Aengus: A Fictional Narrative

At the beginning of Book 2 of The Aeneid, Aeneas tells his story about the fall of Troy. The Greeks constructed a massive wooden horse to which the Trojans believed was an offering goddess Minerva. They then sent one of their youths, Sinon, to give the offering to the Trojans. The Trojans brought the wooden horse into to please the goddess but, the wooden horse was actually a structure to house some Greek soldiers to infiltrate Troy as well as execute a sneak attack when the city was asleep. Similar to guerrilla soldiers, the Greeks exit the wooden horse to begin their attack on the Trojan city. When Aeneas sees the city in flames, he gathers his men to attempt to save Troy. Aeneas attempts to kill as many Greeks as he can, but forced to retreat.

Book 6 starts out with the Trojan fleet arriving on the shore of Italy. When Aeneas arrives on land he creates the temple of Apollo, and a preistess named Sibyl meets him. Aeneas then prays to Apollo to let him and his crew settle in Italy. Sibyl warns Aeneas that more trials still await in Italy. Aeneas then wonderes if Sibyl can gain him entrance to The Underworld, so that he can visit his father’s spirit. Aeneas must have a sign from the gods, first. He is told to go into the forest and find a golden bough. If the bough breaks off easy, then it is fate. If the bough does not come off easily, then it is not fate, and he should not travel to The Underworld. The gods lead Aeneas to a desired tree. This tree does have a golden branch,

The presentation of death in Vergil’s work, The Aeneid, indicates the inescapable will of the gods. Written as Roman ktisis poetry, or a “foundation myth”, Vergil wrote The Aeneid to strengthen the political influence of Augustus and provide the citizens of Rome with an ethnic identity (Mianowski 68). To fulfill this purpose, throughout the poem, the themes and events Vergil presents are distinctly Roman. In The Aeneid, the scenes detailing Laocoon and his sons’ deaths, and Creusa’s suicide, show that Romans view the concept of death as a tool to serve the Gods’ purposes. Not only did The Aeneid provide the Roman citizens with a common cultural bond, it also influenced the image of the afterlife in other notable works.

In The Aeneid, Virgil uses many prophecies. They begin in the first few lines and last throughout the poem. Many are directed toward Aeneas, but some are to his relatives and friends. The prophecies shown allow the reader to better understand the situation and also provide insight about Rome. Prophecies are an important key to The Aeneid.

Before Augustus came to power, Civil war had ravished the basic principle of the Roman people. Piety, the warning to “fulfil our duties towards our country, our parents, or others connected with us by ties of blood” was undermined by faction. The duty towards country, parents and relatives was less of a bond because faction determined duty rather that Pietas. Thus Rome, a city founded in pietas, was that foundational principle. internal faction undermined the principles of pietas and corrupted its role in the city. Rome needed a moral reform towards pietas; Rome needed a refocus on the roots of the empire, its duty towards its ancestors, and unity based in pietas. Commissioned by Augustus, Virgil constructs the Aeneid so that it portrays the cruciality of pietas by redefining Greek epic heroism to include pietas. Each comparason of aeneas to another greek hero emphasises the pietas within him, showing how he is better because of it and combining the heroism of all the Greek heroes into Aeneas. By doing this, virgil shows that to unify Rome through pietas is to harness Rome’s power. Thus, Virgil reveals to the Romans a virtue which allows the individual Roman citizen embody and partake in the glory of Rome.

The horrendous death of the trojan priest Laocoön and his sons is a classical event associated with the final days of Troy, inspiring works in literature as well as visual arts. Book 2 of The Aeneid, by the Latin poet Virgil, and the 1st Century CE marble sculpture ‘Laocoön and Sons’ are two famed works that are inspired by the Laocoön Episode. Though both the sculpture and the text are canonical works of their own genre, the latter is more superior in terms of delivering a comprehensive narrative on the Laocoön episode. The Aeneid amplifies movements of Laocoön and the serpents using literary devices and adopts a time frame spanning from the arrival of serpents to the death of Laocoön to deliver a complete narrative, whereas the sculpture, though using dynamic movements and utilizes a single moment within the time frame of the text, fails to contain a general, uninformed viewer within the episode’s context.

While the ending of The Aeneid might be seen to have multiple significances, I believe that Virgil ended the poem the way he did to make a statement about the use of power to achieve dominance and rulership: namely, that a lust for nothing but power will ultimately consume. The poem ends with Turnus and Aeneas facing each other one-on-one on the battlefield. However, it should be noted that there are fundamental differences between the philosophies of the two combatants which should first be grasped to fully understand the significance of Aeneas’s actions in ending the war. Before the battle between Aeneas and Turnus begins, the reader gets a glimpse of Turnus’s philosophy regarding the stakes of the battle. “Either I’ll send, with my hand, this deserter of Asia, this Dardan, / Down to the Pit of the Damned—and the Latins can sit down and watch while / My lone sword is refuting the charge of dishonor we all share; / Or you [Latinus] must share my defeat. And Lavinia must go as this man’s wife.” (12.14-17) Turnus believes that in war, there is no possible outcome but for one leader and his entire army to be wiped out in the other side’s pursuit of honor and glory. Aeneas’s views on the battle are displayed earlier in the poem, when he journeys down into the underworld and is instructed in Trojan battle philosophy by his deceased father Anchises. “You, who are Roman, recall how to govern mankind with your power. / That will be your special ‘Arts’: the enforcement of peace as

Aeneas is a person who holds his family and friends close to his heart, but doesn’t show care to people who he feels have done acts that harm his loved ones. Test of character that confront him are losing people that he loved to death, having to enter the Underworld, leaving Dido for his fate to travel to Italy, and facing Turnus in battle after Turnus killed Pallas. Aeneas passes all of test he is given with minor setbacks, like being able to leave the Underworld alive, but he carries the mourning of the deaths of his loved one through the entire myth. The temptations he resists are staying with Dido in Carthage, and letting the death of people he cared for stop him from his journey. Aeneas resist staying with Dido because his fears what the gods would do if he didn’t leave Carthage for Italy. He doesn’t let the death of loved ones stop his journey, because most of them wanted Aeneas to continue his journey and reach his destiny. Aeneas find the task of killing Turnus out of revenge for Pallas’s death irresistible, since Pallas was Aeneas’s friend and seeing Turnus with Pallas’s belt filled Aeneas with rage.

