Ilium in Italiam
Ilium in Italiam portans, that is, bringing Troy into Italy. This is one of Juno’s many complaints against Aeneas in the opening scene of Vergil’s Aeneid (I.68). Juno, however, is the villain of the story. Bringing Troy into Italy is, in fact, the theme of the epic. The blending of the valiant remnant of Ilium with the native vigor of the peoples of central Italy begets the race of Romans.
We might say that Vergil himself does the same when he brings much of Homer’s Trojan matter into his own Latin epic. And more. The Aeneid itself has in fact proved more enduring than the Roman state which it celebrates. It has continued to resonate with readers over more than two thousand years.
Vergilium in Americam
And much as Vergil brought Homer into 1st Century BC Italy, classical scholar Clyde Pharr brought the Aeneid into twentieth century America. Well, maybe not in quite the same way. But Pharr’s innovative edition of the first six books of Vergil’s Aeneid (first published in 1930) made the crowning literary work of ancient Rome accessible to modern secondary students as it never had been before.
In his preface, Pharr describes the purpose of his text as follows:
This book is intended to introduce high school and college students to the Aeneid and to enable them to read this great masterpiece with interest and appreciation.
And not simply with interest and appreciation. Pharr’s aim is to allow students to read as quickly and comfortably (i.e., as naturally) as possible. Towards this end he makes extensive use of what he calls “the contributions of the printer’s art.”
Italics and Vocabulary Sheets
The first, and by far the most important of these contributions is the use of italics. Words that appear more than 24 times in the first six books of the Aeneid are printed in italics. All the italicized words are listed (with definitions) on a foldable sheet glued into the back of the book. Pharr calls this the General Word List. Words that appear 24 times or fewer are in regular type. These are listed directly below the text of the passage. Below these are content and grammar notes for the Latin passage at the top of the page.
The advantage of these innovations is that students, or better yet readers, have everything they need right in front of them. When they see an unfamiliar word in italics all they have to do is look a few inches to the right to find it in the unfolded General Word List. They can simply look down a couple of inches on the same page below the passage if the word is in regular type. Pharr explains that this set up is desirable because
The old system involves not merely a great waste of time, but it necessitates continual interruption in the continuity of attention of the student, hindering or even preventing concentration upon the work at hand and thus making for bad mental habits.
Enter the “J”
In later editions Pharr added additional lists of words that appear 6-11 times and words that appear 12-23 times. These are not on a fold out sheet, however, put are included on the last pages of the book.
In addition to his vocabulary system, Pharr has also adapted some of Vergil’s original archaic (for his time) spellings to more standard forms. The ending -is for the accusative plural in the 3rd declension, for instance, is now the standard –es. (Where Vergil uses the archaic olli, however, Pharr’s text does retain the old form and clarifies with a note in the lower part of the page.)
More controversially, he uses the letter j, which dates no further back than the sixteenth century, to represent the consonantal i. In his defense Pharr asserts
For the use of j and v the author feels no more apology is needed than for the use of lower case letters in general instead of the square capitals of the inscriptions and early manuscripts.
Pharr’s Successors
He’s correct, of course. Lower case letters didn’t appear until at least half a millennium after Vergil committed the Aeneid to parchment. The differentiation between u and v came about at roughly the same time. Most editors of textbooks don’t hesitate to use both u and v, however, and I don’t know of a single Latin text that doesn’t use lower case letters (or put spaces between words, another innovation unknown in Vergil’s day). Not even Pharr’s imitators, however, share his affinity for the letter j. In the newer Pharr-style texts Juno is Iuno once again.
Fortunately, Pharr’s successors have retained his other innovations. In particular, they have continued and refined his system of italics and the General Word List. Most notable is Barbara Weiden Boyd’s Vergil’s Aeneid: Selected Readings from Books 1,2,4, and 6. Prof. Boyd has kept Pharr’s tripartite arrangement of text/vocabulary/ notes on every page, with the fold-out vocabulary in the back. She has revised his original word lists and notes to create a text to prepare 21st century students for the AP Latin Exam.
Another example is Hans-Friedrich Mueller’s Caesar: Selections from his Commentarii De Bello Gallico. Mueller, of course, wasn’t simply revising Pharr’s original work, as Boyd was. He had to start from scratch. Still, aside from renaming the general word list “High Frequency Vocabulary” he has followed Pharr’s format closely.
More Vergil, Less Work
So, how successful is Pharr’s approach? I used his 1964 edition of Aeneid 1-6 when I first read Vergil in high school, and as a teacher I’ve used both his text and a couple of different versions of Barbara Weiden Boyd’s revision. Now, reading Vergil for the first time isn’t easy for any secondary student, but I’ve found that Pharr’s system truly does make the whole process less laborious. The student gets a much better sense of the flow of Vergil’s verse.
That’s not to say this approach is for everyone. I was a TA for many years working with distance students enrolled in an online classical school. Upper level Latin students were supposed to use texts without vocabulary or notes on the page. Here the aim was not simply to read a lot of Latin, but to work on analysis skills and vocabulary acquisition. If your goal, however, is to read as much of Vergil’s Latin verse as you can, as smoothly as possible, either Pharr’s or Boyd’s text is an excellent resource.
For AP Students
At this point you have a further choice. Provided you don’t have a marked preference either for or against the letter j, which one of the two should you choose? That depends on what you want out of Vergil’s Aeneid. Barbara Weiden Boyd’s version has only those passages from the poem that are currently included in the AP Latin syllabus.
An earlier edition of Boyd’s Aeneid included a few passages from books 10 and 12 because they were on the AP Latin Vergil exam at the time, but these are no longer on the exam, and are therefore not in newer editions of the book. If you’re teaching an AP class or preparing for the AP exam, Boyd is a great choice. You won’t have time (crede mihi!) for the non-AP passages anyway. When it comes to the AP material this book has all the virtues of Clyde Pharr’s original (except the letter j).
The Whole Six Books
If you don’t want to limit yourself to the AP syllabus, I recommend Pharr’s old tried and true version. Granted, Pharr also includes only the first six books. His text, however, has them in their entirety. The AP syllabus, on the other hand, and therefore Boyd’s book, is missing a lot of material. You won’t find some great stuff there, such as the magnificent opening to book 2:
Conticuere omnes intentique ora tenebant.
Inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto:
Infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem . . . (Aeneid II:1-3)
They all fell silent and intently held their mouths.
Then father Aeneas began as follows from his high couch:
“Unspeakable, Queen, the grief you ask me to renew . . .”
The Rating
🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊!
When one of my sons wanted to read book III, we naturally turned to Pharr. I would also recommend it to anyone reading the Aeneid on their own, or in a reading group. Why tie yourself down to the College Board’s chosen 844 lines out of a masterpiece 9,883 lines long?
And since this is a book review, I’ll give it a rating: five stars all the way.
Where and How to Get Pharr’s Aeneid 1-6
It’s a testament to the quality of Prof. Pharr’s achievement that his Vergil’s Aeneid 1-6, whose most recent edition debuted in 1964, is still readily available, new and used. You can buy a new paperback version from Bolchazy-Carducci (my favorite publisher) for $59. You can buy used versions from online vendors for as low as $12. I have some rather worn but still very serviceable hardcover volumes for $25.00 each here:
Random Question
If you were making a movie version of the Aeneid, who would you cast in the following roles, and why (no need to limit yourself to living actors)? Answer in the comment box.
Aeneas
Dido
Juno
Venus
Turnus
Featured image top of page: Aeneas and the Cumaean Sibyl, c. 1646
