Sarah Ruden, a lyric poet in her own right, is the first woman to translate Vergil’s great epic, and she renders the poem in the same number of lines as the original work—a very rare feat that maintains technical fidelity to the original without diminishing its emotional power.

Ruden’s translation follows Vergil’s content faithfully, and the economy and fast pace she achieves are true to his own unflagging narrative force. With its central theme of national destiny versus. the destiny of individuals, the poem has great resonance in our own times, and Ruden adheres closely to the poet’s message. Her rendering of Vergil’s words gives immediacy to his struggling faith that history has beauty and purpose in spite of its pain.

Long a master of the crafts of Homeric translation and of rhapsodic performance, Stanley Lombardo now turns to the quintessential epic of Roman antiquity, a work with deep roots in the Homeric tradition. With characteristic virtuosity, he delivers a rendering of the Aeneid...that—like the Aeneid itself—conveys a unique epic sensibility and a haunting artistry all its own.


W. R. Johnson's Introduction makes an ideal companion to the translation, offering brilliant insight into the legend of Aeneas; the contrasting roles of the gods, fate, and fortune in Homeric versus Virgilian epic; the character of Aeneas as both wanderer and warrior; Aeneas' relationship to both his enemy Turnus and his lover Dido; the theme of doomed youths in the epic; and Virgil's relationship to the brutal history of Rome that he memorializes in his poem.


A map, a Glossary of Names, a Translator's Preface, and Suggestions for Further Reading are also included.

Prose translation intended for student use. Supplementary materials include and a book-by book outline of the plot, illustrations, a map, glossary of characters and their family trees, a timeline, and discussion questions.

An exciting new prose translation of the great Roman epic, illustrated by Merle Mianelli Poulton.

Notes throughout the text provide help in following the narrative framework of the epic.

Mythology and mythological references are noted throughout the book and an extensive glossary of names helps the reader follow the complicated genealogies.

A comprehensive introduction provides comparison of the poem with the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as a general framework for the epic to help the student follow the narrative flow of the work.

Unlike a poetic translation, Caldwell's work focuses on the story, the myth and the literary context, making this modern new translation on that is easy for the average student to follow and maximum help in understanding.

Patric Dickinson’s modern verse translation captures the magnificence of Virgil’s timeless poetry, making it compelling to contemporary readers while preserving the tone, epic sweep, and grandeur of the original.