The Humanness of Heroes: Studies in the Conclusion of Virgil’s Aeneid (Amsterdam Vergil Lectures)

The Humanness of Heroes is an important new analysis of the violent conclusion of Virgil’s Aeneid. Michael Putnam provides a fresh interpretation of the controversial ending of perhaps the most deeply influential narrative poem of all time by producing a series of close readings that illuminate both the character of Aeneas and the crucial place that the Aeneid holds in the humanist canon. With an epilogue that surveys the relationship between Virgil’s epic and much later works such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this book will be an invaluable resource for classicists, literary scholars, and readers of both fiction and poetry.