The Lover's Curse: A Tiered Reader of Aeneid 4

by Carla Hurt

A tale of love and loss, this tiered reader of the fourth book of Vergil’s Aeneid presents several versions of each passage rewritten in Latin of gradually increasing difficulty, so that Vergil’s beautiful original poetry can be read with much greater ease. At 30,000 words, it is about six times longer than the original text, with over 400 illustrations to help explain Vergil’s more specialised vocabulary while maximising time spent in Latin.

Struggling to break free of the intermediate plateau? You can enjoy reading Vergil with me through this book! By explaining complex Latin through simpler Latin (without sacrificing natural expression), we can turn what would have been intensive reading for typical intermediate learners into a delightful extensive reading experience.

Genres: Poetry

354 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2023

Reviews

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic! Every passage starts with easy Latin and takes you to the original text of Vergil, almost sentence by sentence. And yes, if you are an intermediate reader of Latin, you will be able to follow along towards the original. And yes, when you are finished with the tiers you will be able to read the whole of book 4 and understand it. No, maybe not every single word, but you will get the feel and the story. O, and how cute are the drawings?!

After finishing the tiers I am reading the whole book now for some days in a row, to understand the text better and better. Wow! Thanks Carla for making Vergil available for me!

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly cannot say enough about this book. As an advanced reader of Latin who still struggles mightily when confronting when confronting many ancient texts for the first time, this method working through complex Latin was absolutely ideal. For me, the use of graded tiers of increasing complexity made understanding the original Vergil sooooooooooo much easier than the more traditional method of using a glossary and commentary that I had been using for the first three books of the Aeneid that I had slogged my way through so far. With this reader, starting with the easiest tier and moving through the increasingly difficult versions helped my brain to understand the Latin on its own terms without bringing any English into the process whatsoever, which ultimately led to being able to understand Vergil's words in a much more organic and intuitive way. Now I just wish there were a tiered reader of Aeneid 5...

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

By this point in my career, I've read an awful lot of Latin textbooks and other materials written for intermediate students coming to their first contact with unadapted literature. I've even written my share of it. I thought I had seen everything. This book cured me of that notion.

The book divides Book 4 of the Aeneid up into bite-sized yet cohesive chunks. It introduces new vocabulary with pictures in Latin that is accessible to intermediate students. It then introduces the next several lines of Aeneid 4 with four tiered versions of the poem, and I have to say that the scaffolding is taken away quite well. There is also the text of Aeneid 4 with no interruptions in the back as well as a full glossary. Itʻs incredibly well done.

Ok, so who is this for: I think itʻs for a few specific groups.

1. Teachers of 3rd year Latin and beyond. If you have students who are at a point where extensive reading could lead to serious reading of original literature, this book is probably for you. There is zero grammar explanation (but it doesn't really feel necessary given the tiered readings). There is ample vocabulary support in the back of the book.

2. Students who are headed into Aeneid 4 with a class but want extra material. I really think that this book could help you understand the Latin as it is written.

3. Students who are studying independently and have already read some simple original prose. I'm thinking along the lines of Eutropius's Breviarium or the Gesta Romanorum, though anything that isn't textbook writing would do the trick. This book is helpful for accessing Vergil, but I don't know that it should be your first stop in Latin literature. Vergil is, how to say it, fiercely poetic.

To the author: well done. I'm envious I didn't think of it first.

[Ethan Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the best intermediate Latin learning resource I’ve come across (and one of the best language learning resources generally). The four tiers of difficulty, culminating in the original verse, along with the short vocabulary lessons with pictures make book four of the Aeneid eminently comprehensible without sacrificing enjoyment. I’ve read the first two tiers so far, which paraphrase and simplify the text. I plan to reread adding the third tier soon, which is Virgil’s original verbiage but with a less complex word order than the original. It’s extremely motivating to feel that a chunk of perhaps the most famous and important classical Latin text is suddenly accessible to an intermediate learner.

[Sean Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming into this with a beginner/pre-intermediate level of Latin was intimidating but I’m really glad I chose to do so, even if it did take me a very long time to complete.

The book is excellent for what it sets out to do, explaining Virgil’s vocabulary and breaking down verses to make them less intimidating. I both learned so much Latin and gained much confidence in reading Latin for having read the whole thing.

Hurt did an amazing job and I will definitely be returning to this book in the future as my Latin progresses and eagerly awaiting her edition of Book 6 which I believe she mentioned was in the works.

[Benny Hinrichs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would say that this book accomplished the goal it set out to do. If you've finished first year Latin material, this is a fantastic work to get your hands on. I will definitely be buying the subsequent treatment of Aeneid 6.

I found that I could read the majority of the Level 1 renditions without looking anything up. Level 2 was similarly consumable after reading Level 1. Sometimes the jumps up to Level 3 were still a bit too difficult for me, but I was able to make it through with some additional struggling.

[Gregorius Minor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually very good (as far as Latin readers are concerned), it is more interesting than 95% of all Latin readers, even when you have to read the entire fourth book of the Aeneid four times. It is a long reader too, it has 30000 words, which helps with getting enough input. You do have to be at least a bit interested in the Aeneid to like this book though, as you will, as I said, read its entire fourth book four times.

[Justin Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant in the way this reader was assembled. tiers to guard the limit of understanding you've thus far accomplished. I love the little doodles as well. by this point, I've read the Æneid several times over in English, Greek, and Latin, and this is one of the more enjoyable experiences.

I find it great it doesn't have english throughout, so you are forced to stay in your target language rather than having dependency on English.

I'll read this over and over and over.

[Fridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well made tiered reader, my most pleasant reading while learning latin (for now).