Amazon (2021) p/b 46pp £3.99 (ISBN 9798507380282)
This slim volume has a brief Prefatory Note in which L. explains his reasons for selecting Aeneid Book II in particular. He cites the way the legend of the wooden horse and the fall of Troy have, over the centuries, captured the popular imagination and goes on to talk of the way Virgil uses the story to examine the nature of the human condition.
L. describes his self-published work as a new version of Aeneid Book II, explaining that, although it does follow the Latin text fairly closely, it is not a word-for-word or line-for-line rendition. His is a lively and engaging rendition which, for the most part, uses a six stress line which moves the whole forward at a nice pace. There are some interesting turns of phrase which capture the spirit of the original text, if not the literal meaning. For example:
Sigea igni freta lata relucent./exoritur clamorque virum clangorque tubarum.
‘The whole Sigaean coast was radiate with flame./Rising up came the shouts of men and the blaze of trumpet blasts.’
It is something of a mystery why in the course of the whole book there are only six footnotes. The reader may, understandably, need to know that Iulus is another name for Ascanius but why explain the tradition of Tymoetes’ possible grudge against Priam, or Anchises’ punishment for sleeping with Venus, but not the background to Cassandra’s story?
It is a spirited read for the newcomer, though the GCSE student might prefer the prose version of, say, David West as a closer rendition of the original.
Mike Smith