This channel is something else, he releases one of the most comprehensive and engaging videos on the background of the Aeneid on the whole of UA-cam, and then dips.
Many years ago, people with similar interests & enjoyment in music, art, history & literature came together on UA-cam. The very reason it was established. Thank you, Professor. My speciality is music (conducting) with only a dilettante’s knowledge of literature so I appreciate this channel & the clarity in the video. Duly liked & subbed. -❤ from Brisbane.
This was a bloody good video. I have nothing to complain about, which seems so rare on the internet these days. It managed to satisfy me with new facts and perspectives and at the same time the stuff I did already know was put into a clearer light and shape.
For some reason, last year I decided that I wanted to read through the major works of epic poetry in their chronological order. I've still got the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost left but so far I've definitely liked The Aeneid the most and your recommendation of Milton has gotten me excited to finish out with the best one!
Wonderful. Just started reading the Aeneid after watching ROME and finishing Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast. Happy to have your confirmation that regular referral to the glossary is the way to go! Please do some more of these for Homer and Milton if you have the opportunity. You have a fan base!!
Glad to hear this, Leigh Ann. Positive feedback like yours has persuaded me to make more videos. I'm planning a long video/podcast series on the history of ancient Greece, and I'll let you know when it goes live.
@@professornyquil1627 Dear Sir, thank you for your excellent introduction to the world of classical literature. Please give us more of your talent, intelligence and knowledge. I am a retired uk scientist now living in Freiburg, Germany and paying homage to my great teachers by continuing my learning.
I have read the Odessey, Aeneid (in Latin), L’Inferno (in Italian), and Paradise Lost. I preferred Milton. As Khan said to Kirk in Star Trek: “Have you ever read Milton, captain?” Kirk nods. “Then you understand.”
Milton and Dante are Christian apologists and proponents of a stupid, autocratic, and unimaginative god. At least Homer could write with irony about his stupid, inconsistent, and meddling gods. Plato would put the lot of them in the same wicker basket and send them down the Nile or Skamander to the gate they deserve as poets who undermine peaceful culture.
Wow this is a great video to watch if you are confused while reading the Aeneid thank you so much. I hope you continue making this series for other classics this is fantastic!
A wonderful presentation! Presently in my first reading of the Aeneid. Although I have read Paradise Lost, the Iliad, and the Odyssey several times, I would love to hear your discussion of each work. Do humanity a favor and let us hear from you.
Glad to hear it, happy reading. I'm currently gathering materials to produce a long video and podcast series on the history of ancient Greece, so I'll get around to the Iliad and Odyssey before too long. Milton is probably further in the future, but one never knows.
That is an astute and interesting precis. My thought: In the last year, I have read The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Argonautica, and part way through The Aeneid. Sadly, I am sufficiently ignorant as to only be able to do so in english. As it happens, I have previously read The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. So we are definitely on the same page. I also read large sections of The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves and I cannot recommend that highly enough for the quality of its language, and fascinating historical and mythological analysis, intertwined with each other. I strongly recommend reading the first four I mentioned, in that order, which is historically chronological with their creation. I have no doubt at all that Vergil's execution of the work in Latin was superlative, and it certainly presents well in english. With the caveat that you are also 'reading' the translator which complicates matters. But.... whereas all the other works mentioned above came from the heart and soul of individuals and culture, The Aeneid, is, IMHO, blatantly a calculated work of propaganda, as alluded to in the narration, though not so emphatically. I will assume Vergil was genuine in crafting its excellence, but its entire purpose is to create a state sanctioned Rome creation myth out of nothing, and justify the imperial line. It also conspicuously extolled qualities among Romans, considered to be desirable. Which they may have been, but that adds social engineering to its purposes. And paid for as such. For me, that detracts hugely from the idea of it being one of the greatest and influential literary works; it is brilliant, but its existence at all, is tainted by its broader political purpose. It is also, again as touched on, intentionally modelled cum copied stylistically, from The Iliad and The Odyssey. Verging on plagiarising. If a state paid poet wrote a similar work, justifying the preeminence in 2022 of Xi or Putin, it would be tainted no more than is The Aeneid in that regard. None the less, despite what I am saying here, reading it remains indispensable and thoroughly enjoyable. Personally, I read all the recent ones using the Kindle app on my phone, which allows hot linking to the Net (mostly Wikipedia) every time I came across anything with which I was not acquainted. I absolutely endorse the narrators idea that you MUST keep referencing what you are reading, otherwise the significance is lost, and the experience substantially squandered. Lastly, I also fully endorse the idea that, if you have any interest in english literature, you MUST read Paradise Lost. The language is brilliant, but the story is even better. Every book mentioned is a fundamental necessity for anyone who wants to have a basic but rounded understanding of European literary history.
