The Aeneid : The Struggle Of Establishing An Empire

Aeneas, the titular hero of Virgil’s Aeneid, is the flawed Trojan hero sent on a divine quest to found the new Troy and establish the basis for the Roman Empire. Along this journey, he is pushed to his limits both mentally and physically. This strain shows him to be a deeply Roman hero, especially in the values that come forward in his actions and response to tragedy. He embodies two major Roman values: pietas and respect for family, both past and future.

Dido first falls in love with Aeneas after being infected by Cupid at Venus’ command. When Cupid first arrives in Carthage, disguised as Ascanius, Dido watches him from afar as he interacts with deceived Aeneas. As she watches, she becomes entranced with the sight and “the more she looks the more the fire grows,” signaling that Cupid’s hold over her has grown stronger (853,71). Aeneas’ tale of woe only strengthens her adoration of him until she is “consumed by the fire buried in her heart” (3, 127). Tentative thoughts of remarrying after her husband Sychaeus’ death begin to cross her mind and she finally recognizes the “old flame” that is slowly consuming her, suddenly marrying Aeneas one night (30, 128). Yet this fire is short lived and, ultimately, Dido’s downfall. Jove grows anxious for Aeneas to continue on his journey and commands Mercury to pass along the message that Aeneas and the Trojans must leave Carthage. Aeneas pleads with Dido that he leaves not of his own volition and that he must obey the gods’ wishes, but Dido is furious, alternating between pleading with him to stay and cursing him should he go. Firm in his decision, Aeneas returns to his ships while Dido is brought to her chambers. Grief stricken and “fixed on dying,” Dido begins to construct a funeral pyre in her courtyard (595, 144). As she stands before her creation, she laments her choice to trust Aeneas and the Trojans when

Aeneas is perfectly fine with this decision and tries to sneak away from Dido, despite her love for him. Soon Dido finds out and she feels betrayed, saying that he can’t leave on behalf of their marriage. Aeneas says that it was a fake wedding only to satisfy the gods and Dido loses her mind, cursing everything of Aeneas. She demands him to leave, and when he dies on his ship, she will be there to haunt his every move. Aeneas soon becomes very aware of Dido’s sudden behavior and, despite his love for her, he leaves with his fleet. Dido becomes infuriated and falls into another state of depression. She curses him one last time, saying, “I hope and pray that on some grinding reef midway at sea you’ll drink your punishment and call and call on Dido’s name!” (Virgil 4.506-508). Soon, with help from the gods, Aeneas falls overboard and drowns with Dido’s name on his last breath. Dido, content and slightly broken inside after hearing of Aeneas’ death, she assembles all of his things that he did not take with him on his voyage together. Queen Dido lights the things on fire, and proceeds to stab herself, her body falling into the flames. That is the end of Book IV of the Aeneid. But the most important moral of this section was that no matter how many times he betrayed her and destroyed her heart, Dido still loved Aeneas; and women across the world are experiencing the exact same thing.

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

In the writing of Aeneid, Aeneas is described to exhibit pietas. Pietas refers to someone that demonstrates “selfless devotion to duty” (Lecture 2.2). We quickly realize that Aeneas is devoted to fulfilling his duties for his family, God and other individuals. In Aeneid, we see the many trials that Aeneas goes through to fulfill his mission. Throughout the story Aeneas is described to be someone that is “duty bound” (The Aeneid Line 500). One of the distractions that Aeneas is faced with is Dido, the Queen of Carthage. Aeneas remembers that “he was to be the ruler of Italy” (The Aeneid Line 297); therefore, he still continued on his mission. It was a hard decision for him to make and he was heartbroken, but he knew the decision had to be

The ideal virtue in Roman culture was piety, also known as pietas. Pietas had three components: duty to your country, duty to your family, and duty to the gods. When a person followed these guidelines in Ancient Rome, they were considered to have piety. Throughout Aeneas’ journey, the three components to pietas are demonstrated by actions taken by Aeneas’ character. In the epic poem, The Aeneid, the idea of pietas is central to the epic, opposing the Greek ideal of furor, or passionate desire/senseless fury. In this essay, I will analyze the moments in the epic that demonstrate how Aeneas uses these three components of pietas, and how this epic celebrates the shift from Greek ideals to Roman ideals.

Regardless of the time frame, Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s epic the Iliad share both a copious amount of similarities and differences. For example, many common themes such as heroism, fate, and destiny are apparent in both works. Within the Aeneid and the Iliad, it is seen that the wars going on during that time were glorious that is why the role of gods were significant in leading both Aeneas and Achilles and influencing fate. In both texts, it is clear from the beginning that the role of the gods is to make Aeneas and Achilles fulfill their journey The Iliad focuses on the end of the Trojan War and the damaging power, while the Aeneid is focused during the aftermath of the war and underlies the foundation for the new civilization. This paper will address and argue the comparison of the role of gods and how each of the authors representation of the gods have influence on the lives of mortals.

