O'Neal, William J.

Dr. William J. O’Neal is Professor of History and Classical Languages at the University of Toledo. He has received numerous fellowships and awards. Dr. O’Neal received his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia, with specialization in ancient history and Augustan Age Poetry, and his M.A. at Indiana University.

Ancient Versus Modern Ways of Making Comparison: Comparatio in Vergil’s aeneid

2005 0-7734-5962-6
Of the 9,896 lines of poetry in Vergil’s Aeneid, some four hundred of them fall under the heading of comparatio or, loosely translated, simile. In order to define this figure of speech, this work reviews the classical authors Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian. It also reviews modern scholarship on Vergilian similes. The primary focus of this work deals with the forms Vergil used in the Aeneid when he employed this rhetorical symbol. This work should appeal to all scholars and students of epic poetry – to see the mind of Vergil at work – one who has imitated Homer but one who has made the “comparisons” his own in content, in emphasis, and in form.

Critical Edition of De Gentilium Deorum Imaginibus by Ludovico Lazzarelli First Edited Text with Introduction and Translation

1997 0-7734-8579-1
This poem by Ludovico Lazzarelli (1450-1500) well illustrates the long tradition of post-classical authors picturing and Christianizing the gods of antiquity. It demonstrates how the gods were integrated into Renaissance life as elements of the Christian universe, and also demonstrates how the artists of the Renaissance secured patronage in order to pursue their disciplines. Until now, the poem existed only in manuscript, two in the Vatican Library, one in Florence. This volume contains an Introduction, text of the poem, and translation.