The Roman de Thèbes and the Roman d'Eneas translated in this book belong to a group of Old French texts known as the romances of antiquity (romans d'antiquité). Composed between c. 1150 and c. 1165, they create a bridge between classical tales and the burgeoning French romances as represented especially by Chrétien de Troyes.

Glyn S. Burgess is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. His Penguin Classics edition of The Lais of Marie de France has sold more than 150,000 copies. He is co-author of The Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure (with Douglas Kelly, D. S. Brewer, 2017). In 1999 he was made a Chevalier des Palmes Académiques and he is an Honorary President of the International Courtly Literature Society.

Douglas Kelly is Emeritus Professor of French and Medieval Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is co-author of The Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure (with Glyn Burgess, D. S. Brewer, 2017) and an Honorary President of the International Courtly Literature Society.