#172c - Vergil and the Roman Tradition: Bert Dreyfus' Complete Course on the Aeneid, Augustus Caesar, Roman Propaganda, The Fall of Troy, Dido and Carthage, the Rise of Empire, and Latin Poetic Myth

The gates of hell are open night and day;

Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:

But to return, and view the cheerful skies,

In this the task and mighty labor lies.

-Vergil, Aeneid

You can support the continuation of this effort, and get unlimited access to my entire body of work for$5 per month on Patreon.

My favorite translation of the Aeneid is the Modern Library edition by Shadi Bartsch, which is richly introduced and essayed/footnoted, although the Fitzgerald and Dryden translations are also classic for their poetry.

Read more about the late, great Hubert "Bert" Dreyfus here.

Music Credit: (Intro and Outro): Max John, Schubert, Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat Major, Creative Commons (YouTube). Interlude is Peter Bradley-Fulgoni, from Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 4, Movement 2 (IMSLP).

This series will have X parts:

1. The Odyssey and the Archaic Greece (Done)

2. Aeschylus and Greek Tragedy (Done)

3. Aeneas and the Roman Tradition (This)

4. Catholic Christianity: The Gospel of John, Dante's Comedy (Upcoming)

5. Protestantism: Pascal's Pensées and Moby Dick (Upcoming)

Stay tuned...