Simultaneously full of beautiful poetry and non-stop action, the Aneid is a great reminder of what books are meant to be.

I read this in school. It was a nice text for the time, rich in aids.

The reason I rate this book so highly is largely because of the insight we get into ancient Rome, and because this book has really stood the test of time. I found the narrative very interesting because I am a huge fan of Roman history. I should also say that the story was entertaining, and I generally had no problem following the plot, even though this is in poetic form. I did occasionally have issues keeping track of who is who and who was on which side when it came to minor characters (Greek names). Despite that, I still had a good feel for what was going on and I enjoyed reading about the heroics from both sides.

I first read this years ago when I was in college. Williams remains one of the best editions. The commentary has a good balance of literary interpretation with comment on grammatical and lexical matters. A bit cursory on textual issues, but you can't have everything. And there is no substitute for reading Vergil in Latin!

Latin!

This book is in Latin. I "translated" most of it in high school. Although my Latin skills were pathetic to say the best it was still a treat to be able to read it as much as possible in the original Latin.

This was the first full books I ever translated myself and read entirely in another language. It really expanded my idea of poetry because it is an epic poem, as well as an extremely old text, and an amazing plot. One of my favorite things that I learned from reading this poem so indepth was how to arrange words. Latin sentences have very few order requirements so authors are able to amazing things with sentence structure, and Virgil is a master. One of my favorite scenes is when he describes a storm that Aeneid is trapped in and the adjectives describing it actually swirl through the poem and encircle all the nouns and adjectives describing Aeneid and his ship. Ever since, I've been a lot more aware of my sentence structure.

not virgil’s biggest fan but was ok

I'm a boring uncultured swine

Although it babies the reader througout, this commentary is excellent for AP or second/third-year college students. The Focus individual author series is more in-depth for graduate studies/AP teachers.

A review of Vergil's work could be so funny, but I'll pass on that and comment on R. D. W.

I think this is the best balance for a reader who does not wish to get into a profound study of the Aeneid, but to get through the Latin text first. With the patience of a good teacher Williams walks you through that task. The commentary divides the text into thematic morsels, with a synopsis and an introductory paragraph to provide some background. If your Latin is somewhat rusty and you can't at once feel the nuance, the synopsis is an immense help even if it contains slight spoilers for the next couple of dozens of lines.

Williams is very keen on making you appreciate poetry, and has two acts up his sleeve: first, he draws your attention to technicalities of Vergil's craft, and I think that his indications as to how rhythm is tied to the theme of the verses, as to what kind of alliteration is considered harsh, and how diction influences perception, contribute hugely to the appreciation of poetry – Latin poetry, because it explains what we coudn't skim unwittingly from a text that remote, and modern poetry as well, because Latin forces the procedure and the analytical tension you'll have to keep applying. Secondly, Williams is very fond of drawing parallels with (early) contemporary literature, exposing the impact The Aeneid (called by T. S. Eliot the one true classic of the European literature) had on everything that has been written since, so that you get a fair share of your favourite lines from Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and others exposed as wonderful and precise variations on themes set by Vergil. Which Vergil himself would highly approve, as Williams shows by exposing his sources as well: Ennius, Catullus et al.

I am not sure to what extent Williams is indebted to Servius, because Virgil's study is steeped in his commentary, either gathering corroborating evidence, or—very much less frequently—gainsaying, but he does seem to have a fairly direct landline to the ancient classicist.

Cultural references and mythology are explained in fair detail without falling into a rabbit-hole of research with bibliographies as long as the reference is subtle. If you need that kind of study, consult Horsfall, who has thrice as much commentary text per line; I felt I was reading Horsfall, not Vergil—which is fine, but it wasn't my intention. Williams keeps decently transparent.

It has been pointed out by angry reviewers on Amazon that they couldn't read Latin, and Williams did not help. I do believe them! On the other hand, I couln't say why he chose to translate the phrases that he chose. They certainly weren't the most complicated by way of grammar or references. Whatever his criteria, I couldn't discern them—but I can't get angry at him for that.

What does have a great share in that one star that I took off my glaring rating is the physical edition. It is a rather bad reprint of a 1972 Macmillan edition (which is not only out of print, but virtually unretrievable) by Bristol Classical Press, and it will have you guessing the ends of lines on many pages and raving about the binding that you have to struggle with. I understand that Virgil doesn't sell well these days. Well, so there it goes.

I don't care for the Aeneid, but of the several Latin copies I had access to, this book had by far the most comprehensive reference appendix.