Why should you read Virgil's "Aeneid"? - Mark Robinson 

Thank God for Virgil's friends. Otherwise we wouldn't have this masterpiece. It reminds me of how Kafka asked his friend to burn his manuscripts before he died, but he refused.

It's interesting how at his deathbed Virgil might have wanted the Aeneid burned because he thought that it might be the only thing he would be remembered by in the distant future, and he didn't think it was good enough, but we've kept history so well that some 2000 years later, we even know about the order on the death bed, if that makes any sense.

I've read it. If they did it really well, planned in advance, I would love to see the Illiad, the Oddesy, and the Aeneid made into an epic film trillogy.

All I knew about Virgil was that he was the guy who lead Dante through hell and purgatory.

Virgil: Yo can I copy from you Homer: Sure just dont make it too obvious Virgil:

The video got me from "why should I care about this old poem" to "wow, the freedom to exercise power in whatever way a roman emperor wants gave rise to a lot of complex human thoughts and rationale". Ted-Ed guiding us as always!

In Italy it's mandatory to read it I remember first reading it when I was 12 years old and then at 15 It's a really amazing poem in it's original language but it's worth it

Meanings of the quotations in the video: 0:44: Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc. Parthenope; cecini pascua, rura, duces. - "Mantua gave birth to me, the Calabrians took me, now Naples holds me; I sang of pastures [the Eclogues], country [the Georgics] and leaders [the Aeneid]" 1:27: Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris - "Of arms I sing and the man who first from the coasts of Troy" 2:16: Alea iacta est. - "The die is cast" 3:16: Timeo Danaoes et dona ferentes. - "I fear the Danaans [Greeks], even when they bear gifts" 3:19: Coniugium vocat; hoc praetexit nomine culpam. - "She called it a marriage; she used this word to screen her sin." 3:27: Nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo. - "Now, O Aeneas, you stand in need of fortitude, and a resolute heart.” 3:34: Tempestas telorum ac ferreus ingruit imber. - "Through all the air goes a thick storm of weapons, and faster falls the iron rain." 4:31: Falsa ad caelum mittunt insomnia manes. - "Through it the dead send false dreams up toward the sky." 4:41 O terque quaterque beati, quis ante ora patrum Troiae sub moenibus altis contigit oppetere! - "Thrice and four times happy those who under Troy's walls before their fathers died!"

I had to read this for Latin class as well as translate it, and I loved it!

lmao imagine being in your deathbed telling ppl your final will and they're like "nah"

*Sees why you should read "Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri* Me : "Hmmm........could this be?" *Sees Virgil coming closer in the distance* Me : "Ah, there he is!"

Vergil in Roman had lots of MOTIVATION in writing a poem

The part with Dido was super important. As a result of Heneas abandoning her and saying no to their love the queen of Carthage basically declarers she'll seek on revenge on him and on his descendents... Planting the seed for the future conflict between Rome and Carthage in the punic wars.

Pro tip: Vergil loves anastrophe (basically scrambling word order) and it makes translating way worse so any classics students, good luck

Who's drawing these vivid animations? Whoever they are... Giant kudos to you silent heroes!

The opening line of the Aeneid truly gets better the more you read into it: firstly the topics of the Epic are brought up being “arma virumque”, “arms and the man”, mimicking how Homer states the topics of his two epics in the first line (“menon” for “anger” in the Iliad and “andra” for “the man” in the Odyssey), setting up the two halves of the epic which commonly are divided into the “Odysseic” half and the “Iliadic” half immediately. Secondly, he says “cano” which is “I sing”, whereas Homer asks the “Muse” to sing to him, or rather through him, the Epic, which allows for Virgil to establish his personal hold over the story which cannot be compared with Homer’s disconnected voice. It also lets the topic change in Book 7 much easier when Virgil says “and now I will sing of something else”. Man I adore this epic, it’s so rewarding to study if you are just a little patient.

If any reason some of you are still uncertain, try Overly sarcastic production, they make a great Video containing explanation on the short version there and i love their channel

Wow what an epic narrator... my mouth was like open the whole presentation.i will surely pick this classic..

I studied the Aeneid in high school over 40 years ago, and grew to love it then. I still re-read it.

"Γενναιον ψευδος" My boy Augustus just got *_burned_* 😂

Wow, the Aeneid really seems... motivated.

I’m in AP Latin and have read selections from this work. I am glad to have had the opportunity to read such a timeless poem

I didn't know Aeneas travels in the underworld. That's why Dante chose Virgil as his guide in Inferno.

We’re reading it in my Philosophy class right now. It’s very interesting, especially the talk of duty and destiny.

I like to think that Augustus saw the deeper meaning of the story and still published it as a warning for future rules.

epic narration. Such a joy to listen to this video. I'm loving these "why you should read" videos.

Love this gentleman's baritone voice and classic received pronunciation.

Wow. Just came across this. What a fine, and perfectly succinct bio on the Aeneid, which I just put in my Kindle library. I am currently reading the Iliad and Odyssey, and the Aeneid just seems to fit into this epic poem journey.

I read this nearly 25 years ago and the modern preface gave some of this context. Really liked the succinct and evocative delivery of the information here; it felt like a great encouragement to read the text rather than a dry academic introduction.

I remember learning about this in my music history 10 course and how it related to the opera Dido and Aeneas which is one of my all time favourites now.

Thanks for the intro, very helpful in understanding the canons...

