A short literary anecdote from Albert Cim shows us a French translator who presumes to think that Virgil needs his help.
D’Auteroche (?–1823), in his verse translation of Virgil, boasted at every point of being superior to the Latin poet. He corrects him, rectifies him, and adds verses “that seemed to him as expressive as they were true, and God knows which verses he meant.” He had even conceived the project of rewriting the Aeneid as Virgil ought to have composed it, or would have composed it “if a longer life had permitted him to put the final touches on that work.” (Curiosités littéraires, p. 198.)
—Albert Cim, Nouvelles récréations littéraires et historiques.