Bloomsbury (2017) p/b 284pp £17.99 (ISBN 9781472527875)
VIRGIL, AENEID VIII: A Selection – Lines 86-279, 558-84
Edited by Keith Maclennan, Bloomsbury (2016) p/b 113pp £12.99 (ISBN 9781474271905)
This is the 4th commentary on individual books of the Aeneid by M., all published by Bloomsbury (the others are 1, 4 and 6). It follows a well established pattern with an extensive introduction, including historical and biographical outlines, the poem in the literary tradition, Aeneas and Augustus, a book by book summary of the whole epic, a more detailed discussion of Book 8 and its part in the Aeneid, remarks on style and metre, and finally a brief treatment of the reception of four major topics in particular: Aeneas at Pallanteum, Vulcan making the arms for Aeneas, Venus presenting the arms, and the story of Hercules and Cacus. There is a vocabulary, an index of names and an index of literary and grammatical terms, and of course the text (OCT with one small change) along with copious notes. M. has thus provided a wide range of help both for students who are beginning their study of Virgil and for somewhat more experienced readers, although this is not aimed at scholars, as the brief bibliography most clearly shows: it surveys editions, recommends translations and basic introductions to the poet, the poem and the genre, and selects a few more advanced works.
The earlier Selection, covering lines set for OCR AS/A Level exams, is targeted specifically at 6th form students and their needs. The ‘commentary notes’ contain much of the material that now appears in the full version, but it is slimmer and more accessible for school students. For example on line 576 the Selection offers a translation of si visurus eum vivo, and in unum but in the full version M. has added a perceptive comment on the rare appearance of eum in the epic, here given some justification because of the alliteration/assonance (though strangely he does not make reference to its appearance in line 33 and his note ad loc.). On 577 laborem ‘a possible echo of Hercules’ is detected and discussed in the complete version. In contrast some basic help in the Selection (e.g. 572 divum gen. pl. of deus) does not appear in the full volume. But on the whole the difference between the commentaries is not so great that A Level candidates would not be well served by either.
The author’s judicious selection of help and guidance is manifest on every page. He is alert to the register and tone of words: he puts caverna (421) firmly into the prosaic world of the forge (no ‘caverns measureless to man’ for Vulcan). Literary qualities and tropes get due attention, as the tricolon in 580-2 for instance, but not every literary feature attracts comment so that there is room for the attentive reader to observe them (for example in 383-4 the repetition of te and the chiastic arrangement of filia Nerei -Tithonia coniunx). Very occasionally a word receives neither a translation in the notes nor an entry in the vocabulary (subiungere in 502) but such omissions are rare indeed. Illustrations are omitted, but ingeniously supplied by providing specific text to link to a suitable site online (e.g. Wikipedia ‘naval crown’).
This is noticeably longer than M.’s commentaries on other books, but it is all the better for that and it makes an excellent contribution to the series. Previous commentaries by Eden, Gransden and Fordyce all have their strengths, but M. has put together a most helpful selection of comment to enrich the reading of Virgil.
Alan Beale