The Aeneid

I have a feeling that I'm going to get crucified by someone for only giving this book one star out of five. However, I feel it's entirely justified, because while I do recognize the historical and cultural imporance of the book, it still almost put me to sleep on several occasions before I was able to finish it. [return]One of the things I found most noteworthy, and almost most sad, about the Aenid is that it seems to suffer from some sort of inferiority complex. Virgil quite obviously wanted to write something on par with the work of Homer; however, the transparency of that desire greatly reduces the quality of it. The prime difference, I feel, is that Homer seemed to write to transmit the culture and history of his people: Virgil wrote to create propoganda and justify the existence of an empire. As an early example of art being used to political ends, it is interesting, but beyond that I could not enjoy it.

Of all the books I've read to make people think I'm smart, this was the toughest to get through. I think it's that ancient propaganda vibe that got me. I read it after the Iliad and then the Odyssey and discovered I really don't have the same affinity for the Roman stuff. Obviously it's a little silly to give three stars to an ancient masterpiece but if you're thinking of reading this for the same shallow reasons as me, maybe don't. In retrospect I would much rather have read a book about the Aeneid before reading the Aeneid maybe then I would have had the context and enthusiasm to give this more than 3 stars.