Showing papers in "Classical World in 1976"

The Living Universe: Gods and Men in Virgil's Aeneid

Abstract: occasion partly retract (e.g. on 788, in a reference to his note on 1.286—'but I am now less inclined to take it as a reference to Iulius'). Notes on the detailed subject-matter are full and complete: e.g. 2, transferred epithet; 71, Sibylline books; 94, half lines; 104 mi; 141, compound adjectives; 164 epanalepsis; 179 ff. Ennius and Virgil; and so on right through. Finally Austin's handling of the controversial passages is always balanced: he has the rare virtue of not sweeping himself along on a tide of indignation against previous commentators who had said the wrong thing. Here are some places where he has surely guided us to the right reading or interpretation: 96 qua, 141 quis, 203 gemina, 585 f. poenas dum . . ., 601 ff. accept quos with no lacuna, 743 f. punctuate without parenthesis, 852 pacique, 882 si rumpas is a wish. As no review, however favourable, is complete without some disagreement I list a few places where he has not convinced me (I give his readings): 122 Thesea, magnum, 126 Averno as dative, 255 limina, 383 cognomine terra, 427 flentes, in limineprimo, 438 tristisque . . . undae, 893—901 surely bis (133) does not refer to a return by the same route, 900 litnite. As always in Austin's editions, the accuracy of references is remarkable, and the proof-reading of this book, done by others, maintains the very high standard which he would wish. He had a remarkable combination of exact scholarship and deep literary appreciation: however learned his note it is not tedious, however imaginative his literary criticism it is not wildly fanciful. It is the over-all impression which is so admirable, the sure touch, the happy phrase, the finger on the poetic pulse, the anima naturaliter Vergiliana.