The Song of Arms and a Man – a short review

On the evening of 10 November, Year 12 Latinists and the NWC Classics department had the magnificent opportunity to attend a rendition of Virgil’s Aeneid in Latin at UCL.

It was an enthralling evening to say the least, beginning with the sonorous reverberations of the aulos, a Greek double flute, infiltrating the entire hall and setting the classical scene. Year 12 particularly enjoyed Laocoon’s prayer, recognising the infamous lines ‘equo ne credite, Teucri. quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis’ (‘Do not trust the horse, Trojans, whatever this is, I fear the Greeks do not
come bearing gifts’). But without a doubt, we were immersed in the incredible performance of acting and music right until the end of the very 12th book,
ending on the sombre note of Turnus’ death.

It is commendable how effectively the performers and organisers managed to
piece together all 12 books of the poem within a mere 2 hours time frame,
with the additional provision of word-by-word translations on screen for those
who are of course not fluent in Latin, but it was an amazing opportunity
for all to hear the poem in its original language as it would have been
performed to a Roman audience. 

Written by Ruhi Y12