Precis for "Virgil's Style"

          James J. O'Hara, in his essay, Virgil's Style, (9/16/12)  suggests that the awareness of stylistic poetic devices in Virgil's writing gives his poems a deeper meaning, and can lead researchers to a whole new understanding of his intentions while writing. He uses examples from Virgil’s Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid, and also the work of other researchers to convey this idea. O'Hara aims "to 'prove', as many have before, that much is lost when Virgil is read only in translation or with insufficient attention to style" in order to allow readers of Virgil to better interpret Virgil (242). Furthermore, O'Hara provides "a thorough introduction to Virgil's style" by showing the reader some of the mechanisms he uses (242). The author intends to give this knowledge to people reading anything by Virgil, to express.

          This essay was convincing because there was a lot of evidence to support O'Hara's points. By introducing readers to the style of Virgil, it gives them a good knowledge to start looking out for the devices he uses on their own. Everything O'Hara writes about could really help the reader look deeper into Virgil's writing, and understand that reading just the translation only gives you a one-dimensional view of what the Aeneid actually is. Also, the study of Virgil's poetic language can go on and on and continue to always be interpreted and analyzed, leading the way for future research and development. I liked this essay because style is something that I can really examine in my studies of the Aeneid, and I will pay attention to during my translation.