Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, September 2008.

Proefschrift--Utrecht. / Vita. "Stellingen": [2] l. inserted. Summary in English. Bibliography: p. 149.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Johns Hopkins University, 1928. / "Reprinted from ELH, a journal of English literary history, vol. 4, no. 1, March, 1937."

Diss.--Philosophie--New Haven, Conn.--Yale Univ., 1999. / Contient de nombreux exemples musicaux. Bibliogr. p. 561-610.

In translating the Aeneid as faithfully as possible, Gavin Douglas saw himself as an innovator, breaking with the tradition of adaptation and instead presenting a faithful literary translation. In the Prologues to his Eneados Douglas discusses his theoretical principles, comments on the work of his predecessors in the transmission of Virgil in English, and raises issues pertinent to the contents of the Books of the Aeneid. However, the Prologues also reflect Douglas's perception of a conflict between his religious and artistic impulses, and show his gradual resolution of this conflict inherent in his dual role as critical artist and churchman. By placing Douglas's Prologues in the context of prologues by other medieval writers, Chapter I shows that Douglas's new approach to faithful literary translation is matched by his independence in the employment of conventional literary devices, which he revitalizes by using them in a meaningful way rather than applying them because custom so dictates. Chapter II focuses on the narrator in his various and divergent roles, especially those of the poet and priest; while these two roles initially seem to make conflicting demands on the translator-narrator, he eventually resolves the conflict and recognizes a sublime harmony between divine and human artistry. Chapter III examines Douglas's practice of translation in light of his own theory; even though Douglas tends to "modernize" Virgil, he produces a genuine translation in which his avowed aims are largely realized. Chapter IV focuses on the connexions of the individual Prologues with their respective Books and demonstrates that even though the translation itself is generally accurate, the interpolation of the Prologues with their re-interpretation of common archetypes as foreshadowings of Christian doctrine causes a radical transvaluing of the Aeneid as a Christian allegory. Chapter V shows that there is not only a linkage between the Prologues and Books, but that the Prologues are also connected to each other by the narrator's search for a theologically acceptable yet also artistically satisfying re-creation of a non-Christian work. Aeneas and the translator-narrator are thus engaged in parallel quests during which they have to overcome physical obstacles and resolve inner conflicts before they can reach their final destinations. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

This diploma thesis explores the life and the work of the painter and illustrator Virgil Solis Junior (1551 - 1617?). Virgil Solis Junior was the son of the renowned German graphic artist Virgil Solis Senior. In 1567 Solis Junior came to Prague. Firstly, the thesis provides information about Solis's life and position among visual artists in Prague of the time. Further, it describes his potential professional involvement at the court of the Emperor Rudolf II. Virgil Solis was also an illustrator. Drawing from literature published so far, it seems that his only illustrated book was Diadochos, printed in 1602. This thesis, however, supposes that Solis worked on other illustrations during his stay in Prague. It explores and compares various woodcuts from the 16th and 17th centuries and thus compiles a list of printed volumes where Virgil Solis was the author of drawings or woodcuts. This thesis brings an interesting insight into the life of an artist living and working in the Prague of Rudolf II.

A study of the critical work of Virgil Thomson, critic for the New York Herald Tribune and of Olin Downes, music critic for the New York Times, will perhaps give a better understanding of how different emphasis on purposes may influence critical work. Each man wrote brief, journalistic reviews. They attended many of the same concerts; yet, their critical judgments differed in many respects.

A dramatic shift in tone in the final letter of J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer reveals Farmer James' conflicting attitudes about an independent America. When the letters are juxtaposed with a Western myth of origin such as Virgil's Aeneid, it becomes clear that Crèvecoeur is forcing his narrating persona to repeat a pattern of civilization – destruction, renewal – on which all of Western civilization is based. The sudden pessimism that erupts in the penultimate "Distresses of a Frontier Man" is symptomatic of James' anxiety about the American Revolution and the resulting disruption in his bucolic way of life.

Aeneas in the Antipodes offers an Australian perspective on the teaching of Virgil�s poetry in the secondary school. The study examines practices in the State of New South Wales from 1900 to the early years of the twenty-first century. The changing role of Latin in the curriculum is traced through a historical account showing the factors which caused a decline in the status and popularity of the subject from the beginning of the century to the 1970s. This decline, not confined to Australia, stimulated the introduction of new teaching methods with different emphases which were, to some extent, successful in preserving Latin from extinction in schools. Against this background of change, Virgil remained the Latin author most frequently studied in the final year of school. Because this poetry was so consistently prescribed for public examinations, a detailed investigation is made of the questions set and of the examiners� comments on candidates� performance, as evidence of changes in expectations and hence, in teaching methods. The influence of trends in Virgilian scholarship is assessed by means of a review of all the officially recommended commentaries and secondary works. The growth of literary criticism from the 1960s is shown to have had a marked effect on syllabuses and examinations, and consequently on the approach taken in the classroom. The role of local professional organizations in supporting the teaching of Virgil has been documented, showing how the disappearance of official support for Latin teaching was to some extent counterbalanced by an increase in voluntary effort. The resources and methods used to introduce Virgil to comparative beginners are classified and reviewed. An assessment is also offered of approaches made to teaching Virgil in English at both junior and senior secondary levels. The final chapter reviews the changes brought about since 2000. Current teaching practices are documented through classroom observations and teacher surveys, substantiating the impression that while most students at the beginning of the twenty-first century are less prepared than their predecessors to translate Virgil independently, they are expected to attempt a far more sophisticated analysis of the literary features Note: For appendix 3-10 please see hardcopy edition.

Liberalitas forms one of the central frameworks for defining social bonds within Roman society, and was part of how Roman poets constructed the world. This is most explicitly evident in the poets’ references to “patrons” and benefactors, but it extends much further. The poets worked within a broad framework of social conventions and expectations which must be understood in order to see how their poetry uses and responds to the concepts associated with liberalitas. Cicero’s de officiis and Seneca’s de beneficiis are therefore useful, as they offer idealised, prescriptive views of liberalitas in Roman society. Many scholars have investigated the relationships between poets and their patrons, including Peter White, Barbara Gold, James Zetzel, and Phebe Lowell Bowditch. I argue that any true understanding of the role of liberalitas in Roman poetry must also comprehend its importance in other areas. This dissertation focuses on the poetry of Catullus, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, and Virgil in the Eclogues. The introduction addresses traditional liberalitas as defined by Cicero and Seneca in their works on benefits and duties. Chapter one illustrates how Catullus, Horace, and Tibullus display ideals similar to those of Cicero and Seneca and use the conventions of liberalitas for praising and blaming members of their social groups. Chapter two addresses the problems of status raised by liberalitas and investigates the strategies used by Catullus, Horace, Propertius, and Tibullus to mitigate these problems and further their social, literary, and aesthetic aims. Chapter three demonstrates how the love poets used and redefined the terminology and ideology of liberalitas to construct an obligation on the part of their beloveds to reciprocate the gifts given by the poets but reject the gifts given by rival lovers. Finally, Chapter four examines the role of liberalitas in formulating and expressing a poetic program in Virgil’s Eclogues, which points to its function in mediating the connection between ‘real-life’ political and social concerns and the literary preoccupations of Roman poets. The various applications of this concept demonstrated in these four chapters present the study of liberalitas as a useful and productive tool in the investigation of the poetry of this period.