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Stanley Lombardo's Aeneid Translation

• The Book
• The Translator
• The Translation
• An Excerpt, Aeneid IV.693-705.
• The Aeneid in English

The Book

Virgil, Aeneid, trans. Stanley Lombardo, intro. W. R. Johnson (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2005) is the version of Lombardo's translation that I have, and I believe it is the only published version at this point. It comes in both paperback (ISBN: 0872207315) and cloth (ISBN: 0872207323). It includes a map, a brief translator's preface, a 57-page introduction, and a glossary of names. It is readily available at online booksellers, including the Joepye Latin Bookstore (text-only version).

The Translator

Stanley Lombardo is Professor of Classics, University of Kansas. His previous translations include Homer's Illiad (1997, Hackett) and Odyssey (2000, Hackett), Hesiod'sWorks & Days and Theogony (1993, Hackett), and Sappho, Poems and Fragments (2002, Hackett), a PEN "center" USA 2003 Literary Award Finalist. [1]

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The Translation

Of the three recent translations of the Aeneid (see also Cobbold's and Caldwell's, only Lombardo's is in verse. He explains:

The rhythmic line that I have developed...is based...on natural speech cadences. This is in keeping with the performative qualities of the Aeneid, which although it is literary rather than oral epic was nonetheless intended to be recited, practiacally sung. [2]

I have continued the practices...of composing for performance as much as for the printed page and of using actual performances to shape the translation process. [3]

The result is what seems to me to be a slightly uneven, but very readable, mix of "poetic" and "prosaic" elements.

Lombardo supplies no notes with his translation, which perhaps is to be expected for a work shaped by the performative qualities of the Aeneid. Whether this is a plus or a minus depends on the reader. I sometimes find too many notes distracting - yes, I could just ignore them but I have a hard time doing that - but there are times when a little explanation seems necessary. There is a glossary of names in the back of the book.

I have finally found a review of this book in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review. I also found a blogger with a few comments on the Aeneid in general, and Lombardo's translation in particular. I also see the Lombardo had an essay and some excerpts from his translation in The Common Review, although I have not yet been able to read it.

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An Excerpt, Aeneid IV.693-705.

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[1] Virgil, Aeneid, trans. Stanley Lombardo, intro. W. R. Johnson (New York/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2005), back cover.

[2] Virgil, xiii.

[3] Virgil, xiii.

[4] P. Vergilius Maro, Aeneid, edited by J. B. Greenough, from The Perseus Digital Library.

[5] Virgil, 100.

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• The Aeneid in English

| The Aeneid in English | Joepye Latin Bookstore |
| Collins2006 Ecclesiastical Latin Study Group | Collins2007 Ecclesiastical Latin Study Group |