Everything you say rings true. Too bad it seems every college bound person I meet today only wants to study "business". I was a philosophy major, years ago, but I did quite well in "business". Learning how to think is the most important thing you can pursue through education. And I am much better at crossword puzzles.
Ert good analysis I love it and learned some more details regarding Troy. Couple of Historical Parts I take issue with: Altough Octavian was adopted by Julius Caesar he was also of the Julii and could in that same way trace his bloodline to Aenas. Punic Wars: Hannibals (Gaul supported) raids on the Italian penisula are greatley overstated here as any decent historical account will tell. Carthage was doomed from the very onset it was a naval superpower basing its prowess on trade dominance, it was never close to compete with Rome who was a republic obsessed with war, enigneering and innovation attributed and a culture about winning. Even though Carthage had a vastly superior navy to Rome, Rome won all but 1 naval battle that one defeat made Romans reverse engineer Carthage naval vessels and the Corvus was born. Hannibal could of been defeated early on by using Flavian tactics reason for his victories was Roman vanity mixed with the fact that Romans were using him as a political tool to through rivals ”under the bus”. In light of this Dido’s curse needs to be seen as one self inflicted on her people esp given the whole fatalistic approach of the mythological part of the Aenid.
Virgil wanted his magnum opus the Aeneid burned in his last Will & Testament, yet Caesar Augustus ordered it spared and Virgil's position in literary history was sealed, as a Direct result of the Aeneid some 1300 years later Dante had Virgil guide him through the underworld in Inferno, and he has inspired authors for two thousand years.
Im fascinated at how you were able to read these ancient texts in their originals. I realized that reading the Aenied in English was not worth it, so i got the spanish version and its delightful, but although not as satisfying as in Latin. I will consider your advice to reading Milton.
I have read the 5 major epic poems mentioned here, and I would agree that Paradise Lost was probably my favorite, followed by the Aeneid. Homer's works are untouchable and my opinion means nothing compared to the impact they've had on world literature, but they just didn't hook me the way Virgil and Milton did. Dante's work is also divine (no pun intended) and the Paradiso doesn't get enough play
Glad you found it valuable, my friend. I'm in the early planning stages of a major video/podcast series on the history of ancient Greece. I can't say for sure when I'll find enough time between writing and teaching to start producing the videos, but I'll give notice on this channel when it goes live.
Gilgamesh is a fascinating text. I didn't include it here, because its connections to the Western epic tradition are complicated and largely untraceable. But such connections probably did exist. If you're interested in the influence of Near Eastern literature on Homer's epics, look at "The East Face of Helicon," by Martin West (especially chapters 7 and 8).
"A Reading From Homer," by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1885), currently in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102964.html
Juno was the queen of the Roman pantheon. Originally an Etruscan goddess, the Romans “adopted” her and she became Jupiter’s (cognate with the Grecian Zeus - Zeus pitar = Ju piter) wife. So although I’ve only read bits of the Iliad, I’m thinking I only remember Hera, the Greek wife of Zeus. Maybe I’m wrong?
By the early empire, Rome had thoroughly assimilated Greek culture, and as a result, they tended to think of "Hera" and "Juno" as essentially two different names for the same goddess. You're right, as a matter of historical fact, that Juno was a native Italian goddess. So was Jupiter. But during the middle and late republic these two received a personality graft (if not a transplant), and their resumés were expanded to encompass the Greek stories of Hera and Zeus. This Hellenized version of Juno is the one Vergil writes about in the Aeneid.
