The Impacts of Marriages in Virgil’s The Aeneid

How much control do women have over their emotions in the Aeneid? In his poem, Virgil frequently shows women in situations where irrational thoughts lead to harmful choices. Specifically, Virgil presents women as being easily influenced by their emotions. Consequently, these characters make decisions that harm both themselves and those around them. Throughout Aeneas’s journey, divinities such as Juno and Venus are seen taking advantage of the emotions of different women, influencing these characters to act in ways that ignore important priorities. Not only does Virgil present women as completely vulnerable to their emotions, but he also shows the problems that arise when these women engage in decisions where they put their own feelings

Furthermore, affairs of the heart always prevail over what society expect and demands you to do. Shakespeare shows this, by the marriage between Lysander and Hermia. This is clear when Theseus states, “Fair lovers, you are fortunately met. Of this discourse we more will hear anon.— Egeus, I will overbear your will, for in the temple, by and by, with us, These couples shall eternally be knit.” (4.1.184-188) Shakespeare shows the happy time to come when Theseus overrules Egeus, after seeing that nothing could be done to separate the young lovers. True love always conquers all, even when everything is against it.

Virgil’s Aeneid is considered the greatest work in Latin and it is easy to see why. With obvious references to the works of Homer and the desire to be the greatest writer, Virgil used a large portion of his life to create a captivating tale about the founding of Rome. The Aeneid was meant to be the result of a commission by Augustus Caesar to capture his greatest exploits but Virgil refused to be limited in such a way. Instead, Virgil uses history to reference issues that were current in his time in hopes that Augustus and the Roman people could learn from their past. Due to Virgil’s desire to show Romans what it meant to be Roman he captures the values that Romans held in highest esteem. The greatest value he portrays is duty to a father and duty to the fate a person has been given. Vigil also shows the Romans value of friendship and warriorship. These insights can show how the ancient Romans valued different things in their day to day lives.

Allecto goes into Queen Amata, Latinus’ wife, causing her to oppose the marriage of Lavinia to Aeneas

Women and men are immensely different, but human qualities don’t change between them. Virgil uses books II and IV of The Aeneid to express his disagreement with this statement. Book II tells about the war between the Trojans and the Greeks, specifically the story of the Trojan horse , which Virgil wrote from the perspective of the Trojans. Book IV focuses on love instead of war, that is the love between Queen Dido and Aeneas. Both of these books end in tragedy, one in the fall of a city and the other in suicide. In both books, Virgil describes men as wise and less emotional than women to portray the incorrect statement that women are not smart and are over dramatic.

Aeneas had to give up true love in order not to disrespect or defy Rome.  Giving up true love is a pretty tall order to fulfill for any reason , let alone to give it up because of patriotism.  I consider myself a patriot , but I would not give up anything like true love for my country.  When the Romans read the Aeneid they were supposed to understand how important the state was and how much of a duty they had to do what they could for it.  Rome was supreme and was to be honored more that anything. The Aeneid showed the people what Aeneas and others went through to start the republic.  That’s why  it should be honored , for all those hard ships.  This is an idea aside from all the other political references.

The Roman epic of Virgil's Aeneid describes the hardship and misadventures of Aeneas and the Trojans quest from Troy to Italy. Like Homer’s famous epics, the Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil’s narrative style and structure portrays similar attributes in the finding of Rome. Aeneas encounters several women on his journey who play a significant role throughout this epic in assisting or destroying his journey to Rome. His representation of female characters provides the readers with a better understanding of gender politics and reasons why some female leaders failed. Each of Virgil's female characters demonstrates a combination of traits throughout the epic; however, such behaviors of these women tend to develop unwanted conflict due to emotions.

