The Aeneid Translation Edition

“In their compelling new translation of the Aeneid, Scott McGill and Susannah Wright offer a dynamic, poignant and thought-provoking take on this classic poem . . . Their self-awareness is visible and invigorating, recreating a distinctly Virgilian connection between textual and linguistic minutiae and the larger themes of empire, justice and humanity . . . The authors’ labor here is truly Herculean, and the results well worth their effort.”
― Jessica Blum-Sorensen, America Magazine

“This specific translation of Virgil’s classic epic poem (initially published in 19 BCE) breathes remarkable new life into a cornerstone of classical literature . . . striking a careful balance between fidelity to the original and accessibility for modern readers . . . Many lines retain the original cadence while sounding fresh and immediate. Emily Wilson’s introduction is a standout feature. . . This edition is an excellent choice for first-time readers and those returning with fresh eyes. It’s a compelling and thoughtful rendering of a timeless epic.”
― Library Journal, starred review

“A phenomenal achievement! Scott McGill and Susannah Wright offer an innovative and propulsive ‘foot-for-foot’ blank verse translation that brilliantly reproduces Virgil’s poetic effects and preserves the famed complexities of this monumental epic and the characters that inhabit it. Wilson’s engaging introduction places the Aeneid in its historical and literary contexts while poignantly articulating the enduring questions it still compels us to ponder.”
― Stephanie McCarter, University of the South, translator of Ovid’s Metamorphoses

“McGill and Wright have risen impressively to the challenge of marrying fidelity to Virgil’s Latin with a stylish English, offering the modern reader a middle path between accessibility and elevation. Their blank verse succeeds in cleverly conveying much of the imagery and sound effects of Virgil’s hexameters. A translation that will delight the poetry lover and student alike.”
― Philip Hardie, University of Cambridge, author of The Last Trojan Hero: A Cultural History of Virgil’s “Aeneid”

“This translation will be replacing my previous preferred version of the Aeneid. Susannah Wright and Scott McGill don’t just capture the words of the original poetry but its rhetorical structures and even, in places, its sounds. It’s particularly impressive that they manage to get so much over into English while sustaining a clarity and straightforwardness unparalleled among the recent renditions.”
― Aaron Poochigian, poet, classicist, and translator

“Scott McGill and Susannah Wright have reinvigorated Virgil’s Aeneid for today’s readers. The translation is fluent and easy to read, dignified and powerful in its simplicity. Its rhythm and cadences carry the reader through the varying moods of Virgil’s story. There are many intelligent interpretative choices. The surface ripples with what Virgil has left unsaid.”
― Fiachra Mac Góráin, University College London

“McGill and Wright have fashioned an Aeneid that speaks to contemporary readers, while remaining faithful to Virgil’s methods, sensitivities and striking ambiguities. With its engaging and comprehensive introduction by Emily Wilson and thoughtful excursus on the translation process, this edition promises and delivers the story of Rome’s hard-won foundation both in the context of ancient epic poesis and as a timelessly wrought tale of the horrors of war and the burdens of responsibility. We have here an Aeneid that carefully discloses the Augustan ideals pulsing through its verse (here rendered in pentameters alternatingly somber and vibrant), but one that simultaneously offers poignant lessons on conquest and sacrifice for the modern era. Eminently readable―no small achievement for a famously dense, allusive, and politically imbricated poem–this new translation by McGill and Wright will find a warm reception among students of antiquity at all levels, both within and beyond academia.”
― Hunter H. Gardner, University of South Carolina

Susannah Wright is an assistant professor of classical studies and Roman history at Rice University. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Emily Wilson is a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been named a fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a MacArthur Fellow. In addition to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, she has also published translations of Sophocles, Euripides, and Seneca. She lives in Philadelphia.