Virgil: The Aeneid, Oct 4, 2026, Pt 1 of 4, Please read Books 1-3
Details
Aeneid Session 1 of 4.
After Gilgamesh's search for meaning against death and Homer's warring, wandering heroes, Virgil's The Aeneid completes the arc: Aeneas subordinates personal desire—for Troy, for Dido, for glory—to a mandated future, founding not a city he chooses but one fate demands. Where Achilles seeks kleos and Odysseus seeks home, Aeneas seeks neither; he seeks duty. Virgil, writing under Augustus, transforms Homeric epic into political myth, examining empire's costs alongside its glories. Reading it last shows our group Rome consciously answering Greece—absorbing, revising, and politicizing epic conventions for a new imperial age.
Recommend Edition(s):
Your choice -see comparison in Resources below. Send your choice(s) [e.g.: A/B/C/D/E a/o F] to the organizer to find out which translation you preferred.
Resources:
Aeneid Topics
Aeneid Previous Session Summary [forthcoming]
Aeneid Translation Comparison
Schedule of Readings:
10-4-26: Virgil: Aeneid Books 1-3
10-18-26: Virgil: Aeneid Books 4-6
11-1-26: Virgil: Aeneid Books 7-9
11-15-26: Virgil: Aeneid Books 10-12
Future Mythological Readings:
The Ramayana
The Mahabharata
The Bhagavad Gita
The Classic of Mountains and Seas
Songs of the South
Metamorphoses