# Vergil: The Poet's Life - Hardcover

by **Sarah Ruden** (Author)

**A biography of Vergil, Rome's greatest poet, by the acclaimed translator of the _Aeneid_**

**"Ms. Ruden has converted the writer of the _Aeneid_ from a noble and stodgy 'ancient' into our contemporary . . . persuasively re-imagined \[as\] a sympathetic, three-dimensional figure. . . . The existence of the _Aeneid_ is cause for gratitude. So is Ms. Ruden's sensitive, celebratory portrait of its maker."--Willard Spiegelman,** _**Wall Street Journal**_

The _Aeneid_ stands as a towering work of Classical Roman literature and a gripping dramatization of the best and worst of human nature. In the process of creating this epic poem, Vergil (70-19 BCE) became the world's first media celebrity, a living legend.

But the real Vergil is a shadowy figure; we know that he was born into a modest rural family, that he led a private and solitary life, and that, in spite of poor health and unusual emotional vulnerabilities, he worked tirelessly to achieve exquisite new effects in verse. Vergil's most famous work, the _Aeneid_, was commissioned by the emperor Augustus, who published the epic despite Vergil's dying wish that it be destroyed.

Sarah Ruden, widely praised for her translation of the _Aeneid_, uses evidence from Roman life and history alongside Vergil's own writings to make careful deductions to reconstruct his life. Through her intimate knowledge of Vergil's work, she brings to life a poet who was committed to creating something astonishingly new and memorable, even at great personal cost.

### Author Biography

**Sarah Ruden** is an award-winning classics scholar, a poet, and a widely published writer on religion and culture. Her many translations of Greek and Roman works include Vergil's _Aeneid_.

**Number of Pages:** 200

**Dimensions:** 0.8 x 8.6 x 5.7 IN

**Publication Date:** August 22, 2023

## Details

- **Price:** 26.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 26.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Vergil: The Poet's Life - Hardcover

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