4.20.2008
Le Guin Explores Lavinia's Perspective
The Oregonian reviews a brand new book by Ursula K. Le Guin that explores the perspective of Lavinia (daughter of Latinus, wife of Aeneas) from Virgil's "Aeneid". Giving a feminine perspective to the male-centric Roman epic.
"Lavinia, an 18-year-old princess in "The Aeneid," Vergil's 2,000-year-old epic poem about the origins of Rome, gets little attention from Vergil as a background figure. He gives her not a single speech in his shimmeringly melodious, 10,000-line poem, despite that she is daughter to King Latinus, who rules the region; that multitudes of men die over who should marry her; and that her eventual marriage is crucial to the founding of Rome. The book "Lavinia" (Le Guin's 56th!) repairs Vergil's lapse and is also a loving tribute to the poet. It's an earthy retelling of the last six books of the 12-book poem, told from the point of view of Lavinia herself."
According to the review, Le Guin explores her "rich, pagan life", and brings a feminine "balance" to Virgil's work while avoiding outright revisionism. A work on par with Robert Graves's "I, Claudius", according to Publishers Weekly.
In an interview with Le Guin about the work, the author explains that she isn't trying to improve on Virgil, merely telling tales he didn't have time to get to.
"Virgil didn't have time for little Lavinia," Ms. Le Guin says. Virgil died in 19 B.C. and many scholars believe he still planned to do some work on the Aeneid. "I didn't feel I was correcting Virgil, but here was something he didn't have the time to do, and I did."
"Lavinia" promises to be an interesting exploration of the early mythic history of Rome. You can read an excerpt of the book, here.
Labels: books, Lavinia, Myth, Paganism, Rome, Ursula Le Guin, Virgil
12.14.2006
Aeneas: Patsy For Imperialism?
Was Aeneas, the mythical survivor of the Trojan War and founder of Rome, a hero of civilization or an apologist for imperialism? Edward Rothstein of the New York Times examines the question on the occasion of Robert Fagles new translation of the Aeneid.
"But in recent decades, when even the notion of civilization has come under challenge for its claims of ethical and social superiority, Aeneas has sometimes been portrayed as a kind of patsy for imperialism, mouthing higher goals while succumbing to reckless fury as he spills the bowels of his enemies on the earth. The argument has been made that Virgil's project was actually ironic, anti-Augustan: he showed how civilization itself is drenched in blood, with self-celebratory history being written by the victors."
In the end, after weighing the case, Rothstein agrees with translator Robert Fagles's assessment. That the story of the Aeneid (in the hands of Virgil) is something of a cautionary tale.
"The Aeneid, he has suggested (thinking, he had said, of contemporary events), exhorts empires to behave. But it does not dismiss the ideal of civilization or the labors demanded or the persistent dangers faced; it offers a realist prophecy of war and peace, heralding civilization along with its discontents."
Was Virgil trying to flatter Rome (and Augustus) while at the same time trying to warn of the excesses of empire? It seems a likely scenario, Virgil, though a supporter of Augustus, was reluctant to take on the writing of a "national epic" and was pressed into the service by Augustus. One thing is certain, the influence and relevance of Virgil and his Aeneid remain vital to our present day understandings of power and civilization.
Labels: Aeneas, Aeneid, Empire, Paganism, Robert Fagles, Rome, Virgil