I'm a forensic psychology major... I do love history (a large reason I love being a Free Mason), but this advanced History course of ancient Greek and Roman society is very trying. I read Byron, Shakespeare and the like, but I have to read, process and right a final on The Aneid and the Odyssey in 7 weeks, including text book reading every week and two other separate papers on primary history sources.. thank you for this video. Brilliantly simple, yet inclusive. to the point, more matter and less art. it was very helpful.
I am not educated enough to give accurate constructive criticism so I will just tell you how fucking goddamn fucking awesome your video was! And I ain't got no school to be learnin' this for neither, was doin it of my own volition. I am going to read Milton now thanks to your recommendation. Bless. :P
Im confused about how it sounds in latin. You said monstrum horrendum as if it were only one word. Is this a nistake, a sound issue or is this truly how you speak it?
Good ear, and good question. There is a very specific explanation: in Latin poetry, when one word ends in "-um" or a vowel, and the immediately following word begins with "h" or a vowel, the first word loses that final syllable when read aloud. This phenomenon is called "elision," and most Latin students find that identifying it consistently is one of the trickiest parts of measuring Latin poetic meter. (If you fail to elide the "-um" in "monstrum", the metrics of the whole line turn into a train wreck.)
The concept of publication before movable type was not much different than today. In both eras, copyists are hired to duplicate and disseminate copies of the text. The biggest difference is how ancient copyists executed their commission: by hand-copying manuscripts with pen, ink, and papyrus or parchment, rather than whacking out identical printed copies on paper.
Completely agree... Well, almost. Every time I decide 'Paradise" is the better, I become obsessed with Aeneid again, ha... Though I did enjoy your take! Thank You.
Excellent video - sed nondum enim legitur, 'mortuus est' linguae. sunt tamen qui invenit, quotidie scribere aliquid, in lingua Ciceronis et Maronis libris.
T.S. Eliot famously wrote in his essay "What Is a Classic?": > "Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them. There is no third." I tend to agree with that notion!
Ignoring its importance in the history of literature and Latin, the Aeneid is a very poor work, and it’s truly shocking it became so influential. The story is lazy and unimaginative. Most of it just rehashing the Odyssey for the sake of it. The characters are extremely one dimensional, having very little depth. And it’s poorly written. The pacing is all over the place. Descriptions and action almost feel written elementarily. Next to the Iliad and Odyssey, it honestly feels like a lazy fan fiction.
This channel is something else, he releases one of the most comprehensive and engaging videos on the background of the Aeneid on the whole of UA-cam, and then dips.
this is exactly what i want my channel to be. thanks for the great summary.
Many years ago, people with similar interests & enjoyment in music, art, history & literature came together on UA-cam. The very reason it was established. Thank you, Professor. My speciality is music (conducting) with only a dilettante’s knowledge of literature so I appreciate this channel & the clarity in the video. Duly liked & subbed.
-❤ from Brisbane.
This was a bloody good video. I have nothing to complain about, which seems so rare on the internet these days. It managed to satisfy me with new facts and perspectives and at the same time the stuff I did already know was put into a clearer light and shape.
Great, great, great video! Thank you
time stamps: 0:59 Historical background, 5:07 Mythological background, 13:59 Literary background
For some reason, last year I decided that I wanted to read through the major works of epic poetry in their chronological order. I've still got the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost left but so far I've definitely liked The Aeneid the most and your recommendation of Milton has gotten me excited to finish out with the best one!
Wonderful. Just started reading the Aeneid after watching ROME and finishing Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast. Happy to have your confirmation that regular referral to the glossary is the way to go! Please do some more of these for Homer and Milton if you have the opportunity. You have a fan base!!
Where can I find this podcast?
Glad to hear this, Leigh Ann. Positive feedback like yours has persuaded me to make more videos. I'm planning a long video/podcast series on the history of ancient Greece, and I'll let you know when it goes live.
