hmmmm

[TK]

Virgil died before he could finalise the epic, so he might have found it a little hard to complete!

[Paul]

Exactly, how could he come back and finish it hes dead (as far as I know you cant ressurect people who have been dead for thousands of years) , and It is still considered a great work whether he's dead or not.

[Unregistered]

Can one bring the deceased back from the underworld? one can argue that the work is great as it was a prodominant part of Augustan Literature,taking into account the values of the time.

[Mono]

If Augustus hadn't stopped it, Virgil had ordered it burnt. He wasn't by any means happy with the progress of the Aeneid when he knew he was about to die, and had wanted to revise it again, so he told his friends to burn the manuscript. Augustus however ordered that it be saved.

[Unregistered]

It was not meant to be published in the first place that is why Virgil did not want it published because it was not finished. Someone went against his wishes.

[Adam]

Why would you want it finnished? This would just cause more homework for students of highly academic schools. Such as the one I go to! We have been studying Aeneas for three months now, and it's driving me crazy!

[abi]

Hmmmm... I think Emma realized he was dead....i agree it would be cool if we had the whole story. However, I question the implication of your statement "How can one consider this a great work if it isn't finished". Many great works of literature have been left unfinished; Wordworth's "The Prelude", thought by some to be a genious' work...Elizabeth Gaskell's well-acclaimed "Wives and Daughters" just to name a few.... I would assert that a book can be both masterful and incomplete, one is not defined by the other. There is no doubt that The Aeneid is one pretty damn good bit of lit!

[abi]

Hmmmm... I think Emma realized he was dead....i agree it would be cool if we had the whole story. However, I question the implication of your statement "How can one consider this a great work if it isn't finished". Many great works of literature have been left unfinished; Wordworth's "The Prelude", thought by some to be a genious' work...Elizabeth Gaskell's well-acclaimed "Wives and Daughters" just to name a few.... I would assert that a book can be both masterful and incomplete, one is not defined by the other. There is no doubt that The Aeneid is one pretty damn good bit of lit!

[Unregistered]

virgil rocks what a piece of work a masterpiece

[Emma]

How can one consider this a great work if it isnt finished. I think that he should come back and finish it!