August 20, 2009
THE AENEID OF VIRGIL
Written by Virgil
Translated by Allen Mandelbaum
“Trojans, do not trust in the horse. Whatever it may be, I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts.”
—Book II, lines 69-70, page 30
Fun Facts
- The Aeneid was written in a time of major political and social change, when many Romans’ faith in the greatness of Rome was severely crumbling.
- The main character, Aeneas, first appears in the Iliad. Virgil took the stories and expanded them.
- Legend says that Virgil would write just three lines of the poem a day. Regardless of whether this is true, it is commonly accepted that Virgil had unlikely been able to finish the poem himself especially on that schedule.
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