as well structured as "The Odyssey," and the story that it tells does not really appeal to a large audience. The war scenes dominated the story. Some of its gems include Dido's suicide, the deaths of Nisus and Euryalus, and various accounts of the fall of Troy. These scenes call for a revisitation, but not so much the poem as a whole. Am I too harsh on Virgil? I don't think so. For the man who made me sit through hours of atrocious cruelties, I am very much being kind.