@@professornyquil1627 Dear Sir, thank you for your excellent introduction to the world of classical literature. Please give us more of your talent, intelligence and knowledge. I am a retired uk scientist now living in Freiburg, Germany and paying homage to my great teachers by continuing my learning.
Highly recommend "The Aeneid of Virgil" translated by Allen Mandelbaum. Very readable and with a great glossary in the back.
Mandelbaum's volume is excellent, and it has another virtue: it's cheap ($6 in paperback at the moment).
I have read the Odessey, Aeneid (in Latin), L’Inferno (in Italian), and Paradise Lost. I preferred Milton.
As Khan said to Kirk in Star Trek:
“Have you ever read Milton, captain?”
Kirk nods.
“Then you understand.”
Milton and Dante are Christian apologists and proponents of a stupid, autocratic, and unimaginative god. At least Homer could write with irony about his stupid, inconsistent, and meddling gods. Plato would put the lot of them in the same wicker basket and send them down the Nile or Skamander to the gate they deserve as poets who undermine peaceful culture.
Fate, not gate.
Seneca Such an insightful comment! 🙄
I wish I could read Aeneid in latin
Thank you for this!I've already conducted a beginners's study of Iliad and Divine Comedy in highschool.I'm really excited to read this one too.
Trying to get a grasp on the aeneid and this was the first video that really nailed it. Great job.
Thank you for this wonderful articulated introduction to the Aeneid.
Wow this is a great video to watch if you are confused while reading the Aeneid thank you so much. I hope you continue making this series for other classics this is fantastic!
Thank you for preparing and posting this excellent background to Virgil.
Thank you so much, a great connection of 2500 years.
Great introductory. Shocking to hear that you have read all the great epic poetry in their original language though 😮 thanks for this video
what a wonderful video! please do more!
A wonderful presentation! Presently in my first reading of the Aeneid. Although I have read Paradise Lost, the Iliad, and the Odyssey several times, I would love to hear your discussion of each work. Do humanity a favor and let us hear from you.
Glad to hear it, happy reading. I'm currently gathering materials to produce a long video and podcast series on the history of ancient Greece, so I'll get around to the Iliad and Odyssey before too long. Milton is probably further in the future, but one never knows.
That is an astute and interesting precis.
My thought: In the last year, I have read The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Argonautica, and part way through The Aeneid. Sadly, I am sufficiently ignorant as to only be able to do so in english.
As it happens, I have previously read The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. So we are definitely on the same page. I also read large sections of The Greek Myths, by Robert Graves and I cannot recommend that highly enough for the quality of its language, and fascinating historical and mythological analysis, intertwined with each other. I strongly recommend reading the first four I mentioned, in that order, which is historically chronological with their creation.
I have no doubt at all that Vergil's execution of the work in Latin was superlative, and it certainly presents well in english. With the caveat that you are also 'reading' the translator which complicates matters. But.... whereas all the other works mentioned above came from the heart and soul of individuals and culture, The Aeneid, is, IMHO, blatantly a calculated work of propaganda, as alluded to in the narration, though not so emphatically. I will assume Vergil was genuine in crafting its excellence, but its entire purpose is to create a state sanctioned Rome creation myth out of nothing, and justify the imperial line. It also conspicuously extolled qualities among Romans, considered to be desirable. Which they may have been, but that adds social engineering to its purposes. And paid for as such. For me, that detracts hugely from the idea of it being one of the greatest and influential literary works; it is brilliant, but its existence at all, is tainted by its broader political purpose. It is also, again as touched on, intentionally modelled cum copied stylistically, from The Iliad and The Odyssey. Verging on plagiarising. If a state paid poet wrote a similar work, justifying the preeminence in 2022 of Xi or Putin, it would be tainted no more than is The Aeneid in that regard. None the less, despite what I am saying here, reading it remains indispensable and thoroughly enjoyable.
Personally, I read all the recent ones using the Kindle app on my phone, which allows hot linking to the Net (mostly Wikipedia) every time I came across anything with which I was not acquainted. I absolutely endorse the narrators idea that you MUST keep referencing what you are reading, otherwise the significance is lost, and the experience substantially squandered.
