A Commentary on Virgil: Aeneid VIII PDF
Preview A Commentary on Virgil: Aeneid VIII
A COMMENTARY ON VIRGIL: AENEID VIII MNEMOSYNE BIBLIOTHECA CLASSICA BATAVA COLLEGERUNT W. DEN BOER • W. J. VERDENIUS • R. E. H. WESTENDORP BOERMA BIBLIOTHECAE FASCICULOS EDENDOS CURAVIT W. J. VERDENIUS, HOMERUSLAAN 53, ZEIST SUPPLEMENTUM TRICESIMUM QUINTUM P.T.EDEN A COMMENTARY ON VIRGIL: AENEID VIII LUGDUNI BATAVORUM E. J. BRILL MCMLXXV A COMMENTARY ON VIRGIL: AENEID VIII BY P. T.EDEN LUGDUNI BATAVORUM E. J. BRILL MCMLXXV ISBN 90 04 04225 3 Copyright 1975 by E.]. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche or any other means without written permission from the publisher Printed in Great Britain at the University Printing House, Cambridge (Euan Phillips, University Printer) DIS MANIBUS RHE PATRIS BENEVOLENTISSIMI SACRUM CONTENTS Preface IX Works cited and abbreviations used . XI Introduction. xv Aeneid VI I I: the material XVII Aeneid VI I I: structure and coherence xx Commentary I Appendix. Metre and Verse 193 Indexes 202 PREFACE This commentary may be used with the text and apparatus of any edition of Aeneid VIII. Textual problems of significance are fully discussed, and an ample number of specimens provided of the treat- ment to be given to the aberrant and trivial. 'A great deal of the commentary on Virgil has become tralatician ', says Mr John Sparrow (Half-lines and Repetitions in Virgil 138), but to ignore it is folly. My debt to earlier commentators and critics, Servius in primis, Heyne and Wagner, Conington and Nettleship, Page, Mackail, Norden, and Austin, will be evident, if only from dis- agreements with them. But of course there are new questions to be raised, and more often new solutions to be offered to some very old problems. Virgil's many-sided achievement is unique in the literature of the classical world. He stood at the convergence of diverse cultural forces and literary traditions and harmonised them. He imposed on suc- ceeding generations a linguistic revolution of his own making (so that frequently, like Heyne (on Aeneid VIII, 30), monemus hoc, quod plerique verba tenent, causas sermonis ignorant). He achieved the definitive perfection of his chosen verse-medium. The individual factors contributing to these results acquire significance only if they are seen in their contexts of development and association. No apology, therefore, is offered for the detailed scrutiny to which some of them are subjected; on the contrary, I am very conscious of how inadequate some of the discussion may appear to experts in indi- vidual fields. Entirely subjective reactions to Virgil's poetry, especially if based on standards quite alien to him, as is fashionably the case, may inspire enthusiasm, but of the wrong kind and for the wrong reason: they will not be found. Observations on such topics as allegory, symbolism and structure attempt to reflect the circumspect modesty of the scholars who first drew attention to these aspects of Virgil's composition (connoisseurs of the Virgilian literature of the last two decades will be aware of bibliographical omissions: the reason can usually be found in reviews, by myself and others). I am deeply in debt to the help of friends. Professor R. D. Williams gave me the benefit of his ripe wisdom at an early stage. Dr N. M. X PREFACE Horsfall checked the details of a later draft with painstaking thoroughness. Miss Susan French prepared the final typescript with exemplary accuracy. Mr P. R. Home gave unstinting care to proof- reading. The unfailing courtesy of the publishers and the skill and efficiency of the printers relieved me of many anxieties in the final stages. I offer them all my sincere thanks. London New Year's Day 1975 P. T. E.
The list of books you might like
