Aeneid Book VI

In Book VI of Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas descends into the underworld. Among the dead he meets his father, Anchises, whose vision of Rome’s future sets private grief against the destiny of a people not yet born. The episode brings the poem’s questions of memory, loss and obligation into particularly sharp focus.

Seamus Heaney translated this underworld episode alone, returning to its lines over many years. After the death of his own father, Aeneas’ encounter with Anchises held personal weight for the poet as well as literary force. Heaney’s English carries the meeting between father and son into a new language, with the future of Rome still unfolding beyond them.