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Dryden's Aeneis 2.718-41.(John Dryden)(Critical Essay)

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From: The Explicator
Date: 20050922
Author:Dewar-Watson, Sarah

In Aeneid book 2, Pyrrhus brutally kills Priam's son, Polites, before his father's eyes. The episode sharply contrasts the barbarous instincts of the young aggressor with the noble dignity of the aged king. In his translation of this passage, Dryden describes the old man's reaction thus: "The Fear of death gave place to Nature's Law" (2.727). (1) The reference to the concept of natural law appears again a few lines later: "The Gods he fear'd, / The Laws of Nature and of Nations heard" (2.736-37). These references have no clear equivalent in the Latin text. Here, Virgil has: "hic ...

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