Vergil’s Aenid: Hero, War, Humanity
After the fall of Troy to the Greeks, Aeneas and the surviving Trojans flee, barely escaping with their lives. He knows that he is destined to establish a new Troy, one that will outshine the original. So the small band set forth on a sea journey that takes them throughout the Aegean Sea then on to Sicily, where his father dies. For a time, Aeneas settles in Carthage where he and Dido become lovers, but Jupiter reminds him of his destiny, and the nomads sail on to Italy. They are welcomed by Latinus, but a feud erupts between Aeneas and Turnus, a local chieftain, over Latinus’s daughter Lavinia. After much bloodshed and heroism, the final combat culminates with Aeneas the victor. The prophecy is fulfilled as Troy is reborn as Rome.
The Aeneid has been translated numerous times, but Cobbold’s narrative interpretation adds a dimension to the classic tale, giving it the feel of an adventurous novel that will appeal to a wider audience.
