7. The Aeneid Considered in Connection with Epic Poetry in General. a. Two kinds of epics, with remarks upon and examples of each. CRUTTWELL: Hist. Rom. Lit., 266. b. Homer, Vergil, and Milton compared. LONDON QUARTERLY REV., CI. 44. MYERS Fortnightly Rev., Feb., 1879, 137. CONINGTON: Works of Virgil, II. xxii. ADDISON: Spectator, Nos. 267, 273, 279, 285, 297, 303. Tattler, No. 6. c. The Roman epic before the time of Vergil. SELLAR: Roman Poets of the Augustan Age, 280-294. 8. The Manuscripts, Commentators, and Translators. There are six ancient manuscripts of Vergil, written in capitals, and dating from about the fifth century. These are: 1. The Medicean, in the Laurentian library at Florence. 2. The Palatine, in the Vatican library at Rome. (It was formerly in the Palatine library in Heidelberg.) 3. The Roman, in the Vatican library. 4. The Vatican fragment, in the Vatican library. 5. The St. Gall fragment, in the Stiftsbibliothek at St. Gall. 6. The Verona palimpsest, in the capitular library in Verona. To these the so-called Augustean fragment, consisting of a few leaves only, should be added. The cursive manuscripts, dating from the tenth century on, are very numerous, and are to be found in libraries in Florence, Rome, Milan, Trent, Hamburg, Breslau, Leipsic, Dresden, Paris, Dublin, Oxford, and elsewhere. Of the ancient commentators the following may be mentioned: Aemilius Asper, M. Valerius Probus, Nonius, Aelius Donatus, Tiberius Claudius Donatus, and Servius. There are two scholia, the Verona and the Berne. The prominent names among more modern commentators are Daniel and Nicholas Heinsius, Wagner, Ribbeck, Forbiger, Gossrau, and Heyne (the best of the German critics), and Conington, the leader among English commentators. Of the very numerous translations since the first crude attempt by Caxton, the best yet produced are probably those of Dryden (poetical) and Conington (prose). a. The manuscripts. TEUFFEL: Hist. Rom. Lit., I. 448. NETTLESHIP: Vergil, 87-89. WILSTACH: Virgil, I. 7–13. CONINGTON: Works of Virgil, I. cx-cxv. b. The commentators. TEUFFEL Hist. Rom. Lit., I. 449. : WILSTACH: Virgil, I. 13-18. CONINGTON: Works of Virgil, I. lvii-cix. c. The translators. WILSTACH: Virgil, I. 19-42. CONINGTON: Works of Virgil translated into English Prose, i-lxiv. PALGRAVE: Macmillan's Mag., XV. 196206, 401-412. LONDON QUARTERLY REV., CX. 38-60. LIST OF TOPICS FOR INVESTIGATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE STUDY OF VERGIL. 1. Vergilian Proverbs. 2. A Word Study. 3. Fatalism in Vergil. 4. Vergil's Pictures of Roman Customs. 5. Pen Pictures, Striking Scenes. 6. Astronomy in Vergil. 7. Vergil's Debt to Homer 8. Milton's Debt to Vergil. 9. Dante, the Later Vergil. 10. Vergil's Influence upon Literature in General. 11. Vergil's Gods and their Worship. 12. Omens and Oracles. 13. Vergilian Herbarium, 14. The Figures in Vergil. the Flora of Vergil. 15. Detailed Account of the Wanderings of Aeneas. 17. Vergil as a Poet of Nature. 18. Vergil's Life and Character as Revealed in his Works. 19. History of the Manuscript Texts of Vergil. 20. The Vergilians, - Translators and Commentators. 32. Was Vergil acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures? 33. Visions and Dreams. - Supernatural Means of Spirit Communication. 34. Night Scenes in Vergil. 35. Different Names for Trojans and Greeks and their Significance. 36. The Story of the Aeneid. TESTIMONIA DE VERGILIO. Forte epos acer, Ut nemo, Varius ducit; molle atque facetum Vergilio annuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae (HOR., Sat. I. X. 43). Et profugum Aenean, altae primordia Romae, Quo nullum Latio clarius extat opus (OVID, Ars Amat. III. 337) Tityrus et fruges Aeneïaque arma legentur, Roma triumphati dum caput orbis erit (ID., Amores, I. 15, 25). Mantua Vergilio gaudet, Verona Catullo; Pelignae dicar gloria gentis ego (ID., Amores, III. 15, 7). Mantua Musarum domus, atque ad sidera cantu Evecta Andino, et Smyrnaeis aemula plectris (SILIUS, Lib. 8). Vive precor, nec tu divinam Aeneida tenta Sed longe sequere, et vestigia semper adora (STATIUS, Thebaïd). Conditor Iliados cantabitur atque Maronis Altisoni dubiam facientia carmina palmam (JUVENAL, Sat. XI. 180). Temporibus nostris aetas cum cedat avorum, Creverit et maior cum duce Roma suo; Ingenium sacri miraris abesse Maronis, Nec quemquam tanta bella sonare tuba? Sint Maecenates; non deerunt, Flacce, Marones: Vergiliumque tibi vel tua rura dabunt, etc. (MARTIAL, Epig.). D. Augustus carmina Vergilii cremari contra testamenti eius verecundiam vetuit: maiusque ita vati testimonium contigit, quam si ipse sua carmina probavisset (Pliny, Hist. 7, 30). Vergilii ante omnes [imaginem venerabatur Silius,] cuius natalem religiosius quam suum celebrabat, Neapoli maxime, ubi monumentum eius adire ut templum solebat (PLINY, Epist. 3, 7, 8). Malo securum et secretum Vergilii secessum; in quo tamen, neque apud D Augustum gratia caruit, neque apud populum Romanum notitia. Testes Augusti Epistolae; testis ipse populus, qui auditis in theatro versibus Vergilii surrexit universus, et forte praesentem spectantemque Vergilium veneratus est sic quasi Augustum (TACITUS, Dialog. de Orat.). Utar verbis iisdem, quae ab Afro Domitio iuvenis accepi: qui mihi interroganti, quem Homero crederet maxime accedere: Secundus, inquit, est Vergilius; propior tamen primo quam tertio (QUINTILIAN, 10). Is certe poetarum omnium princeps Vergilius est; cuius tot numero editiones, et sine commentariis, et cum adnotationibus veterum et recentium interpretum prodierunt, ut qui singulas enumerare vellet, libellum plenum taedii et fastidii conficere cogeretur (BURMAN). And Virgil; shade of Mantuan beech Did help the shade of bay to reach (MRS. BROWNING, Vision of Poets.) Oh, were it mine with sacred Maro's art To wake to sympathy the feeling heart, Like him, the smooth and mournful verse to dress In all the pomp of exquisite distress (FALCONER, Shipwreck, III.). Roman Virgil, thou that singest Ilion's lofty temples robed in fire, Ilion falling, Rome arising, wars, and filial faith, and Dido's pyre; Landscape lover, lord of language more than he that sang the Works and Days, Thou that singest wheat and woodland, tilth and vineyard, hive and horse and herd, Poet of the poet-satyr whom the laughing shepherds bound with flowers; Light among the vanished ages; star that gildest yet this phantom shore; Now the Rome of slaves hath perished, and the Rome of freemen holds her place; I, from out the Northern Island, sundered once from all the human race, - I salute thee, Mantovano, I that loved thee since my day began, Wielder of the stateliest measure ever moulded by the lips of man. (TENNYSON, On the Nineteenth Centenary of Virgil's Death.) |