Theme Of Water In The Aeneid

Water.  It expresses its’ power in the form of hurricanes and flash floods.  It displays its gentleness, washing dirt off a child's scabbed knee.  Water has been used to quench the thirst of many longing throats; and it has been the cause of death to those who unfavorably crossed its path.  It possesses the power of total destruction, yet it holds the bases of all life.  Generally, water has symbolized cleanliness and renewal.  In the Bible, water was used in Baptism, cleansing the soul of original sin and offering a new life in the light of God.  Water in itself is a natural purifier, washing the dirt from our bodies. Water is a symbol of

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid describe the journeys of the two Greek heroes –Odysseus and Aeneas, as they struggle towards their goal through the crises and deadly situations caused by the wrath of the gods upon them. In the Odyssey, we see that Poseidon (god of the sea/earth shaker) has a grudge against Odysseus while Athena, god of wisdom, aids him throughout his journey. Similarly in the Aeneid, we see that goddess Juno dislikes Aeneas as he is destined to destroy the city of Carthage loved by Juno during his mission to find a new land- Rome, whereas Aeneas’ mother Venus aids him.

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.

The geography of rivers is important to their symbolism in this story. Antonio’s river starts from a lake, a place of no morals; studies prove that infants are selfish beyond belief, and so is water at its birth. His river carries the water to the ocean, the place where all water lands, carrying the blood and salt and debris that it picks up on its long journey. All high rivers go to the ocean, no matter how many lakes they go through. The ocean is where water goes to die, until its spirit, in clean water, is carried through the clouds back into the frigid mountain lakes, where it is born again. This is the cycle of water, and the cycle of life.

Oceans are essential for our environment since they produce more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere covering about seventy percent of the Earth. Without our vast oceans, humankind would be unable to survive. In Annie John, by Jamaica Kincaid, utilizes water as a motif to show the growth and develop of Annie, a young girl in the Caribbean. Learning how to properly balance the values of the colonial world and the native Caribbean culture, Obeah, Annie grows up through her mother’s parenting. Kincaid uses water as a tool of empowerment to Annie’s growth by curing, nurturing, and transforming her.

In discussing fire imagery in the Aeneid I will attempt in the course of this paper to bring in an analytic device to aid in assembling the wide array of symbols into a more uniform set of meaning. Consistently throughout the Aeneid, fire serves to provoke the characters to action. Action which otherwise it is not clear they would enter upon. Fire clears the way for the juggernaut plot to advance. Juno, first of all, described as burning - pondering (with her hatred of the Dardans) goes to Aeolus with the idea of sending the winds to create an under-handed storm to destroy the Trojans, at the sight of their fleeing ships and successful escape from the Greeks (I.75)1. Fire from the Greeks burns down

Water is used in “Children of the Sea” as a method of escape for Haitians. The story consists of letters by two people written to each other that they can not actually send. In the beginning of the story, Danticat writes “I also know there are timeless waters, endless seas, and lots of people in this world whose names don’t matter to anyone but themselves,” (3). This part of the male character’s letter alludes to the fact that his story of trying to escape Haiti and the struggles that come with that is not just

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.

One of the major themes present in lines 295-332 in Book VI of The Aeneid is human suffering. In this book, Aeneas travels to Dis in order

Water is something that is seen as solely necessary for human beings to stay hydrated, but the novels being mentioned in this paper describe water as being something more. Praisesong for the Widow by Paule Marshall, Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat and Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain all depict water as being something that helps with liberation, recovery and new life.

Also in Book I, still very near the beginning, another prophecy is seen. During the storm (128), Aeneas is remembering all of the people he knew that died in the battle. He begins to pray for all of them and he asks why his life was not taken too. Aeneas wonders why all of the strong warriors died and his life was spared. Just as he is questioning this great mystery, another gust of wind takes many of the remaining ships under. Aeneas becomes

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid represent their cultures very well, but they express different ideas on what one should strive for in life.  There are also different forces that pushed both epics to be written.  The Aeneid expresses the Roman idea of pietas which means to show extreme respect for one’s ancestors. We see this in Aeneas when he is pictured caring his father away from burning Troy.  He has pietas because he cared so much for his father that in fleeing from Troy he took up his father over his shoulder to save his from certain death.  This is not the only major idea in the Aeneid.  There is also a very political focus.  The Roman were very interested in politics which comes through in the Aeneid. The Odyssey has the Greek

Aeneas on the other hand is much more focused on the future; he is also trying to get home, but that home does not exist yet, besides that, while seeing his old friends he also finds out about the future of his generations and yet even more about the city he is on his way to establish. This could bring us to the point of Homer 's vs. Virgil 's reasons for writing their poems; as mentioned earlier, Homer wrote his poem for entertainment purposes. This explains why the majority of book eleven is made up of Odysseus meeting his old friends and great warriors of the war; through telling their stories, Homer entertained the readers and the audience by letting them imagine how the heroes act after their death (what still matters to them, which quarrels have not been forgotten etc.). Virgil on the other hand skips most of the greetings of Aeneas with old friends and focuses instead on the meeting with his father. There, while including sentimentality, the main point of the meeting is for Aeneas and the readers to find out about where the rulers of Rome came from. Aeneas in the underworld gets to see, although not speak to, his future son, the future Caesars and learns all about the glory of the future empire.

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.

The Aeneid also made me think of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Reason being is because after the storm, most individuals had to find food, water, housing etc. It was a very emotional event for the individuals in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. Some individuals even died from this event. Still to this day,