In a message dated 98-07-14 06:41:41 EDT, you write: << I recently had a conversation in which a friend said to me that he felt (i can't bring myself to conjugate "to think" here) that Vergil subverts truth in order to "suck up" to Augustus and play to the nationalist sentiment. I countered with the usual arguments of duty and virtue, but these held no sway. Can anyone give me a good apology as to why book iv does indeed transcend time and place? I am but an amateur here, and I will say that I find book four to be troublesome--in art and in life. Any help? >>
In my purely personal, subjective opinion, I think IV does transcend time and space, by focusing on the causes and effects of passionate love. Yes, the gods send Dido's madness upon her, but the episode rings more genuinely than if it were simply some divine cookery. Love as madness seems to me to be the theme, and of course it is echoed throughout ancient classical poetry. Hope this gross oversimplification helps. Dick Miller ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
