Aeneid - Book XII

AoM

nulli numeri

  • Civis Illustris

AoM,

Count me extremely late to the game, but could you tell me about this project that you are finishing? I am interested in what you have learned. Translating Virgil is still a ways off for me, I finished Wheelock last year and am going through some of Geoffrey Steadman's intermediate commentaries; but, my ultimate goal is to translate all of Virgil's "Aeneid". Any and all insight would be most welcome!
Around 5 years ago when I was doing some teaching, I thought that having my own (more literal) translation of the Aeneid would be helpful.

It started out as the pretty stereotypical example of a literal translation, but I started to prioritize consistency not only within a book, but across the books. So to give a quick example, instead of translating videre and cernere interchangeably, I always translated the former as "see" and the latter as "glimpse". Now that's not to say that I wasn't willing to break away from (or change) what I chose if the context actually demanded it, but I just felt that so many translations used the always nebulous "context" to justify so many of their choices (unnecessarily, it seemed to me).

I started to use more and more commentaries as I was working through the books, and in the end, I think it turned into something that would be a good resource for students working through the text. But I know many would read through it and find it awkward at times, which is why, like I said above, it'll probably never be read by anyone else, but it's something I'll be thinking about and continue to edit occasionally.

That's probably more than you wanted to read, heh.

But to be able to read the entire work in Latin? It's definitely an experience I'll never forget, and it's a great goal to be working toward.
 
Top