Lastly, I also fully endorse the idea that, if you have any interest in english literature, you MUST read Paradise Lost. The language is brilliant, but the story is even better.
Every book mentioned is a fundamental necessity for anyone who wants to have a basic but rounded understanding of European literary history.
Everything you say rings true. Too bad it seems every college bound person I meet today only wants to study "business". I was a philosophy major, years ago, but I did quite well in "business". Learning how to think is the most important thing you can pursue through education. And I am much better at crossword puzzles.
Imagine being so legendary, that people would copy your entire literature, word per word, throughout literal *centuries.*
Writer Goals.
Thanks for the great video, I am totally going to read Paradise Lost now
That was fun! Watching it again.
Greatest Epic poem ever in my opinion. Thanks!
Ert good analysis I love it and learned some more details regarding Troy.
Couple of Historical Parts I take issue with:
Altough Octavian was adopted by Julius Caesar he was also of the Julii and could in that same way trace his bloodline to Aenas.
Punic Wars: Hannibals (Gaul supported) raids on the Italian penisula are greatley overstated here as any decent historical account will tell. Carthage was doomed from the very onset it was a naval superpower basing its prowess on trade dominance, it was never close to compete with Rome who was a republic obsessed with war, enigneering and innovation attributed and a culture about winning. Even though Carthage had a vastly superior navy to Rome, Rome won all but 1 naval battle that one defeat made Romans reverse engineer Carthage naval vessels and the Corvus was born. Hannibal could of been defeated early on by using Flavian tactics reason for his victories was Roman vanity mixed with the fact that Romans were using him as a political tool to through rivals ”under the bus”.
In light of this Dido’s curse needs to be seen as one self inflicted on her people esp given the whole fatalistic approach of the mythological part of the Aenid.
Thank you.very clear and Well presented for understanding by less endowed person like myself.
Thank you very much for this video!
Excellente video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Bravooo
Very excellent....more please sir
I loved the deadpan voice. Great work!
Wow! This was GREAT! Thanks!
...and you're hot!
This was excellent. I wish I had had you or someone like you when I studied liberal arts (decades ago)!
Virgil wanted his magnum opus the Aeneid burned in his last Will & Testament, yet Caesar Augustus ordered it spared and Virgil's position in literary history was sealed, as a Direct result of the Aeneid some 1300 years later Dante had Virgil guide him through the underworld in Inferno, and he has inspired authors for two thousand years.
Fantastic video!
Im fascinated at how you were able to read these ancient texts in their originals. I realized that reading the Aenied in English was not worth it, so i got the spanish version and its delightful, but although not as satisfying as in Latin.
I will consider your advice to reading Milton.
superb, thank you so much!
I have read the 5 major epic poems mentioned here, and I would agree that Paradise Lost was probably my favorite, followed by the Aeneid. Homer's works are untouchable and my opinion means nothing compared to the impact they've had on world literature, but they just didn't hook me the way Virgil and Milton did. Dante's work is also divine (no pun intended) and the Paradiso doesn't get enough play
Great Video! Very informative and interesting. Thank you. and could you do another epic poem background.... maybe paradise lost?
Thank you
thank you!
Great video, do you have another channel? I really want to see more analyses from you !
Glad you found it valuable, my friend. I'm in the early planning stages of a major video/podcast series on the history of ancient Greece. I can't say for sure when I'll find enough time between writing and teaching to start producing the videos, but I'll give notice on this channel when it goes live.
@@professornyquil1627 Good to hear. Best of luck
The Aeneid will always inspire. It's the greatest epic poem of all time. Read Virgil and other great poets at www.poetryimmortal.com/virgil/
Just started following, enjoying the epic poets, however you seem to have forgotten the Epic of Gilgamesh although there is no known author.
Gilgamesh is a fascinating text. I didn't include it here, because its connections to the Western epic tradition are complicated and largely untraceable. But such connections probably did exist.
If you're interested in the influence of Near Eastern literature on Homer's epics, look at "The East Face of Helicon," by Martin West (especially chapters 7 and 8).
What is the portrait at 16:08?
