About the book: 2013 / Joseph of Exeter is an epic poet with an excellent classical education, a representative of the "Renaissance of the 12th century", and his poem is an attempt to revive the ancient epic, setting out in full the history of the Trojan War (according to the late antique versions of Dareth the Phrygian and Dictys of Crete), and thus enter into competition with both Homer and Virgil. Together with his contemporary Benoit de Saint-Maur, author of The Romance of Troy, Joseph stands between the ancient interpretations of the Trojan War and its poetic transformations in Chaucer and Shakespeare. From prose expositions, Joseph made a full-scale poem with all its traditional attributes: speeches of heroes, battle scenes, prophetic dreams, oracle prophecies. The rich, elaborate poetic style makes Joseph one of the most original Latin poets of the 12th century, in which there were more than enough bright individuals.