Vergil Aeneid

David Pritchard

Description

Through this verse translation of Vergil's Book VI of the Aeneid we journey with Aeneas through the Underworld to meet his father. Accompanied by Sibyl, the prophetess, who instructs him first to pluck the Golden Bough that will ensure his safe passage, Aeneas descends into the Underworld where he passes crowds of the dead waiting to be ferried across the river Styx before being carried across himself by Charon the Ferryman. We encounter monsters of legend like Cerberus the three headed dog who guards the gates of the Underworld, and dead souls in the Field of Mourning who are resigned with regret to their fate. We are moved by the plight of Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Aeneas' lover who took her own life when he abandoned her.It's a tale full of terror, sadness and longing but also of courage and resolve - rich in vivid poetic imagery to fire the imagination.

Sujets

• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 08 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781803139128
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2022 David Pritchard

The moral right of the author has been asserted.


Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.


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ISBN 978 1803139 128

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.


Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

Cover illustration ‘Charon the Ferryman’
by Adam Pritchard







‘Since it is said that the King of the Underworld’s gate and the dark swamp
Flooded by Acheron lie at this place, then permit me to go and
Visit my father and gaze at his dear face. Show me the way and
Fling wide open the venerate gateways…..’


Contents
Translator’s Note
Acknowledgements
Aeneid Book VI
Glossary


Translator’s Note
I have my primary school to thank for my love of classical myths and poetry. Late in the school day the teacher would fire our imaginations by reading stories from Aesop’s Fables or myths of the Greeks and Romans, sometimes we recited poetry. To this day I can still reel off the introduction to Browning’s ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’.
Later, like many grammar school boys and girls we were taught Latin and to me this was an opportunity to explore further these wonderful stories. Studying Vergil’s Aeneid Book IV – ‘The Tragedy of Dido’ – proved no exception though the grammar, syntax and vocabulary always proved particularly challenging.
Like for many, my knowledge of Latin faded over the years though a copy of West’s prose translation of the Aeneid remained on our bookshelf. Then in 2017 two events coincided.
I went with Ruth, my wife, to see Jez Butterworth’s play ‘The Ferryman’. The politically charged plot examines ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland, the loss of a beloved one and rediscovery of his body. It’s studded with literary references and allusions from Yeats and Heaney among others. But most prominent is the reference to Vergil. The character Uncle Pat quotes from Aeneid Book VI is Charon who may only take souls across the Styx whose bodies have been laid to rest – hence the title of the play.
The play had a profound effect on me, it inspired me not only to read Vergil in translation but to read it in Latin. The only way I could realise this was to go back to basics and revise the grammar. After some research I chose the series, ‘So you really want to learn Latin’ published by Galore Park. It takes you from Amo, Amas, Amat to Gerundive of Obligation with a series of exercises to cement the syntax, grammar and vocabulary.
As luck would have it in 2017 Crouch End U3A set up a Latin group. Of course I joined. This gave me the opportunity to improve my skills in translating poetry and prose with like-minded learners in an enjoyable social setting. Initially we worked on poetic texts from different authors but in October 2019, the group decided to set out with Aeneas on his journey through the Underworld – Book VI of the Aeneid. We read the edition from Bristol Classical Press edited by Keith Maclennan – this is the text I have used for my translation. It has a very comprehensive set of notes not only giving insights into the context of the references but explains some of Vergil’s use of grammar, vocabulary and word order. For someone like myself with a relatively limited knowledge of the language these notes were invaluable.
Once I began to understand Vergil’s meter the idea came to me to translate it into English verse. There are many recent verse translations using various poetic meters. Shadi Bartsch’s wonderful 2020 edition of the whole poem is as she explains ‘attentive to the pace of Vergil’s epic’ with the use of six ‘beats’ (stresses) per line and Seamus Heaney’s 2016 translation of Book VI into blank verse in his own inimitable style to name but two.
But for my own translation, I wanted the discipline of a meter rather than blank verse so decided to use the same meter as Vergil – classical hexameter where the first four feet may be spondee ( – – ) or dactyl (– u u), the fifth a dactyl and the sixth spondee or troche (– u ), and using the stress of the syllable rather than the length of the vowel or its position. This avoids the jaunty effect of the strict dactyl hexameter (the first five feet all dactyls) and allows the narrative to speed up or slow down and provide emphasis where required. Hopefully when reading the verse and the natural stresses are taken in the context of the poem the rhythm of the poem becomes apparent.
I also decided to write in the historic present tense to capture the immediacy and dramatic energy of the narrative by describing events as if they were still unfolding, which of course for Aeneas they were.
Book VI is full of Vergil’s strong use of imagery to paint pictures particularly when Aeneas is in the Underworld. My intention was to capture this imagery and storytelling in English with the use, like Vergil, of poetic devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, simile and the occasional synizesis. My hope is to fire your imagination like mine was as a child.
Whether I’ve achieved this is for the reader to decide but one thing is certain, I’ve loved trying.


Acknowledgements
Like many authors I called on my family for support. Thank you to Ruth for rereading endless drafts, my sons Mat, for proof reading and checking for consistency in punctuation and grammar and Adam for his vivid illustration of Charon ‘The Ferryman’ on the front cover.
Thanks also to the members of Crouch End U3A Latin group: Anna, Charlotte, David, Jane, Janice, Leatrice, Mick, Prudence, Rosalind, Sandra and Tony. We meet once a fortnight in person or on Zoom when appropriate and have all raised our standards in the four years we have been together thanks to former classics teacher Janice who guides us with knowledge, encouragement and wit. Special thanks also to Anna who provided constructive criticism and alternative suggestions to the translation.
The Hellenic bookshop in Kentish Town North London must also be acknowledged. It’s where I and other members of the group buy our texts. Upstairs it displays new additions of Greek and Latin literature, dictionaries, history, grammar books, text books and travel writing, but downstairs there is a treasure trove of a basement with hundreds of second hand copies of the above. Many are recycled school books, now put to good use once again. It’s well worth a visit if you are in the area.




Aeneid Book VI
Speaking through tears he drives the whole fleet like a horse off the bridle,
And at long last glides to the shore of Euboean Cumae.
Teeth of the anchors now bite; prows turn to the sea and the curve of
Ships’ sterns border the shore line. A body of passionate young men
Gleams in the sun as they bound onto Italy’s seashore.
Some strike sparks from the veins in the flint; some forage in dense woods –
Shelter to wild beasts – pointing the way to the rivers they’ve found but
Pious Aeneas now goes to the heights where Apollo’s presiding.
Near is the vast cave, sanctum of frightening Sibyl in whom the
Delian seer breathes knowledge and vision unveiling the future.

Now they draw near to the gold roofed shrine in the groves of Diana.
Daedalus, as it is told, when fleeing the kingdoms of Minos,
Trusting himself to the sky set out on a journey unknown and
Flying with swift wings heads for the chill of the North’s constellations.
Finally over the Chalcidian stronghold he fluttered down gently.
Here he first offered to Phoebus the wings that had rowed through the heavens,
Then in the place where he landed, erected a towering temple.
Carved on the doors is the death of Androgeos; next in relief the
Hideous penalty paid by Athenians – bodies of seven
Sons each year – and the urn too stands there holding the drawn lots.
Shown on the opposite leaf lies Crete as it soars from the sea and
Here is depicted the cruel desire of the bull with Pasiphae’s
Coupling, arranged with deception – their offspring the Minotaur hybrid
Half man, half beast, proof of a most reprehensible passion.