This collection of essays provides in convenient form a number of recent and classic papers on Vergil's Aeneid, covering a wide range of topics. It is particularly intended to be a supplement to standard reading for undergraduate courses in ancient epic poetry, and Vergil in particular. Especial attention has been paid to including useful essays from sources which are rare, out of print, or otherwise difficult to obtain, while care has also been taken to include material which is regularly specified on reading lists.

The essays presented here are all in English, but Dr Harrison has attempted to maintain a broad overview of twentieth-century Vergilian criticism; work in other languages is mentioned in his introduction, which is a general survey of literature on the Aeneid, and in an additional bibliography. Contributors include such distinguished scholars as C. M. Bowra, Eduard Fraenkel, N. M. Horsfall, R. O. A. M. Lyne, R. G. M. Nisbet, F. H. Sandbach, F. Solmsen, D. A. West, and R. D. Williams. The work will be useful and accessible to scholars and students of Vergil and to anyone interested in this supreme epic poem.