You are here

Finishing the Aeneid: translators' handling of Maffeo Vegio's Book 13

Susanna Braund (University of British Columbia)
Susanna Braund portrait
Friday, February 9, 2018 - 3:30pm
Paccar 293

Maffeo Vegio's 1428 Latin supplement to Virgil's Aeneid brought decisive closure to the inconclusivities of Virgil's poem by justifying Aeneas' killing of Turnus and celebrating his marriage and apotheosis. Vegio's Supplementum was included in numerous editions of the Aeneid from 1471 onwards and translated by Gavin Douglas (Middle Scots, 1553), Thomas Twyne (English, 1584) and Pierre de Mouchault (French, 1588). There is a stand-alone translation of the Supplementum by the Irish woman Mary Leadbetter in 1808 and a Victorian translation dated 1883 of all of Virgil's poems which includes Book 13 along with plans for a 14th book. What is at stake in translating the Supplementum? My paper will focus on the motivations and methods manifested in some of these translations.

Event Type: 
Share