Christopher Tanfield fills the gap by providing this three-volume companion text for those students who are studying the Aeneid in translation. This work provides authentic and comprehensive line-by-line commentary based on the two most commonly read English translations of the Aeneid – the prose form by David West and the poetic form by Robert Fagles.

The first volume provides an extensive and invaluable introduction to the Aeneid. It includes a discussion of the social, political, historical, philosophical, and literary background to the work. It also delves into essential topics such as the role of gods in the affairs of humans and the concept of fate. This volume provides a lengthy discussion of the historical reception of the text. The author also provides a good discussion of the challenges of studying the Aeneid in translation when it comes to gaining an appreciation for its stylistic and rhetorical elements. This volume provides useful information that could be used even in a Latin class to introduce the main characters along with the context of the work as a whole.

The second volume (covering Books 1–6) and the third volume (covering Books 7–12) provide extensive line-by-line commentary. The text is divided up into sections. Each section appears in a shaded grey box along with general commentary. Following each shaded box comes more detailed line-by-line commentaries. For example, in the shaded box for Book IV, lines 296–330, the author draws connections between this section with the description of Dido’s madness with the episode in Euripides’ Bacchae of the killing of Pentheus. The author goes on in this box to further draw connections between Dido’s abrupt change of mood with her portrayal by Ovid and Catullus’ portrayal of the abandoned Ariadne. These connections are invaluable to those studying the Aeneid – whether in Latin or in English. These volumes are a testimony to the breadth and depth of the author’s knowledge of ancient Greek and Latin literature along with the historical and social milieu of this great epic. This three-volume set should be an essential reference for every student and teacher of the Aeneid alike.