Classics Theses and Dissertations

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Virgil's Aeneid, Book 8; An Experiment in Translation
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Hamel, John; Bowditch, Lowell
English and Latin, though related, are very different languages, Latin with its inflections and small vocabulary, English with its overwhelming word order and expansive lexicon. Any translation from Latin to English will necessarily involve explanatory additions to the text. This is all the more true for Latin poetry, and above all for Virgil, who manages to create surprising and moving expressions line after line. Most modern translators have aimed for a literal version of the Aeneid, at the expense of mirroring in English some of the verbal magic and power of Virgil’s Latin. Dryden and Surrey strove to imitate these Virgilian features and in so doing created living poetry in English. This translation strives to render in English a hint of the power of Virgil’s expressions. And Virgil’s own treatment of Homer and Greek literature and the whole translation-orientated project of early Latin literature lend weight to such an approach.