The marriage of an Athenian woman and man is hard to define exactly because there has not been an exact word translated that is equivalent to the word, “marriage.” The Athenians have words that translate as physical acts for a marriage for the sake of having a child, they also have words that translate as “cohabit” or “live together.” This leads to the conclusion that our traditional connotation of marriage as a bond is not the way it was in Athens. The reasons for a man and a woman to be joined in marriage were nor for love, as we would expect, it would be for profitable and more pragmatic reasons. Usually most beneficial to the male’s in the bride’s life. Since the women were not supposed to be unattended they are assumed to have accepted what was decided for them in terms of a husband. “…A husband normally addresses his wife as “woman.” The Greek word for woman, is

Furthermore, the law was another problem obstacle that influenced affected love negatively. The Athenian law states that every woman must obey obey her father. “To you your father should be as a god.” (Shakespeare, 11). This quote states that to women, their father should be their God, only obeying him. and the only one they should obey. Hermia’s father, Egeus, refuses to allow to her to marry Lysander, as we wants her to marry Demetrius. Egeus uses using the power of the law over Hermia and this is is demonstrated when he says “As she is mine, I may dispose of her.” (Shakespeare, 11). Lysander and Hermia’s relationship is affected because Hermia must obey her father or face the consequences of the law. Additionally, the law impacts affects the love between Hermia and Lysander because Egeus takes the issue to the Duke, Theseus. Theseus states;

The state played little or no part in a marriage. Most were simple and private affairs while others were far more elaborate and expensive. Basically, a couple was married if they claimed to be and divorced if they said so. A celebration party might or might not follow.Aristotle writes that it is fitting that a good wife obeys her husband’s wishes when it comes to making public decisions and decisions made on their children. The women should consider that her husband’s wishes are as laws appointed for her by the divine will, along with the marriage state and the fortune she shares. This once again proves that women were not seen as capable when making any form of decisions being who the marry, actions concerning their children, or questioning

The epic genre of literature is notoriously male-dominated. Most traditional “heroes” are male, while female characters are relegated to the background, serving, for example, as villains for the hero to defeat or love interests for him to protect. Vergil’s Aeneid is no exception to this concept - written between 29 and 19 B.C, the portrayal of women in the piece is obviously based in ancient stereotypes and archaic gender roles, which come across to the modern reader as fairly worn out. By nature, the Aeneid tends to minimize the roles of these characters, notably the goddess Juno and Queen Dido of Carthage, and often focuses on how they impact the protagonist, Aeneas, rather than truly exploring the characters themselves. Therefore, from

The Aeneid, written by Virgil, was written in Rome between 30 and 19 B.C. Virgil wrote many of his writings during the time of Octavian, the estranged nephew to Caeser. During the beginning of the times of Octavian and the time of these writings Rome was in a state of civil war, which later turned into the most peaceful place in the world. Many people were torn from their homes and new boundaries were created. It is important to know the culture and gender roles of the people, the person in power, and the system of government in place at the time of the writing.

In both civilizations, marital relationships were not ones of love. In Han China, the Confucian use of Yin and Yang created a prevented the couple from loving each other. In Ban Zhao’s Lessons for Women, she states that because the concept of Yin and Yang are starkly different, man and woman have different qualities. The Yang is strong, but Yin is weak and yielding. A man was honored for his strength, yet a woman was glorified for her beauty (Zhao). Yin and Yang created a barrier for love. Han women had no control over who they married; it was the groom’s parents who chose the bride. Because the couple often did not know one another until the wedding, it was impossible to get to know the other’s personality, hence, they did not marry for love. Similarly, in the Roman Empire, marriages were arranged by family members, and the bride had no say in whom she married. According to historian Jo-Ann Shelton, because “marriages were arranged unions rather than love matches, husbands and wives did not have romantic expectations of their life together” (Shelton 44). The marriage of Agrippina, a descendant of Augustus, and Claudius, a Roman emperor, was one of sole convenience, where both parties had their own agendas. According to historian Anthony Barrett, “Claudius would need a wife, not for sex or companionship...but because he needed an ally to

When people fall in love, they are willing to give up things they otherwise wouldn’t. In the Aeneid book IV, Queen Dido was so willing to give up duties such as running her kingdom of Carthage, to be with Aeneas. Instead of taking on her important duties and trying

Throughout the Aeneid there are several recurring themes that shape the story. One of the biggest themes is family. Without the idea of family Aeneas has less motivation to go on his journey. The gods use this against him when attempting to persuade Aeneas to continue embarking on the quest he has been on. Anchises, Aeneas’ father meets with Aeneas as well and gives his perspective on Aeneas’ journey and includes a lot of arguments about family. Anchises has a strong concern for family as well, and it is evident in the underworld when Aeneas and Anchises meet.