Lavinia (novel)
Encyclopedia
Lavinia is a Locus Award
winning 2008 novel by American
author Ursula K. Le Guin
. It relates the life of Lavinia
, princess of Laurentum
, a minor character in Vergil's epic poem the Aeneid
.
from the Trojan War, who arrives with a large body of Trojans.
An agreement is made but then breaks down and there is war, which is won by the outnumbered Trojans. They found a new city, called Lavinium
, but Aeneas is killed after three years. Aeneas's elder son Ascanius
founds Alba Longa
and marries but fails to produce an heir. Lavinia removes her son Silvius
from his control and he eventually becomes king of the Latins.
Rome
already exists, but as a small settlement that plays no part in events.
Lavinia herself retreats from the world and at the end seems to have turned into an owl. She has all along regarded the world she lives in as unreal, a product of Vergil's imagination.
She also explains that her work is a translation into prose of the last six books of the Aeneid, with extra details and changes where these felt right.
Locus Award
The Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
winning 2008 novel by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
. It relates the life of Lavinia
Lavinia
In Roman mythology, Lavinia is the daughter of Latinus and Amata and the last wife of Aeneas.Lavinia, the only child of the king and "ripe for marriage", had been courted by many men in Ausonia who hoped to become the king of Latium. Turnus, ruler of the Rutuli, was the most likely of the suitors,...
, princess of Laurentum
Laurentum
Laurentum was an ancient Roman city of Latium situated between Ostia and Lavinium, on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula southwest of Rome. Roman writers regarded it as the original capital of the Latins, before Lavinium assumed that role after the death of King Latinus...
, a minor character in Vergil's epic poem the Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
.
Outline
Lavinia, daughter of the king of the Latins, is sought after by neighbouring kings, but knows she is destined to marry a stranger. This is AeneasAeneas
Aeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
from the Trojan War, who arrives with a large body of Trojans.
An agreement is made but then breaks down and there is war, which is won by the outnumbered Trojans. They found a new city, called Lavinium
Lavinium
Lavinium was a port city of Latium, to the south of Rome, at a median distance between the Tiber river at Ostia and Anzio. The coastline then, as now, was a long strip of beach. Lavinium was on a hill at the southernmost edge of the Silva Laurentina, a dense laurel forest, and the northernmost...
, but Aeneas is killed after three years. Aeneas's elder son Ascanius
Ascanius
Ascanius is the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas and a legendary king of Alba Longa. He is a character of Roman mythology, and has a divine lineage, being the son of Aeneas, who is son of Venus and the hero Anchises, a relative of Priam; thus Ascanius has divine ascendents by both parents, being...
founds Alba Longa
Alba Longa
Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...
and marries but fails to produce an heir. Lavinia removes her son Silvius
Silvius
Silvius may refer to:* Alba Silvius, a Roman mythology king* Aeneas Silvius, a mythological king* Latinus Silvius, a mythological king* Romulus Silvius, a mythological king...
from his control and he eventually becomes king of the Latins.
Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
already exists, but as a small settlement that plays no part in events.
Lavinia herself retreats from the world and at the end seems to have turned into an owl. She has all along regarded the world she lives in as unreal, a product of Vergil's imagination.
Background
The book is based on the last six books of the Aeneid. Lavinia talks to the poet and it seems she only exists in the context of the poem, and knows it. It is not meant to be history. Le Guin says "The Trojan War was probably fought in the thirteenth century BC; Rome was founded, possibly, in the eighth, though there is no proper history of it for centuries after that. That Priam's nephew Aeneas of Troy had anything at all to do with the founding of Rome is pure legend, a good deal of it invented by Vergil himself".She also explains that her work is a translation into prose of the last six books of the Aeneid, with extra details and changes where these felt right.
External links
- Lavinia at Worlds Without End
- Interview with Le Guin on The Inkwell Review, on her novel Lavinia.
- http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2221112.htmInterview with Ramona KovalRamona KovalRamona Koval is an Australian broadcaster, writer and journalist.Her parents were Yiddish-speaking survivors of the Holocaust who arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1950....
on the Book ShowThe Book ShowThe Book Show is an Australian ABC radio program for the discussion of everything relating to the written word. It is broadcast live around Australia on Radio National with a daily weekday morning show which is then replayed nightly and also has a Sunday evening show. The show is hosted by Ramona...
, ABC Radio National on her novel Lavinia.] - Interview about her Lavinia on National Public Radio's All Things Considered April 26, 2008