Essay about Role of the Gods in Virgil's The Aeneid

Anger can always incite irrational actions. The sight of Helen seeking shelter at the altar, causes Aeneas to remember the crimes she committed driving him to furious anger. This anger drives him to contemplate an ignoble and uncharacteristic act of revenge by murdering Helen as she sought protection from the gods. Despite being depicted as a virtuous hero, Aeneas’ strong, visceral reaction to seeing Helen shows that he is subject to the same passionate feelings all humans feel, especially when something raises his anger.

This quest to interpret Christian God firstly starts with eagerness to find truth represented by God in wisdom and knowledge. Augustine regards truth as the immutable and unperishable object and he worships truth sincerely (Confessions, Book III,6). This driven force to learn truth from God leads Augustine to approach God more intimately and eventually fully devote his heart to God. Similarly, in Aeneid, Aeneas is guided by his destiny set by Jupiter. Aeneas is bounded by the fate to build his lineage in Rome and found the great Roman empire. Divine influence serves an important and overwhelming role to push Aeneas to this end-point. Although both characters are divinely guided, their mortality and human desire contradict their pursuit and trapped themselves in the tumultuous social issues. It is in the process of abandoning their lust that Augustine and Aeneas realize their more significant purpose of

A particular instance of self-indulgence shows Aeneas involved in a love affair with Dido, the queen of Carthage. Since Aeneas is distracted by this activity, he catches himself off guard when the gods intervene to direct him back on track toward his fate. "Then Aeneas was truly overwhelmed by the vision, stunned, his hackles bristle with fear, his voice chokes in his throat" once he is suddenly issued this urgent message. This detail perfectly describes Aeneas ' situation of being frozen in place and unable to make any progress on his fate. The gods ' reminder comes as a shock to Aeneas, thereby forcing him to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. His alarmed reaction

Aeneas, the central figure in the Aeneid, personifies the Roman value of pietas. Pietas is one’s “respect for the gods, and dedication to both one’s family and community” (Lecture 10/20/17). Therefore, Aeneas starts the Aeneid very much unlike the traditional Homeric hero and as a consequence, unlike Achilles. In fact, the Aeneas closely resembles the Trojan prince Hector, the defender of Troy in the Iliad. He characterizes each of the qualities of pietas in his escape from Troy. During his escape, he states “take into your hands, Father, the sacred gods / of our country” because “it would be a sacrilege” if Aeneas had with his bloodied hands (Aen. 2.844 - 845) Aeneas is

However, there is also a sense of injustice, as Juno's actions seem unwarranted towards Aeneas, as she acts out of personal hatred towards him. It is also significant that Neptune only calms the storm, as it threatens the peace of his seas, and not because he pities the wretched Aeneas: 'Power over the sea and the cruel trident were never his (Aeolus), but mine. '[4] This emphasises that the gods can be cruel, illustrated by the misuse of Juno's power to influence Aeolus, to start a storm; as well as, selfish and unjust.

In every great epic, love plays a key role in bringing people together but also destroying plenty in its way. Even though Dido is characterized as this powerful leader, she slowly starts to fall as her passion for Aeneas starts to grow. As Aeneas tells his story to all the people, Dido slowly starts falling more and more in love with Aeneas. Throughout this Book you slowly start to see the demise of Queen Dido. "Towers, half-built, rose no farther; men no longer trained in arms... Projects were broken off, laid over, and the menacing huge walls with cranes unmoving stood against the sky". Virgil provides images of how Carthage is being affected by the downfall of Queen Dido. Dido is so infatuated with love that she cannot see how she is running Carthage to the ground for the love of Aeneas. The goddess Juno, the queen of gods, saw this as an opportunity to keep Aeneas from reaching Italy. Dido even broke her vow of chastity and surrenders to her desires for Aeneas. “Dido had no further qualms as to impressions given and set abroad; She thought no longer of a secret love but called it marriage”. This statement demonstrates how she is becoming

Aeneas, though, receives security not only of the existence of higher powers, but that they are actually aiding him.  These incidents such as the omen of the flame on his son's head, Jupiter sending Mercury to remind Aeneas to stay on task, and Venus predicting the safety of his ships to him allow Aeneas to be comforted that there are gods looking out for him. Satan's relentlessness combined with God's confidence in Job take Job to a degree of suffering that Aeneas could only imagine.

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.

Thus, Divine influence did not completely create Dido's love for Aeneas, but rather fueled per-existing feelings that had been present in Dido all along.

The Aeneid has a long story to tell so, the following would focus on the Book I: A Fateful Heaven. Firstly, it is undeniable that the gods play an important role in the Aeneid. At the beginning of the book, Aeneas and his fellows was already experienced seven years’ of wandering, had left Troy and towards Italy. No wonder it was a tough situation. However, how could this happen at the very beginning of the book which seemed unreasonable?

Dido has a passionate desire and lust for Aeneas. Cupid has lit a flame in her heart, and it continually grows and desires to be with Aeneas. Dido is hesitant to pursue a meaningful relationship with Aeneas because she had vowed to never remarry upon the death of Sychaeus. Dido becomes consumed with herself and her lust for Aeneas. In her splendor, she begins to forego many of her duties, and the city of Carthage begins to see the effects. Juno sees this as an opportune time to toy with the fates. She proposes, to Venus, that they work together in order

the gods; while he was fleeing from the Cyclops he yelled "If I could take

The protagonist of the Aeneid and known hero to many, Aeneas, was a man of many virtues. His courage and obedience towards the Roman gods are clearly shown all throughout the book, as well as his passion for justice. When he leaves his lover, Dido, at the bidding of the gods, he shows obedience even when it went against his own will. The time Aeneas travels into the underworld to find his deceased father, it shows great bravery. It is even seen by the example of the crew of Aeneas that he was an incredible person, judging by how loyal they were to him. But, even with all these wonderful attributes, Aeneas wasn’t the entirely heroic person we believe him to be.

Intro – Begin by talking about how people often see Aeneid by Virgil as focusing on the events surrounding the Trojan war, but an equally important part of the story is the prevalent theme of duty. For instance, if one looks at Aeneas one can see his devotion towards caring for his people, and his persistence to follow his duty. Because of the emphasize that Virgil places on Aeneas devotion to his people and his duty to obey the gods, one can begin to theorize that Virgil believed duty was the most important quality a man could possess. Thesis: Often times, the Aeneid carries the reputation as a book centering around the founding of Rome, however, without the constant reminder of duty, one cannot fully view Virgil’s story as he intended.

Throughout the Aeneid, a constant theme of suffering is made apparent. Whether it be in war, in travels, in his meeting others; Aeneas’ journey is anything but normal. The gods are torn on the topic of Aeneas; some support his journey and his goals while others oppose them vehemently. Because of this contrast in support, Aeneas often becomes the subject of their conflict. Torn between two sides in this never-ending spat, Aeneas is forced to persevere through great contention between those of a higher power. In lines 450-476, Book VI, Aeneas states in a speech to Dido, “sed me iussa deum, quae nunc has ire per umbras, per loca senta situ cogunt noctemque profundam, imperiis egere suis;” (I was commanded by gods, who drove me by their decrees, that now force me to go among the shades, through places thorny with neglect, and deepest night). Aeneas’ most recent endeavor was to travel to Hades, among the shades, where no one before had gone and come back unscathed. Aeneas, forced to attempt the impossible, ventures into the underworld.