Virgil, Aeneid 5

Virgil’s Aeneid 5 has long been among the more neglected sections of the poet’s epic of Augustan Rome. Book 5 opens the second movement of the poem, the middle section of the Aeneid that sees the Trojans poised between the old world of Phrygia and the new destiny in Italy. The present volume fills a significant gap in Virgilian studies by offering the first full-scale commentary in any language on this key book in the explication of the poet’s grand consideration of the meaning of Trojan versus Roman identity. A new critical text (based on first hand examination of the manuscripts) is accompanied by a prose translation and detailed commentary. The notes provide in depth analysis of literary, historical, and lexical matters; the introduction situates Book 5 both in the context of the epic and the larger tradition of heroic poetry.

Lee Fratantuono (AB Holy Cross, AM Boston College, PhD Fordham) is Professor of Classics at Ohio Wesleyan University. He works principally on Latin epic (especially Virgil, Ovid, and Lucan), and has published widely on Latin epic, elegiac, and lyric poetry.

R. A. Smith (PhD, Pennsylvania, 1990), Professor of Classics at Baylor University, has written many articles and books on Augustan poetry, including The Primacy of Vision in Virgil’s Aeneid (Texas, 2005).

''The authors seem to have read just about everything, and they have applied their learning and critical acumen to the elucidation of the text from all possible angles. They are fully aware of just how difficult it can be to explicate Vergil’s Latin, and they are duly diligent in citing their numerous predecessors. (...) Their work will help advance considerably our appreciation of Aeneid 5, perhaps the most idiosyncratic and underappreciated book of the poem. Readers are here treated to a wealth of information and comment that will surely figure prominently in future work on Vergil’s epic.'' Damien Nelis, Vergilius 62

"In sum, professional scholars of Vergil and less experienced students of the Aeneid alike have now in this edition and commentary by Fratantuono and Smith a first-class reference tool for Aeneid 5, one that combines informative discussion and erudite readings, and is also written in style that does not patronize or overwhelm, but rather introduces critical analysis of the Vergilian text as an open process and encourages the readers' active engagement." Sophia Papaioannou in Latomus (2017)