Monumental epic poem tells the heroic story of Aeneas, a Trojan who escaped the burning ruins of Troy to found Lavinium, the parent city of Rome, in the west.

Originally published between 1909 and 1917 under the name "Harvard Classics," this stupendous 51-volume set-a collection of the greatest writings from literature, philosophy, history, and mythology-was assembled by American academic CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT (1834-1926), Harvard University's longest-serving president. Also known as "Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf," it represented Eliot's belief that a basic liberal education could be gleaned by reading from an anthology of works that could fit on five feet of bookshelf. Volume XIII features one of the greatest works of verse in world history: the Aeneid, by Roman poet VIRGIL (70 B.C.-19 B.C.), which gathered together disconnected legends and mythic characters and molded them into the fabled epic of the founding of Rome by Trojan hero Aeneas. It has long been considered essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the foundations of Western literature.

These books are intended to make Virgil's Latin accessible even to those with a fairly rudimentary knowledge of the language. There is a departure here from the format of the electronic books, with short sections generally being presented on single, or double, pages and endnotes entirely avoided. A limited number of additional footnotes is included, but only what is felt necessary for a basic understanding of the story and the grammar. Some more detailed footnotes have been taken from Conington's edition of the Aeneid.

A masterpiece from one of the greatest poets of the century In a momentous publication, Seamus Heaney's translation of Book VI of the Aeneid, Virgil's epic poem composed sometime between 29 and 19 BC, follows the hero, Aeneas, on his descent into the underworld. In Stepping Stones, a book of interviews conducted by Dennis O'Driscoll, Heaney acknowledged the significance of the poem to his writing, noting that "there's one Virgilian journey that has indeed been a constant presence, and that is Aeneas's venture into the underworld. The motifs in Book VI have been in my head for years--the golden bough, Charon's barge, the quest to meet the shade of the father." In this new translation, Heaney employs the same deft handling of the original combined with the immediacy of language and sophisticated poetic voice as was on show in his translation of Beowulf, a reimagining which, in the words of James Wood, "created something imperishable and great that is stainless--stainless, because its force as poetry makes it untouchable by the claw of literalism: it lives singly, as an English language poem."

A masterful new verse translation of one of the greatest nature poems ever written. Virgil's Georgics is a paean to the earth and all that grows and grazes there. It is an ancient work, yet one that speaks to our times as powerfully as it did to the poet's. This unmatched translation presents the poem in an American idiom that is elegant and sensitive to the meaning and rhythm of the original. Janet Lembke brings a faithful version of Virgil's celebratory poem to modern readers who are interested in classic literature and who relish reading about animals and gardens. The word georgics meansfarming. Virgil was born to a farming family, and his poem gives specific instructions to Italian farmers along with a passionate message to care for the land and for the crops and animals that it sustains. The Georgics is also a heartfelt cry for returning farmers and their families to land they had lost through a series of dispiriting political events. It is often considered the most technically accomplished and beautiful of all of Virgil's work.

A powerful and poignant translation of Vergil's epic poem, newly equipped with introduction and notes "Ruden set the bar for Aeneid translations in 2008, and has raised it now with this revision. I am confident it will be a long time before a translator exceeds the standard that she has set."--A. M. Juster, Athenaeum Review This is a substantial revision of Sarah Ruden's celebrated 2008 translation of Vergil's Aeneid, which was acclaimed by Garry Wills as "the first translation since Dryden's that can be read as a great English poem in itself." Ruden's line-for-line translation in iambic pentameter is an astonishing feat, unique among modern translations. Her revisions to the translation render the poetry more spare and muscular than her previous version and capture even more closely the essence of Vergil's poem, which pits national destiny against the fates of individuals, and which resonates deeply in our own time. This distinguished translation, now equipped with introduction, notes, and glossary by leading Vergil scholar Susanna Braund, allows modern readers to experience for themselves the timeless power of Vergil's masterpiece.