The Aeneid is ancient Rome’s great national epic. It was basic to the education of generations of Romans and inspired such writers and artists as St. Augustine, Dante, Chaucer, Tennyson, and T. S. Elliot.
This course explores the background, main themes, and significant episodes of Virgil’s gripping tale, in which Aeneas journeys west from ruined Troy to found a new nation in Italy. You will consider this epic’s mythic and literary background, which includes the Trojan War and the legends of Romulus and Remus, as well as Virgil’s larger literary career and his view of Roman history.
This course can stand alone or complement Professor Elizabeth Vandiver’s lectures on Homer, to whom The Aeneid is a tribute.