Vergil in the Middle Ages

By Domenico Pietro Antonio Comparetti, Edward Felix Mendelssohn Benecke, Domenico Comparetti

Book Overview

How did Rome's supreme poet become the Middle Ages' favourite wonder-worker? Vergil in the Middle Ages follows the astonishing afterlife of the author of the Aeneid as medieval readers refashioned him into prophet, sage, and sorcerer. Virgil becomes something else entirely. Domenico Comparetti, with the sweep of a classical reception study and the precision of a literary criticism monograph, maps virgil in medieval legend across schools, chronicles, romance, and popular tale. He tracks the poet's passage through medieval commentaries, encyclopaedias, and devotional writing, showing how learned authority can blur into folk belief while remaining recognisably Vergilian. The result is vivid medieval literary history: the aeneid medieval influence on education and ethics, the rise of virgil the magician, and the way classical mythology in medieval culture was reinterpreted for new fears and hopes in middle ages europe. University gloss meets marketplace marvel. And the myth keeps growing. First published in the great age of scholarship, Comparetti's work remains a cornerstone for anyone tracing medieval latin literature and the dante virgil tradition, where the poet returns as guide and emblem of learned authority. Long prized by public domain classic ebook readers and classic-library collectors alike, it reads as both an absorbing narrative of cultural change and a medieval studies reference that still sharpens how we understand antiquity's survival. Republished by Alpha Editions in a careful modern edition, this volume preserves the spirit of the original while making it effortless to enjoy today -- a heritage title prepared for readers and collectors alike.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9353609852
• ISBN13: 9789353609856
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 394 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.5"