David West's 1990 translation of Virgil's The Aeneid feels surprisingly fresh and modern, although I have a feeling it may have been touched up at a later date. This is the first time I have read the book in its entirety, having previously only studied Book 6 - 'The Underworld' at university. I was told that in order to go down in mythic history as a hero, one must first make this gloomy visit down to Hell. The first half of The Aeneid strongly channels Homer's Odyssey, including a cameo appearance from Polyphemus, and mentions of Scylla, Charybdis, Circe, Aeolus, and the Sirens. At first glance, Aeneas is a cutprice Odysseus, not so much following in his mythic footsteps as painstakingly replicating them like a deranged fanboy. The translator David West does not seem to think much of Book 3 - 'The Wanderings', as he glosses over it rather quickly in his introduction, whilst delivering full coverage and commentary on the other books.
The second half of The Aeneid borrows heavily from The Iliad, but in my opinion, this is when it comes into its own. The end point of Aeneas' fruitless pilgrimage across the ocean, it sees the descendants of Troy trying to establish themselves in Latium, where the Roman empire will eventually be founded. Of course, the native people are none too pleased about these foreign settlers arriving to marry their women, so war breaks out. The last four books are very combat heavy, with intense passages of violence and gore, much like The Iliad. Whereas Aeneas' former foes were monsters, Greeks, storms, and the wrath of the gods, a clear mortal antagonist here emerges in Turnus, a spurned rival for the hand of Latium's princess. The epic quest boils down to a personal bloodfeud between the two men. I was impressed by the tight pacing and modern narrative conventions at play here, particularly the brutally abrupt, but decisive ending.
Rating: 3/5
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