"A Reading From Homer," by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1885), currently in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102964.html
Браво!
Juno was the queen of the Roman pantheon. Originally an Etruscan goddess, the Romans “adopted” her and she became Jupiter’s (cognate with the Grecian Zeus - Zeus pitar = Ju piter) wife.
So although I’ve only read bits of the Iliad, I’m thinking I only remember Hera, the Greek wife of Zeus. Maybe I’m wrong?
By the early empire, Rome had thoroughly assimilated Greek culture, and as a result, they tended to think of "Hera" and "Juno" as essentially two different names for the same goddess.
You're right, as a matter of historical fact, that Juno was a native Italian goddess. So was Jupiter. But during the middle and late republic these two received a personality graft (if not a transplant), and their resumés were expanded to encompass the Greek stories of Hera and Zeus. This Hellenized version of Juno is the one Vergil writes about in the Aeneid.
I'm a forensic psychology major... I do love history (a large reason I love being a Free Mason), but this advanced History course of ancient Greek and Roman society is very trying. I read Byron, Shakespeare and the like, but I have to read, process and right a final on The Aneid and the Odyssey in 7 weeks, including text book reading every week and two other separate papers on primary history sources.. thank you for this video. Brilliantly simple, yet inclusive. to the point, more matter and less art. it was very helpful.
Riveting delivery!
AWSOME
I am not educated enough to give accurate constructive criticism so I will just tell you how fucking goddamn fucking awesome your video was! And I ain't got no school to be learnin' this for neither, was doin it of my own volition. I am going to read Milton now thanks to your recommendation. Bless. :P
21:24...on it.
The Republic was written by Plato, not Aristotle.
I love these books.
Didn’t know about Milton, so thanks for the heads up.
Both Plato and Aristotle wrote works on Politeia ("Republic"). Plato's is extant, Aristotle's is not (except for the chapter on Athens.)
Im confused about how it sounds in latin. You said monstrum horrendum as if it were only one word. Is this a nistake, a sound issue or is this truly how you speak it?
Good ear, and good question. There is a very specific explanation: in Latin poetry, when one word ends in "-um" or a vowel, and the immediately following word begins with "h" or a vowel, the first word loses that final syllable when read aloud.
This phenomenon is called "elision," and most Latin students find that identifying it consistently is one of the trickiest parts of measuring Latin poetic meter. (If you fail to elide the "-um" in "monstrum", the metrics of the whole line turn into a train wreck.)
Thank you! One question- How did Augustus "publish" the Aeneid since this was a few years before Gutenberg? Please define what you mean by publish-
The concept of publication before movable type was not much different than today. In both eras, copyists are hired to duplicate and disseminate copies of the text. The biggest difference is how ancient copyists executed their commission: by hand-copying manuscripts with pen, ink, and papyrus or parchment, rather than whacking out identical printed copies on paper.
"publish" means "to make public" and "print" (where Gutenberg comes in play :) is only one manner of "publish"
Completely agree... Well, almost. Every time I decide 'Paradise" is the better, I become obsessed with Aeneid again, ha... Though I did enjoy your take! Thank You.
Excellent video - sed nondum enim legitur, 'mortuus est' linguae. sunt tamen qui invenit, quotidie scribere aliquid, in lingua Ciceronis et Maronis libris.
See Genesis for details
is no one gonna talk about how his name is professor nyquil lol
T.S. Eliot famously wrote in his essay "What Is a Classic?":
> "Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them. There is no third."
I tend to agree with that notion!
Provide Mint
Here for school?
The only reason you think milton is the best is because english is your native language. Reading latin is much different from living in latin
Ignoring its importance in the history of literature and Latin, the Aeneid is a very poor work, and it’s truly shocking it became so influential. The story is lazy and unimaginative. Most of it just rehashing the Odyssey for the sake of it. The characters are extremely one dimensional, having very little depth. And it’s poorly written. The pacing is all over the place. Descriptions and action almost feel written elementarily. Next to the Iliad and Odyssey, it honestly feels like a lazy fan fiction.
Now dead language? That's funny
It is a dead language
AWSOME