The Importance Of Kindness In The Aeneid

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.

The Aeneid, the famous epic poem written by Virgil, depicts the struggle of establishing an empire. The beginning of The Aeneid introduces Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, whose fate is to find a new home in Italy after the fall of Troy. Throughout the perilous journey, Aeneas faces great obstacles as he strives to fulfill his prophecy and gradually transform into the ideal Virgilian hero. To emphasize his growth, I will discuss three themes in this essay: the extent of free will as it relates to fate, the influence of divine beings on mortals, and the principles of morality. All of these ideas serve as an understanding as to why Aeneas is unable to act on his own accord. This leads me to defend the view that humans require the positive guidance of a mentor figure to resist their self-indulgence.

Throughout the Aeneid by Virgil, death is a reoccurring theme and each death has its own significance to the poem. The death of Creusa in book two shows that Aeneas will need a new wife and the death of Pallas in book ten foreshadows Turnus’s future. One of the most interesting deaths is that of Dido because the responsibility for Dido’s death falls on multiple characters: Anna, the goddesses, Venus, Juno and Rumor, and Dido herself.

In Virgil 's Aeneid, the theme of piety is one that arises on many different occasions and one that is ultimately central to the tale as it is told and the poem as a whole. Aeneas is indeed a very pious character, although he does not always come across exactly this way and accordingly many people would disagree. Throughout the poem, however, he is constantly fulfilling his duty to his family, his gods and his city. It is initially essential to understand the main character of Aeneas, and the role he plays in the story before one can truly understand and comprehend the question that is brought up about his piety.

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.

The title of my research proposal, I chose is; Why some people are more altruistic than others? The speaker of this TED Talk is; Abigail Marsh, Psychologist. Indeed, whom, does inspires my research topic and question(s). TED Talk, Idea’s worth spreading.

The Greeks deluded the Trojans by using a young man to gain their sympathy that later leads to betrayal. Sinon is almost the only reason that the the Trojans initially took in the horse because he was the one that create the story of Minerva’s Wrath. Virgil writes, “ This fraud of Sinon, his accomplished lying, won us over; a tall tale and fake tears,... ”(Book II, Lines 260-262) This is a great example as to how the Trojans realized afterwards that they were almost completely blind to the fact that they are being tricked.

Trusting others can be your own ruination. The Aeneid by Virgil is a story in ancient Europe that tells of the story of the Trojans and their recovery after the war. In book II, the Greeks are about to sack Troy, but unlike The Odyssey, this is the point of view of the Trojans. Having trust in others can be as fragile as glass. The beginning of The Aeneid Book II, describes the Greeks start to fabricate a plan to sack Troy and in their plan they needed a way to get their soldiers in the city without being seen, so they created the Trojan Horse.

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?

Have you ever seen terrible things be done, but see the good in people? Most of the time human nature is to base judgement on first impressions. Although there are many people that disregard that and look beyond their actions and look deeper to see the pureness of their hearts. Anne Frank is a great example of this kind of person as she once said, “Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.” Finally, humans aren’t perfect, and have created destruction at some points in their lives, despite that everyone’s heart is in the right place, but is hidden.

Just as the authors of the Bible use an evocative, almost mythological vehicle to convey covenants and laws that set the moral tone for Hebrew and Christian societies, Latin poets Virgil and Ovid employ a similarly supernatural method to foster their own societal and moral goals in Roman society. Where Virgil's Aeneid depicts Aeneas as the ideal, duty-bound Roman patriarch absent from the conflicted Rome of Virgil's youth, Ovid's Metamorphoses lacks the patriotic undertones of Virgil's epic. Instead, Ovid's lighthearted Metamorphoses depicts several mythical stories - some not unlike the etiological justifications found in the early Hebrew scriptures - which chronicle the

Even though, Ancient Greeks nature was to be hospitable to strangers, their hospitality can become too overbearing. In other words there was no need to shower with so much affection. There were many occurrences were Odysseys was provided hospitality that men would dream to live and he denies it. In Book X The Bewitching Queen of Aeaea traveling back to his home, his suitors was lead into Circe’s the nymph who can speak human-like, with an murderous mind trap where Odysseys had to drink the drug in order not to be under the witches spell and to save his men. When he accomplishes it, Circe fall unto his knees and gave Odysseys everything he wanted, additionally sleeping with her and wishing for his men to be freed lead his men to be broken from

Although written a millennium apart, the Iliad and the Aeneid both focus on the battle between the Trojans and the Greeks or Romans. Both stories have two great warriors; Homer writes of Achilles and Hector whereas Virgil writes of Turnus and Aeneas. In the ensuing books, both writers depict the gruesome reality of wars through massive destruction and death. Homer writes in a more mythologized manner, focusing on the celebratory aspect of war. Virgil, on the other hand, writes of the brutal reality of war and the accompanied war frenzy. At the conclusion of both epic poems, the protagonist kills his foe, allowing him to fulfill his fate. In both the Iliad, and the Aeneid, the final battle consists of running, the confrontation, and the death. Although the battles have similar structures, the different writing styles and values of Homer and Virgil lead to different endings for both the hero and enemy.

Given that Rome had just been through multiple civil wars over the past 100 years, the themes of violence, vengeance, and conflict often occur in the poem. Throughout the poem Virgil shows that violence will only generate violence. In Book 2, Aeneas describes to Dido the last moment of the Trojan War when the Greeks sneak inside the walls of Troy through the wooden horse. He remember seizing his arms “- what reason for arms?/ Just my spirit burning to muster troops for battle,/ rush with comrades up to the city heights,/ fury and rage driving me breakneck on/ as it races through my mind/ what a noble thing it is to die in arms” (70). Even though Aeneas knows that the war is lost, he still wants to fight.

In tackling this final module, the amount of subjective, nearly unscientific topics served as a culture shock. As such, I found it difficult to be able to pinpoint on one specific topic, and settled upon what we all strive for - goodness. This section was located under humanistic theories of personality, which emphasized the good in humanity. More specifically, I want to focus on Carl Rogers’ theory that all people are inherently good.