• The Aeneid

  • By: Virgil
  • Narrated by: Simon Callow
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (943 ratings)

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The Aeneid  By  cover art

The Aeneid

By: Virgil
Narrated by: Simon Callow
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Publisher's summary

Here is the much-anticipated new translation of Virgil's epic poem from the award-winning translator Robert Fagles.

The publication of a new translation by Fagles is a literary event. His translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and have become the standard translations of our era. Now, with this stunning modern verse translation, Fagles has reintroduced Virgil's Aeneid to a whole new generation, and completed the classical triptych at the heart of Western civilization.

The Aeneid is a sweeping epic of arms and heroism and a searching portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and the force of his own destiny. Here, Fagles brings to life the timeless journey of Aeneas as he flees the ashes of Troy to found Roman society and change forever the course of the Western world.

Fagles' translation retains all of the gravitas and humanity of the original as well as its powerful blend of poetry and myth.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2006 Robert Fagles
(P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. All rights reserved.

What listeners say about The Aeneid

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    532
  • 4 Stars
    225
  • 3 Stars
    115
  • 2 Stars
    42
  • 1 Stars
    29
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    473
  • 4 Stars
    146
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    34
  • 1 Stars
    24
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    468
  • 4 Stars
    166
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    14

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but the chapters aren't IN ORDER

I enjoyed the audiobook. Usually, when I listen to audiobooks, I follow along in my book but I have found that the Chapter times given in this audiobook are not correct. If you click Section 4, for example, it will not start at the beginning of Chapter/ Book 4 but in the middle of Chapter/ Book 3. It is also a real pain to fast forward or rewind in the audiobook in order to find where the Chapter/ Book actually starts!

Here are the correct times if you also have this problem:
Book 1 - 0:00:49
Book 2 - 1:01:51
Book 3 - 2:05:10
Book 4 - 3:01:12
Book 5 - 3:59:01
Book 6 - 5:01:26
Book 7 - 6:15:36
Book 8 - 7:13:29
Book 9 - 8:07:41
Book 10 - 9:03:57
Book 11 - 10:10:13
Book 12 - 11:16:03

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90 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not the best, but not bad

In my opinion, the audiobook world is still waiting for a 5-star rendition of The Aeneid. If someone could talk Dan Stevens into doing Robert Fitzgerald’s translation, he might be able to knock it out of the park — he’s already done that for Homer. In the meantime, four stars ain’t bad, and this one, and the newer one from Naxos (narrated by David Collins) are the two I think are the best.

Of those two I prefer the Fagles translation. Fagles seems to have lost some of his shine in recent years as other translators have taken up the cudgel, but he still packs a wallop. The four stars I gave the story aren’t about the translation but about the hero, whom I have to admit I have never cared for. The four stars for Simon Callow’s performance are there because his delivery is so bold and declamatory that at times it verges on melodrama.

On the other hand, as jarring as the melodramatic flourishes seem at times, the truth is that Aeneas needs a boost. And Callow certainly gives him one. As epic heroes go, Aeneas is a pill and a half: dutiful to a fault, self-righteous and self-justifying ("well, I never actually said the word MARRIAGE, did I?" he tells the anguished Dido). Virgil seems to take received wisdom and the Grandeur that was Rome at face value, where Homer delightfully subverts everything he touches. (I’ve read some commentary on the poem recently that questions this, suggesting that Virgil does, in fact, undermine the glorification of Aeneas at key points. I’m not an expert, so I have to take other people’s word for it. It HAS always puzzled me as to why, when he returns to the surface from the underworld, he does so by way of the gate of horn — the portal of false dreams.)

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64 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fagles is best

I've been a huge fan of Fagles' translations before buying this book and this translation does not disappoint. For epics such as this, the Iliad, and the Odyssey I've chosen to to read the actual book as I'm listening. For people, such as myself, whose concentration is not the greatest (I've had a couple strokes so I have an excuse) the combination of listening while reading is terrific.

I think the narrator is terrific and Rober Fagles is just amazing. If you like Fagles Aeneid, be sure to read and/or listen to his Iliad and Odyssey. Also, check out Steven Mitchell's "Gilgamesh", also availble from audible.com.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration Spotty

Although the narration is dramatic and in keeping with the quality of the translation, the narator's voice becomes unintelligible at the end of each passage. I gave up trying to listen while driving or exercising. I simply could not understand what was being said. If you purchase this title, I suggest you also buy the book and read it while listening to the narrator's performance, or else listen in a very quiet environment.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A hellenist's review of the audio Aeneid

I should provide a quick note on my bias before I begin my review: I am a graduate student in classics However, I am a hellenist (i.e. I study Greek rather than Roman stuff). I also really don't like Virgil.

I have to confess that although I study classics, I have never been able to get all the way through the Aeneid before this (I've just read the sections I needed to get the gist for class). I've really tried to get into it-- I previously read portions of the Fagles, Fitzgerald, and Mandelbaum translations-- but I just couldn't get hooked. The audiobook did the trick-- I listened to the whole thing over the course of a week.

Simon Callow can be a little over dramatic and female voices are pretty grating, but he read at a reasonable pace and he kept my interest in the story. I actually even enjoyed some of it.

Fagles' translation of the Latin (I've read books II and VIII in Latin, so I have some minimal basis for judgement) has the virtue of being fairly literal, while still providing an accessible modern English text. In general, Fagles' translations seem to be more enjoyable aloud than on paper (I have also recently listened to Fagles' Odyssey and I found it to be the same way).

As I've mentioned, the Aeneid is not really my cup of tea. Yet, listening to it gave the story a different and more enjoyable pace. I highly suggest the audio version for anyone who needs to read Virgil's epic either for class or exams (or, honestly, for anyone who just wants a passing acquaintance with the influential texts of classical literature).

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Best Aeneid Translation Ever

This translation of the Aeneid stands head and shoulders above anything else I have seen in English. It's exciting, to the point, and very very nuanced. The narrator is a fantastic choice too. His voice creates a world and moves you along through it. I put on my earphones just intending to to listen to a few minutes of the beginning the night I downloaded this, and I was pulled in for four hours of adventure before I could finally force myself to click "stop".

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Naration not easy to understand

The narrator’s dramatic voice frequently fades in volume and elocution near the end of sentences. So, listen to this story at home; not on the road or other places where the ambient noise will make hearing difficult.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

The Aeneid

Great story and terrific translation. Unfortunately, the narrator seems to have mistakenly undertaken an onstage Shakespearean performance rather than an audiobook narration. You can almost feel the spittle on your face as the narrator overdramatically renders the speakers. I agree with the other reviewers, read this magnificent book and wait for the next audiobook version.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good actor's distracting reading of the amazing Aeneid

I was hoping to be floored by Fagles' translation, narrated by an actor I like very much. However, Simon Callow's performance is overly-dramatized in tone and dynamics to the extent that it is hard to follow the poetry and plot. One sentence will vary from shrill and shouted to whispered and mumbled, with the wrong words emphasized. Disappointing.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Not for everyone

Part of the blame may lie with Virgil, whose derivative epic does not quite measure up to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey; part of it with the translator Robert Fagles, who may have privileged meter a bit too much over readability; and part of it with Simon Callow, who is too histrionic for the material, but the end result is less than optimal: this is an audiobook that listeners should only buy if they are aware both of Callow's tendency to dramatize and Fagles' metrical enthusiasm. I wish Stanley Lombardo (who translated Homer's texts so well) took on the task of giving us a more readable Virgil. The contrast couldn't be starker.

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5 people found this helpful