Saturday, May 15, 2021

The Price of Peace: 'The Aeneid Today'

Kevin Michael Saylor reviews Virgil’s Double Cross: Design and Meaning in 'The Aeneid' by David Quint, at Modern Age.

"The reception history of The Aeneid, ever since by imperial command Augustus had it snatched from the fire to which Virgil had condemned it on his deathbed, has generally found it to be a celebration of Roman greatness. The work’s melancholy tone certainly was noted, but it was thought a document fit to please Caesar. ... More recently, however, scholars—particularly American scholars—have questioned Virgil’s commitment to the ideals and politics of empire. They find countercurrents in the poem that indicate Virgil’s wariness of empire’s expansionist policies and concentration of power."

See Virgil, Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 13, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 12.

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