Vergil's Empire: Political Thought in the Aeneid

by Eve Adler

Overview

In Vergil's Empire, Eve Adler offers an exciting new interpretation of the political thought of Vergil's Aeneid. Adler argues that in this epic poem, Vergil presents the theoretical foundations of a new political order, one that resolves the conflict between scientific enlightenment and ancestral religion that permeated the ancient world. The work concentrates on Vergil's response to the physics, psychology, and political implications of Lucretius' Epicurean doctrine expressed in De Rerum Natura. Proceeding by a close analysis of the Aeneid, Adler examines Vergil's critique of Carthage as a model of universal enlightenment, his positive doctrine of Rome as a model of universal religion, and his criticism of the heroism of Achilles, Odysseus, and Epicurus in favor of the heroism of Aeneas. Beautifully written and clearly argued, Vergil's Empire will be of great value to all interested in the classical world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742521674
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/04/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Eve Adler is professor of classics at Middlebury College and has published four previous books and translations.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Part I: The Foundations of Carthage and of Rome
Chapter 2 The Theme of the Aeneid
Chapter 3 The Song of Iopas and the Song of Vergil
Chapter 4 The Carthaginian Enlightenment
Chapter 5 Was There a Roman Enlightenment?
Chapter 6 Lucretius' Teaching
Chapter 7 Furor
Chapter 8 Dido in Love
Part 9 Part II: The Greater Order of Things
Chapter 10 The Theme of the Aeneid Again
Chapter 11 The Golden Age
Chapter 12 Aeneas' Founding of Rome
Chapter 13 World Empire
Part 14 Part III: Pietatis Imago
Chapter 15 Piety and Heroic Virtue
Chapter 16 Aeneas and the Heroes
Chapter 17 The Education of Aeneas, I
Chapter 18 The Education of Aeneas, II

Editorial Reviews

Adler's argument about the fundamental purpose of Aeneid is interesting and clearly presented.

New England Classical Journal

This is a major work, of a kind one does not often come across.

Harvey Mansfield

This is a major work, of a kind one does not often come across.--Harvey Mansfield, Professor of Government, Harvard University; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution

This book is stunningly original. An empire, even a benevolent one, may overreach, of course. And Virgil hints that there are, humanly speaking, perhaps even seeds of self-dissolution in the most providential and perfect of empires. And so we oscillate between force and restraint, unmindful of their deeper meaning--still caught in the dynamic perceived by Virgil and brilliantly revived for us by Eve Adler in Vergil's Empire.--The Weekly Standard

Marvelous.--Brothers Judd

From the Publisher

Eve Adler takes a refreshingly novel approach in her recent study of the Aeneid. Adler's study of Vergil distinguishes itself from most current efforts in literary criticism by commenting upon the poem in a manner that develops a continuous course of thought.

Claremont Review of Books

Marvelous.

Brothers Judd

This book is stunningly original. An empire, even a benevolent one, may overreach, of course. And Virgil hints that there are, humanly speaking, perhaps even seeds of self-dissolution in the most providential and perfect of empires. And so we oscillate between force and restraint, unmindful of their deeper meaning—still caught in the dynamic perceived by Virgil and brilliantly revived for us by Eve Adler in Vergil's Empire.

The Weekly Standard

Eve Adler takes a refreshingly novel approach in her recent study of the Aeneid. Adler's study of Vergil distinguishes itself from most current efforts in literary criticism by commenting upon the poem in a manner that develops a continuous course of thought.

Claremont Review Of Books

Marvelous.

Brothersjudd.Com

Marvelous.

Brothersjudd.com