I love these historical TED-ED videos :)

Please keep on making these Vids, the type of ed books you say we should read are always Mah type, thanks Ted-ed!!!

If this was burned,we'll never find out about it.

Love his voice.

This was great, thanks for sharing.

Well you just saved me a kindle purchase

Thank you for your explanation. It was useful.

Thank you, I needed something to read this weekend.

That was a great synopsis and spurred me on to tryto read the poem. Thank you!

I loved this video. helped so much for my homework.

I read this book for classical studies and it is waaaaaaaay more interesting that it sounds here!

Good job im studying this book next year then.

Terrific introduction to the context of Aeneid.

Robert Fagles Translation is superb.

Very interesting, thank you. Have always loved to read. Read the Iliad and the Odyssey many years ago. Never read the Aeneid and now I regret it. For that matter, towards the top of my long list of regrets is all the books I haven’t read and will never read. Yes, I still read, but my 62-year-old brain can’t read for hours on end like it once could. And although I still enjoy reading, I no longer experience that feeling of being transported to another world. As Mick Jagger used to sing, “What a drag it is growing old.”

finally one of these worth listening to

I read it many times.l have read an English translation and the original Latin version..A great epic poem .To fully appreciate the beauty of the language one must read the original Latin version.It is the reason why the poet and the poem has remained popular over the many centuries.

Great analysis, but it's a lot more fun that what this video shows, one of my big time favs.

Thank you for the video and trying to put more people in touch with classical literature. One correction: Your pronunciation of the Latin was wrong with regards to the V. The classical Latins pronounced it similarly to the modern W.

Thank you!

0:04 This book Can expand upon this: As A Man Thinketh by James Allen on here. Here's a qoute from it that I like " A man doesn't directly control his circumstances but he can control his thoughts which indirectly yet surely shape his circumstances. " I don't think anyone can do the above qoute all the time but learning to focus on controlling one's thoughts as much as one can is vital.

Love the Aeneid!

What a voice.... ❤

I own John Dryden's translation of The Aenid. Great read.

Its a shame it hasn't benn made into a movie or a series

proud to say I just finished reading this poem

I loved the Aeneid, having read it for my AP Latin course

Informative!

Have a good day everyone!

Love the animation.

the same animation from that Icarus and the Sun video! I love it! 😍💖

Been seeing copies of this book in my local bookstore and while I was interested in getting it (mostly because the author Virgil shares the name of a character from DMC), I was worried that I might not enjoy the book seeing as it's not that much of a light read. This video really convinced me however, defenitely adding this book to my reading collection!

So good. I love these videos on literature! Please keep it up! I promise, once I have a real job I'll donate :)

studied this poem at gcse, now it’s one of my favourites. the gcse was painful though my lord

I can't wait to read it.

Kinda rude that augustus and Virgil's friends didn't heed Virgil's final wish.

Does every Roman pice of literature have the main character travel through the underworld? I think was the first. But it does seem like every one of these poetic stories has them deal with a lover and sometimes struggle over mainly just that.

I would love to see you give this treatment to 'the curious incident of the dog in the night-time'. The way the book is written alone will make for some great visuals.

Great read

I had to search for Adrian Dannatt . His voice is perfect for narration

"Will Lucius survive?" *TELL US TED-ED* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Really nice video

It also connects Romulus and Remus the founders of Rome to the survivors of the Fall of Troy.

daaammnn his voice is like silk

Greatest book i ever read. Aneas is the perfect hero and his name just sticks in your mind after reading it, and you see were so many other books millenia later got their influences from. It's just incredible.

This is definitely some Top Gear narrating... narrator sounds like James May in case you're wondering lol

The narrator has a great voice!

this is very interesting stuff! my latin teacher is presenting this right now

Stable video 👍

By the way,there also is a ukrainian adaptation by Ivan Kotlyarevsky. Its like Aeneid but with cossacs, it is called the "encyclopedia" of ukrainian culture with depictions of food ,clothes and many more things of the cossac period.

Please do why you should read "A Little Life"

a nice piece of roman PR work

I think this will make a good movie..

Aww Ted-ed, you spoiled the ending :P

"Of arms and the man I sing"

I sing of *arms* and the *man*. The video is correct when it says man means Aeneas, but it is also a reference to the Odyssey (a story of a personal quest) in the way that arms are a reference to the Iliad.

I have the book...I'm watching this video to psych myself into reading it

I'm reading the aeneid in my 9th grade lit class and it's good

Weird I got this in my recommended cuz I actually have to read this tomorrow for my English class

#Motivated

My only takeaway from this video was how lucky I am to live in a time where walking in the hot sun for a day doesn't automatically lead to heat stroke and death.

Hi! Dear Ted Ed why haven't you yet made a video on Milton's Paradise Lost. It echoes Aeneid in releasing 12 books for its second edition like Aeneid. Just plz make a section on "Why you think one should read Paradise Lost"

Btw why doesn’t anyone talk about how beautiful Virgil looks, depicted through the images

"Arms and the Man"

Not to be that person, but there are a lot of errors in the Latin quotations, e.g. "timeo danaoes" should be "danaos," "conigium" should be "coniugium," "ed caelum" should be "ad caelum." Given that this is an educational video, it would be nice to see that corrected.

DO one on Niccolo Michaeveli

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I've been Tried like three times in my life to read it, And I can't continue I don't know why, cuz it's such a great text I Know.... I failed to my forefathers....

OMG I'm learning this in school