The Aeneid of Virgil is one of the
greatest works of Classical antiquity. This study by the Virgilian scholar R.
Deryck Williams, first published in 1987 and long unavailable, sets the Aeneid in its historical literary
background and shows how Virgil related his own world of the newly
established Roman Empire to the experience of the past. The poetic qualities
of epic are analysed and illustrated by frequent quotations from the Latin,
always with prose translations. The book will be appreciated by students and
teachers of literature, and by knowledgeable...

Euripides was particularly noted for his sensitive portrayals of women and for finding a sympathetic side to those whom the stock mythology tended to see as evil monsters, such as Helen of Troy. Medea murdered her children by Jason when he deserted her fora new wife; Electra and Orestes killed their own mother in revenge for her betrayal and murder of their father Agamemnon. This kind of searing tragedy may easily be read in translation but its appreciation inevitably involves conventions and references which may elude the reader.

This volume contains an introduction outlining the...

This companion, keyed to the Penguin translation of Aubrey de Selincourt, is to those parts of Herodotus' history that tell the story of Marathon, Salamis and the final Persian retreat: books 7-9 with parts of books 5 and 6. The introduction concentrates on the political and literary background to Herodotus' writing, and includes a brief historical account of the whole work. The commentary which forms the bulk of the book explains differences of interpretation and constantly reveals the bias and intent of Herodotus' sources. There is frequent emphasis on the importance of the literary...

This book, keyed to the Penguin translation, introduces three of Terence's most entertaining and widely read plays. The selection demonstrates his versatility as a playwright: the brilliant farce of The Eunuch, the subtle comedy of Phormio and the more serious theme of the relationship between fathers and sons explored in The Brothers. A detailed and well-researched introduction sets Terence in his context in the Roman theatre, while the commentaries, with their useful line-by-line analysis, provide the reader with valuable information about the social and ethical...