It was at the peak of the night’s darkness, fog covered the kingdom. The town was fast asleep, the King and his thanes were also out cold. There was an eerie sense in the air. It had almost been too long without any commotion. The kingdom, at the top of the Food chain, hadn’t been attacked for nearly two years now.

Before Augustus’ reign began, Civil war had ravished the basic principles of the Roman people. Piety, the warning to “fulfil our duties towards our country, our parents, or others connected with us by ties of blood” was undermined by faction. The duty towards country, parents and relatives was less of a bond because faction determined duty rather that Pietas. Thus Rome, a city founded in pietas, was that foundational principle. internal faction undermined the principles of pietas and corrupted its role in the city. Rome needed a moral reform towards pietas; Rome needed a refocus on the roots of the empire, its duty towards its ancestors, and unity based in pietas. Commissioned by Augustus, Virgil constructs the Aeneid to portray the cruciality of pietas by redefining Greek epic heroism to include pietas. Each comparison of aeneas to another greek hero emphasises the pietas within him, showing how he is better because of it and combining the heroism of all the Greek heroes into Aeneas. By doing this, virgil shows that to unify Rome through pietas is to harness Rome’s power. Thus, Virgil reveals to the Romans a virtue which allows the individual Roman citizen embody and partake in the glory of Rome.

Following his encounter with Deiphobus, Aeneas gains an understanding that avenging the past and changing the future is an act of futility; he must abandon, rather than reconcile, his past faults and personal goals in order to create success within the budding community (6.595-660). Vergil instills within the text, and thus Aeneas, conflicting ideas about fate and free will. In doing so, he purposefully perpetuates the cognitive dissonance and its negative effects on Aeneas and the Trojans until the shift and resolution in book 6, which ultimately leads to his comprehension of the importance of the role he must play.

The tale of the Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas and how he founds the Roman people. The most well known version of this story is Virgil’s Aeneid. The traditional interpretation of Virgil’s depiction of the hero and the myth is that it was used as propaganda for the new imperial system that the emperor Augustus had introduced. In contrast with this is the Harvard School interpretation, which states that Virgil’s Aeneid is actually undermining the Imperial system. Despite there being some evidence for this, Virgil’s illustration best fits under the traditional interpretation. In contrast with this is Ovid’s Little Aeneid found in his Metamorphoses. This essay will analyse these illustrations

The epic poem The Aeneid, by Vergil adapts scenes, similes, and characters from the Odyssey written by Homer. The works of both authors include the simile of Artemis/Diana. Other characters do overlap in some of Vergil's scenes for instance, Aeneas and Odysseus encounter Cyclops. Both authors also reference the scene of the underworld. Although, Virgil adapts similarities from Homer's epic, each encounter has noticeable comparisons and/or differences. Vergil presents the epic of the Aeneid with a different purpose. At the beginning of the Aeneid, Aeneas leaves his home with other Romans after the Trojan War. Homer starts his epic with Odysseus wanting to return home form Troy.  The motives that guide each character differ from one another. Homers the Odyssey is more of the journey of a man longing to be home again, after the trojan war has ended. His actions are somewhat selfish at times. Virgil's main character Aeneas is driven by more of a scene of duty to the gods, because he is instructed to help build Rome for future generations.

Aeneas was a good leader because he was brave, strong, and selfless. The Aeneid was written by Virgil during the reign of Augustus in 19 BCE, and the character of Aeneas was meant to represent Augustus and suggest that Augustus was a direct descendant of Aeneas. Many historians think that Virgil sounded a bit sarcastic when stating how great Aeneas was, implying he himself was not a fan of Emperor Augustus. Throughout the book, Aeneas is referred to as “The Great and Good” and other phrases along those lines, and is always spoken of as a great hero. He does things such as kill deer for his men, or survive a terrible storm, and he even has the approval of the great god Jupiter. Aeneas is a demigod, (his mother is Venus), making him more powerful and respected than any other Trojan men. The Romans valued physical and mental strength, both of which Aeneas has.

Another problem that is experienced by the dedicated reader of this book is the fact that the last scene was authored differently from theother parts of the book. As the novel comes to a conclusion Aeneus kills turners because of a number of reasons. Most of these reasons are not honorable. Aeneus had faced a lot of challenges throughout the poems. At the very genesis of this book, the author portrays Aeneus as responsible and dedicated man who knew his fate and duty to his people very well. This is demonstrated throughout the book, and example is when he goes back for his wife during his flight from troy. However the prominence of these themes continuously fade away and become les vivid when and the fact that he starts to understand the impacts of the gods upon his fate comes alive. Aeneus is half divine which is an advantage to him because he can be on both sides. At the beginning the author depicts Aeneus as a very understanding and human individual who understands the needs of humanity but as the epics progresses this begins to fade away slowly and his divinity becomes more prominent. As the story concludes we see that Aeneus is a completely different person compared to the beginning of the epic also his will for human understanding is gone. This scene changes the readers’ view of Aeneus that had initially been developed throughout the literally work. He becomes enraged: the opposite of the Aeneus we had known in the beginning of the epic. On second though this is not a