Virgil, Aeneid II: A Selection

This is the OCR-endorsed edition covering the Latin AS and A-Level (Group 3) prescription of Virgil’s Aeneid Book 2, lines 40-249 and the A-Level (Group 4) prescription of Book 2, lines 268-317, 370-558, giving full Latin text, commentary and vocabulary, with a detailed introduction that also covers the prescribed material to be read in English for A Level.

Book II of Virgil’s Aeneid is the story of how Troy fell and how Aeneas escaped with his family and his city’s gods. It is a narrative relayed in retrospect by Aeneas as a refugee at the court of Queen Dido in Carthage, and the OCR selection covers the book’s first two thirds: the Wooden Horse episode, and the chaos which ensues - including the dramatic murder of King Priam. Virgil depicts war in all its ugly complexity, and Aeneas’ response to this - as combatant in Troy, as exile in Carthage - is central to the poem’s early exposition.

Supporting resources are available on the Companion Website: https://www.bloomsbury.pub/OCR-editions-2024-2026