As you know I have been reading through the Aeneid, a poem finished by the Roman poet Virgil about 20 years before Christ and written to establish Rome, Roman culture and language and the new empire established under Caesar Augustus.

The poem is probably the best epic poem I have read so far and the list includes Milton’s Paradise Lost, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. It’s a rare thing for a translation of a poem to be as captivating as I am finding The Aeneid.

So far the best of the poem’s 12 books has been book five (I am on book six). The wandering Trojans under the command of Aeneas has landed on the shores of his friend Ascestes’ land. In celebration of the reunion of the Trojans with their brethren games are held which are riveting in the tension and description Virgil provides.

The games include a phenomenal boat race, running races, archery competition, military, troop maneuvers and a boxing match between an aging champion he is reluctantly coaxed into a match when no one else wants to face a young powerful overconfident giant of a man. Check out the text from the poem describing the match after the older boxer trips and falls to the ground:

“He was seeing red. The humiliation, and with it the sense that his courage was unimpaired, kindled his strength: impetuously battering Dares with lefts and rights, he sent him reeling all around the ring. No pause, no respite: thick as a hailstorm rattling on roofs, came the punches Entellus threw, as he pounded Dares and spun him about with a two-fisted attack. Aeneas refused to let the murderous fray go on – Entellus was blind with rage like a killer, and must be stopped; so he called an end to the bout, saving the punch-drunk Dares from further punishment, and spoke a few words to console him…At his word the contest is over. Dares is led away to the ships by his loyal friends, all groggy, knees sagging, legs trailing behind him, his head lolling from side to side, and spitting teeth and clotted blood out of his mouth.”

What a description! No sports reporter today comes close to the poetry of Virgil. Check out the winner, Escallus’ victory speech and how he accepts the live bull that is his prize.

“Oh goddess-born, and all you Trojans, let this inform you what strength of body I had in my young days, and also from what fate you have rescued and preserved poor Dares.” With these words, Entellus placed himself in front of the bull, his prize for the bout, which was standing nearby, drew back his right fist and brought it down hard from full height just between the horns of the beast: that blow smashed into its skull and dashed its brains out.”

Wow. I cannot say more. Wow. Powerful and brutal.