Sarah Ruden is a leading translator of the ancient literature of the West. In a career spanning both essential Greek and Roman Classics and sacred literature, she has set new standards for accuracy, stylistic integrity, and accessibility. Her work, including cultural and human-rights journalism, is deeply concerned with questions of power and truth, in accordance with her Quaker faith. She has won Guggenheim, Whiting, and Silvers grants, and numerous other awards.

Sarah Ruden
Yale University Press. Published 22 August, 2023

Vergil: The Poet's Life by Sarah Ruden

The Aeneid stands as a towering work of Classical Roman literature and a gripping dramatization of the best and worst of human nature. In the process of creating this epic poem, Vergil (70–19 BCE) became the world’s first media celebrity, a living legend. Through her intimate knowledge of Vergil’s work, Sarah Ruden brings to life a poet who was committed to creating something astonishingly new and memorable, even at great personal cost.

A detailed biography of Vergil should be impossible; but Sarah Ruden displays such subtlety, such imagination, such love for her subject, as to render the impossible possible.” —Tom Holland, author of Dominion

An enlightening and thoroughly modern introduction to Rome’s premier poet. This book should be required reading for every student and reader of Vergil’s immortal verse.”—Daisy Dunn, author of The Shadow of Vesuvius: A Life of Pliny

Modern Library. Published March 16, 2021

The Gospels: a new translation by Sarah Ruden

In this remarkable new translation of the Gospels, Sarah Ruden treats the books of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John with unprecedented precision, uniquely concentrating on the original words and sensitively reflecting on their historical and literary context, to give us the most accessible version of the text available to date. Stripping away the accretions of later theology and pedantry that cover standard English editions of the Bible, this masterful translation presents each Gospel as a narrative that can be read clear through and understood on its own terms. In her skillful and illuminating introduction, Ruden explains where the Gospels came from, how their forms evolved, and how they set about revolutionizing world thought. Succinct yet illuminating footnotes and a discursive glossary explain the many word choices that depart from the traditional ones. The result is a striking and persuasive reappraisal of the “good news” of the Gospels.

An extraordinary feat of scholarship and understanding, Sarah Ruden’s welcoming new translation is a ground on which a great variety of readers can meet, forming the basis for new debate, discussion, and inspiration for years to come.

One of Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2021.

“Electrifying . . . [Ruden transforms] these most familiar of ancient texts into fresh reading experiences.”—The Christian Science Monitor

Yale University Press. Published February 9, 2021

The Aeneid

Translation by Sarah Ruden. Revised and Expanded Edition

A powerful and poignant translation of Vergil’s epic poem, newly equipped with introduction and notes

This is a substantial revision of Sarah Ruden’s celebrated 2008 translation of Vergil’s Aeneid, which was acclaimed by Garry Wills as “the first translation since Dryden’s that can be read as a great English poem in itself.” Ruden’s line-for-line translation in iambic pentameter is an astonishing feat, unique among modern translations. Her revisions to the translation render the poetry more spare and muscular than her previous version and capture even more closely the essence of Vergil’s poem, which pits national destiny against the fates of individuals, and which resonates deeply in our own time.

This distinguished translation, now equipped with introduction, notes, and glossary by leading Vergil scholar Susanna Braund, allows modern readers to experience for themselves the timeless power of Vergil’s masterpiece.

Vergil by Sarah Ruden
Vergil
the gospels translated by sarah ruden
The Gospels
The Aeneid Translated by Sarah Ruden expanded edition
The Aeneid
confessions-translated-by-sarah-ruden-320
Confessions
The Face of Water by Sarah Ruden
The Face of Water
The Golden Ass translated by Srah Ruden
The Golden Ass
paul-among-the-people-by-sarah-ruden-320
Paul Among the People
the-aeneid-translated-by-sarah-ruden-320
The Aeneid
Homeric Hymns translated by Srah Ruden
Homeric Hymns
Lysistrata translated by Sarah Ruden
Lysistrata
Satryicon translated by Sarah Ruden
Satyricon
Other Places - Poetry by Sarah Ruden
Other Places