Ronald Knox’s Lectures on Virgil’s Aeneid: With Introduction and Critical Essays

This book makes available Ronald Knox's hitherto unpublished lectures on Virgil's Aeneid delivered at Trinity College, Oxford, as part of a lecture course on Virgil in 1912. Written with Knox's customary incisiveness and with frequent allusions to contemporary life, the lectures are devoted to the appreciation of the Aeneid and focus on what he called the 'essential and dominant characteristics' that make up its greatness. They deal with Virgil's political and religious outlook, ideas of the afterlife, sense of romance and pathos, narrative style, sources, versification and appreciation of scenery. His interpretation of the relationship between Dido and Aeneas renders redundant the question, much debated to this day, of whether Aeneas loved Dido, and also portrays Aeneas more sympathetically than is currently fashionable. The additional introductory and critical essays by the contributors place the lectures in their historical and scholarly context, bring out their enduring relevance and illustrate how Ronald Knox's distinctive approach might be still developed to advantage. As Robert Speaight noted in his presidential address to the Virgil Society in 1958, 'many of us who love our Virgil will now understand him better because Ronald Knox loved and understood him so well'.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Contributors Acknowledgements Foreword (Charles Martindale, University of Bristol, UK) Introduction: The Context of Ronald Knox's Lectures on Virgil (Francesca Bugliani Knox, University College London, UK) Note on the Lecture List (Literae Humaniores) in The Oxford University Gazette (18 January 1912) Editing Criteria Part I: Ronald Knox's Lectures on Virgil 1. Virgil's Political Outlook 2. Virgil's Religious Outlook 3. Virgil's Romance and Pathos 4. Virgil's Art and Treatment of His Story 5. Virgil's Appreciation of Scenery 6. Virgil's Use of His Sources 7. Note on the Composition of Book 3 8. Characteristics of Virgil's Style and Versification Part II: Critical Essays 'Ronald Knox's Lectures on Virgil: “A Wealth of Delicate Tenderness”' (Matthew McGowan, Fordham University, USA) 'Ronald Knox's Lectures on Virgil: their Relevance for Scholarly Interpretation of the Aeneid' (Francesco Montarese, MPW College London, UK) 'The Setting of the Lecture given by Monsignor Ronald Knox to the Virgil Society on 31 March 1946' (John Mair, UK) Appendix: 'J. E. Lowe, Ronald Knox and the Virgil Society lecture entitled “The Problem of Dido and Aeneas”' (Francesca Bugliani Knox, University College London, UK) Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Francesca Bugliani Knox is Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London, UK. She is the editor of Ronald Knox: A Man for all Seasons (2016).

Review :
Readers will find in this book an insightful and witty commentary, suitable both for the serious student of the poem and for the layman reading it in translation. If it encourages anyone to read Virgil with fresh eyes or for the first time, it will have served its purpose. This book takes us inside an Oxford lecture room of 1912, where we hear the insights of a brilliant literary mind. Ronald Knox communicates his sensitive observations on Virgil's Aeneid with the charm and wit of a master teacher. Ronald Knox's lectures on the Aeneid are a long-lost delight, and a valuable addition to our understanding of classics education and scholarship in early 20th century England. Francesca Bugliani Knox is to be thanked for shepherding them finally to print.