Dido is one of the many characters who are responsible for her own death. Before the appearance of Aeneas in Carthage, Dido was married to another man, Sychaeus. However, Sychaeus was murdered by Dido’s brother who was jealous of his power and money leaving Dido a widow (Aen, 4.23-25). As a widow, Dido made a vow “Never to pledge [herself] in marriage again” showing her commitment to her first and only husband who she passionately loved (Aen,4.19). The importance of this to Dido’s death is that she broke her vow on account that Aeneas was the first man that she has loved since Sychaeus. However, this love is artificial because it is not her love but love created by Venus. Even though she has this passion for Aeneas flowing through her veins, she questions herself and whether it will be worthy to love this man and break the vow. Dido is responsible for her own death because she was unable to clear her mind and see the dangers of falling in love with Aeneas and the greater the danger of breaking her vow to Sychaeus. One reason that she decides

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

The function of prophecy manifests itself in many ways in the Aeneid. Throughout the epic, prophecies and omens act as the agents behind Aeneas fulfilling his destiny as well as providing clear social commentary on the dawn of the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus. Even though not all of the prophecies and omens included in the epic come to pass in literary terms, Virgil’s inclusion of prophecy is of paramount importance for driving the plot forward. In this essay I will discuss the function of both internal and external prophecy and the effect these prophecies have on both the characters in the epic and the enjoyment of the reader from The Roman Empire until the present day.

After she falls in love with Aeneas, Dido disregards the vow that she made to her suitors. While Aeneas and Dido go hunting, Juno sends down a storm that forces the two into a cave. In the cave, Dido makes love to Aeneas and calls the affair a marriage. Shortly after this incident, news spreads beyond her kingdom that the Carthaginian leader has abandoned her obligations as a ruler. When the news reaches Iarbas, one of Dido’s suitors, the African king expresses his anger (IV 264-274). Dido’s love for Aeneas has caused her to ignore basic agreements that she has established. Not only did Dido lie to Iarbas, but she has also forgotten to keep the promise that she made to herself to not marry another man (IV 19-35). Dido has abandoned her own reputation. Instead of taking responsibility for the choices she has made, Dido continues her pursuit of the Trojan hero.

Once Dido’s and Aeneas’ “love” has been set on its course, he receives word from the god Mercury to return to his duties for Troy, “Blind to your own realm, oblivious to your fate!” (Virgil, p.136) Aeneas desires the love of Dido, but recognizes his obligation to found Rome. This is where a complication arises regarding fate. Aeneas strayed from his destiny, moving alongside his desires rather than uniting his aspirations with his obligations, thus creating conflict within his life and difficulties weighing the importance of his obligations and desires. The pressures of fate and the gods were not in Aeneas’ control; however, it was his own decision to fall in love with Dido and ignore his mission, even if momentarily. As humans we are obligated to one another regardless of desire.

In Virgil’s poem, The Aeneid, the ideal Roman hero is depicted in the form of Aeneas. Not only does Aeneas represent the Roman hero, but he also represents what every Roman citizen is called to be. Each Roman citizen must posses two major virtues, he must remain pious, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In the poem, Aeneas encompasses both of these virtues, and must deal with both the rewards and costs of them.

From now on dido…no longer kept her love a secret…but called it marriage…‘ [4.170-174]. It take the angry prayers of a king from another land for Jupiter to intervene ‘…this is not the man promised us by his mother…it was not for this she twice rescued him from the swords of the greeks’ [4.227-230] he sends mercury to tell aeneas ‘so now you are layign foundations for the high towers of carthage and builign a a splendid city to please your wife? Have you entirely forgotten your own kingdom and your own destiny?’ [4.267-270] Aeneas is described as ‘dumb and senseless’ at the sight of mercury [280] but it reminds him of his duty and makes the decision to leave dido and carthage despite reasoning with her that ‘it is not by my own will that I search for italy’ [361]

He perceived it more as a romantic fling; Aeneas only engaged in a relationship with Dido out of lust. Although Aeneas acts like Dido’s husband by building walls for Carthage, he never explicitly accepts the position. He only stays in Carthage because of the benefits made available to him: Dido’s love and her luxurious gifts. When he is about to leave, Dido berates him for deceiving her in their “marriage.” Adamant that he never entered upon a marriage, Aeneas replies, “Do not think/I meant to be deceitful and slip away./I never held the torches of a bridegroom,/Never entered upon the pact of marriage” (IV, 465-8). His response to Dido reveals Aeneas’s ignorance in their relationship; he never realizes her deep obsession with him. When he leaves, he wants to console her, but does not act upon it because he feels he has committed no wrong and he has obligations to fulfill. Even when he visits the underworld, he still does not understand how Dido felt or how much he was at fault for her death. He asks her, “Was I, was I the cause?” (VI, 616). His ignorance as to how she felt and what she wanted shows his inability to be cognizant of others’ feelings, which makes him look stupid. The least Aeneas could have done was to have said goodbye, but instead he excuses himself by claiming the gods forced him to leave her.