Beautiful translation of a Classic
Fitzgerald's version of the Aeneid is literature in its own right. Readable without being sing-songy, classic without being stilted, this translation kept me hooked on the Aeneas story long after high school Latin class ended at Book 6, and it stirred my imagination to such an extent that I got the impudent idea to emulate him in The Laviniad: An Epic Poem.
And as for the poem itself, this seminal work of Western literature deeply inspired everyone from Augustine to Dante, but unfortunately seems to be passing out of academic consciousness. Vergil's Aeneid is the very pinnacle of Ancient Roman literature, a classic story of piety, duty, and honor as opposed to immediate gratification and selfish interest. It represents the very best ideals that ancient Rome had to offer. Perhaps in this modern age those virtues don't seem relevant--but if so, that's why we need this poem all the more.
aweful translation, but not quite as bad as Fagles
See my review of Fagles' Aeneid for more on the travesty of modern English translations of Virgil, also my review of Lombardo's translation of the Aeneid.
As for Fitzgerald's translation in particular, it has for some strange reason been anointed by the universities as the 'standard'. It is hard to say why. The language is contemptibly low and unpoetical, the metre nonexistent, and even his knowledge of Latin distinctly imperfect. But then, one can become a Latin professor in America with no very extensive knowledge of Latin, much less of Latin poetry. More to the point, to translate a great poet requires a great poet who also knows intimately the language from which he is translating, and this is very, very rare.
What makes the whole situation downright provoking is the publishers blurbs that tout all these perfectly aweful translations as 'wonderful', 'superb' etc; blurbs which the ignorant hoi polloi echo in their reviews on this site.
What kind of a dope...
Thinks the Aeneid begins with armis virumque? (For those missing the point, I'm poking fun at a reviewer who got the opening words of the epic in Latin wrong - it's "arma virumque cano")
I've read this translation several times and taught out of it, and I think it's quite readable and faithful to the original. I don't think you can go wrong with Fagles, Fitzgerald, or Mandelbaum, to be honest. Or Vergil in the Latin, of course.
The Aeneid of Virgil, translated by Fitzgerald
I use this translation as my primary source in studying The Aeneid. I also possess and refer to translations by Mandelbaum, Dryden, Humphries, Rhoades, and Dickinson as well as various commentaries. Regrettably, I know of none that translate the original in Latin to English on a line by line basis.
What kind of a dope....
takes "Armis virumque" and gets "I sing of warfare and a man at war"? The consensus in the reviews is that Fitzgerald has written a fine epic. It just is not the same one written by Virgil. If you want to read Fitzgerald, this is the book for you. If you want to read Virgil you need the Mandelbaum translation.
