Table Of ContentG LA SG O W U N IV E R S IT Y P U B L IC A T IO N S
P. VERGILI MARONIS
AENEIDOS
LIBRI VII-VIII
WITH A COMMENTARY
BY
C. J. F O R D Y C E
Introduction by
P. G. W ALSH
Professor of Humanity
University of Glasgow
Edited by
JOHN D. C H R IST IE
Published for the
U N IV E R SIT Y OF GLASGOW
by the
OXFORD U N IV E R SIT Y PR ESS
1977
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6dp
OXFORD LONDON GLASGOW
NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM LUSAKA CAFE TOWN
KUALA LUMFUR SINGAPORE JAKARTA HONG KONG TOKYO
DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI
© University of Glasgow 1977
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
permission of Oxford University Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Virgil
P.
Vergili Maronis Aeneidos, Libri V II-VIII
1. Latin poetry
I. Title II. Fordyce, C J
III. Christie, John Duncan
873’.oi PA6801.A5
ISBN 0-19-713309-6
Printed in Great Britain
at the University Press, Oxford
by Vivian Bidder
Printer to the University
For
KITTY FORDYCE
PREFACE
A fter the publication in 1961 of his commentary on
Catullus, Professor Christian J. Fordyce turned to the com
position of a commentary on the second half of Virgil's
Aeneid. This was to have been the third part of a three-
volume ‘Oxford Commentary' on Virgil's complete works, of
which the second volume, on Aeneid I-VI, was to be com
posed by Professor R. G. Austin. In September of 1974 Pro
fessor Fordyce died and within a few weeks Professor Austin
also died. The project was therefore abandoned.
Fordyce had virtually completed his commentaries on
Books VII, VIII, and IX— though no doubt much would
have been added or altered before he released his script:
Books X and XI were fully drafted but awaited revision:
Book XII had barely been begun. I had for some years en
joyed the privilege of discussing Fordyce's drafts. He had
asked me to scrutinize them for accuracy and to offer criti
cisms and suggestions. During our discussions a good many
modifications and additions were made, mainly to VII,
VIII, and IX. Those of us who had seen some or all of these
drafts were convinced that they should not be lost and per
suaded the University of Glasgow to publish the present
volume, comprising the commentaries on VII and VIII,
which make a good pairing. I was asked to prepare the
work for publication.
I should declare the extent of my editorial activity. My
aim has been to keep interference with Fordyce’s text to the
minimum. I have tried to verify all references, quotations,
and matters of fact, adjusting where necessary. Expressions
of opinion I have left unaltered, even— or especially— when
I may disagree. In a few places, however, I felt that it would
help to cite a different view, setting it in square brackets
with my initials. I have incorporated material from the
draft commentaries on IX-XI, thus enhancing the scope
viii PREFACE
of this volume as well as rescuing valuable comments.
Whether or not the rest of the later commentaries can be
published some day remains to be seen.
I have received, and am most grateful for, much expert
help from all my colleagues in the Department of Humanity
at Glasgow, notably from Professor Walsh, Fordyce’s suc
cessor in the Chair of Humanity, who has not only con
tributed a scholarly Introduction but has given me the
greatest possible support and encouragement. He read the
original draft with typical acumen and gave me valuable
counsel and help with many editorial problems. Mrs. Ruth
Pepper has been a particularly assiduous helper. She was
involved with the work from the outset, expertly decipher
ing and typing a series of amended versions, checking many
references and standardizing forms. She has also offered per
ceptive suggestions for greater clarity and consistency of
expression. I cannot express too strongly our appreciation
of her patient and skilled service to this work.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Mrs. Fordyce who
has not only given the project her blessing but has been
most generous in allowing me full access to her husband’s
papers and to the rich resources of his library. It is in the
hope that she will take it as a gesture of our affection and
gratitude that I have dedicated the volume to her.
Lastly my thanks are due to the Publications Officers cf
Glasgow University and to the skilful and vigilant readers
at the Oxford Press.
J ohn D. Christie
University of Glasgow
CONTENTS
IN T R O D U C T I O N xi
B I B L I O G R A P H Y xxxi
N O T E ON T H E T E X T xxxiii
S IG L A CO D ICU M xxxiv
T E X T 1
C O M M E N T A R Y
5 i
A P P E N D I X : Alliteration 289
I N D E X E S TO T H E N O T E S
(i) Index Nominum
293
(2) Index Verborum 298
(3) Index Rerum 303
INTRODUCTION
T he two books contained in this edition have never achieved
a popularity commensurate with that of the first six books
of the Aeneid. The brilliant variety of the ‘ Odyssean ’ half
of the epic— the arrival at Carthage, the narratives of the
fall of Troy and of the laborious hazards of the pilgrimage
westward, the tragic passion of Dido, the funeral-games in
Sicily, the descent into the world of the dead upon arrival
in Italy— has overshadowed the ‘ Iliadic’ half, which has
often been criticized as a more mechanical and monotonous
exercise undertaken by a poet with little stomach for the
martial theme which is at its centre. Yet even by this sim
plistic criterion the neglect of Books VII and VIII would be
unjustified, for the pattern of concentrated warfare does
not commence until Book IX, and the poet's versatility in
variation of theme and mood is further demonstrated in
these two books. In VII the focus is on the reactions of the
Latins to the arrival of the Trojan immigrants, and in VIII
on the visit of Aeneas to King Evander of Pallanteum, the
settlement on what is to be the site of Rome. These books
may escape the limbo of the ‘ Iliadic’ Aeneid if the epic is
visualized not only as a diptych but also as a triptych, with
I-IV devoted to events at Carthage, V-VIII to the journey
from Africa and initial arrival in Italy, and IX -X II to the
mounting climax of the fighting. This ancillary division into
three parts, undoubtedly intended by the poet, allows the
reader more clearly to appreciate the distinctive themes of
VII and of VIII, which are so much more than mere pre
liminaries to the saga of the ensuing conflict.1
Yet the major division in the structure of the whole is be
tween the ‘Odyssean’ and the ‘ Iliadic’ halves, and Virgil
1 This secondary principle of division is increasingly emphasized
by modem critics; see, e.g., K. Quinn, Virgil’s Aeneid (London,
1968), 67,
