The Aeneid Written by Virgil - Essay Example

Aeneid Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 BCE), better known to the English reader ics as Virgil, lived in a Rome, which was going through a period of upheaval. This was a period of civil strife that culminated in the defeat of Marc Anthony by Augustus Octavian. (This happened when Virgil was around 40 years of age) Once the Emperor Augustus consolidated his position, the power of Rome grew, and it witnessed what historians referred to as the Golden Age. Virgil was a personal friend of the Emperor, and his book, the Aeneid, justifies the rule of Augustus, and his conquests of nearly half of the then-known world. The hero of Aeneid is Aeneas, and the poet shows that it is destiny that makes him flee to Italy; later his descendants build the Roman Empire. All this happens because it is willed by the gods. Aeneas survives the Greek siege of Troy. The Greeks enter the city by hiding themselves in a large wooden horse. This epic poem is in two parts-the first part (Books 1-6) is about Aeneas' flight from Troy accompanied by his father, Anchises, and son, Ascanius (his wife dies in the sack of Troy), and the terrible troubles he has to deal with, till he finally reaches Rome. He travels across the sea, stops at Carthage, where he falls in love with the queen Dido, and lives with her. He is forced to leave, sacrificing his love to the call of duty. Fate sends him to Italy. In the second part (Books 7-12) Aeneas wins the hand of Princess Lavinia, after defeating her suitor, Turnus. The events of part I-preceding the lines 347 to 398 (52 lines)-are as follows. Fate has destined Aeneas for Latium, but Juno is opposed to him and delays him. In a beauty contest, Paris, a Trojan, had judged Venus to be superior to Juno. Aeneas is a Trojan and the son of Venus, and hence incurs Juno's hostility. Aeolus, the god of the winds is persuaded by Juno to create a storm. Aeneas is in deep despair, and a Trojan ship is also lost. Neptune, the god of the seas, comes to know of Juno's plot and he allays the storm. On Mount Olympus, Venus observes the storm and is distressed. She appeals to Jupiter. She tells him that it was he who had predicted that although Aeneas will abandon Troy, he would reach Italy safely. But now, because of the wrath of one person (Juno) Aeneas has to face so many troubles. And Venus pleads with Jupiter to help her son. The lines 1.347 to 398 are Jupiter's reply to Venus' pleas. He smiles and clears the storms. He reassures her that he has not forgotten his earlier words-that Aeneas' fortunes will one day shine. He talks of how Aeneas will reach Italy and crush the fierce tribes there. He will build cities and wield power over Lavinium. And later on, his son Ascanius would rule for thirty years. Subsequently, Ascanius would found Alba, and the line would continue for three hundred years. Then Romulus and Remus-twin brothers-his descendants would be born. He would build a city, and the Roman race would be remembered by his name. Jupiter assures Venus that there would be no limits to the expansion of the empire thus created by Romulus, and eventually even Juno, who was then harassing Aeneas, would calm down, and help the Roman line to flourish and succeed. Jupiter predicts that even proud Mycene (Greece) would bow down to this empire which evolved from Trojan (Aeneas') ancestry. He mentions the name of Julius Caesar, the great emperor who would, by his conquests, would bring glory to Rome. And he mentions Julius' successors, who would ensure that the gates of Janus would remain closed. (The gates of the temple to Janus, during Virgil's time were kept open during war-so Jupiter implies that there would come a time of peace for the land.) Thus, the scene is set for Aeneas to land at Carthage. The lines discussed above are crucial to the poem, because through them we are told that Aeneas is meant for great things. The audience is also given the message that Emperor Augustus, whose lineage can be traced to Aeneas, has the sanction of the gods to rule over Rome and all the lands conquered by Rome. Aeneas has many adventures before we come to the events described in Book 6. He safely reaches Carthage, and is welcomed by Queen Dido. They fall in love and live together. However, Aeneas is reminded by the gods that he has a purpose to achieve, and so must leave Carthage. So he sacrifices his personal happiness and leaves. Dido is angered and grieved, and kills herself when Aeneas leaves her. Aeneas has many difficulties on his way. His ships are blown towards Sicily instead of Italy. He lands there, and to his dismay, the womenfolk set fire to the ships so that they need not voyage anymore. However, a downpour puts out the fires-here again, we may assume that it is the hands of Fate that ensure that although Aeneas is tested many times over, he still manages to overcome all obstacles and fulfill the prophecies about his future. Aeneas, father dies peacefully in Sicily. But Aeneas is reinvigorated by a dream in which his father visits him, and he moves on, though permitting those who wish to stay back to do so. In Italy, Aeneas visits the temple of Apollo, and he is blessed and permitted to visit the underworld, where he experiences many things that give him fresh insights that make him a more compassionate person. He meets his father, and he also witnesses a pageant of the future history of Rome, which is inextricably tied up with his life (his descendants). Thus the importance of his mission is impressed upon him. Aeneas then leaves and travels up to Latium. Lines 6.1211-1222 (12 lines) briefly describe Aeneas' exit from the underworld. The lines state that at the exit of the underworld there are two gates, one made of horn, which is the gate of Sleep, and the other one of white ivory, which is the gate of "False Dreams." Aeneas exits the underworld through the gate of False Dreams. The above lines, though brief, have considerable significance in Virgil's Aeneid, and have been discussed at length by scholars. The lines are placed strategically at the end of what may be considered the end of the first part of Aeneas' story. Apart from this, they are a little terse in contrast to the previous long-winded and descriptive passages. Scholars have suspected that Virgil cleverly tried to convey a different message through these lines. The fact that Aeneas exited through the Gate of False Dreams is interpreted to mean that whatever Aeneas did subsequently was false. This is taken to be a veiled criticism of Emperor Augustus himself-the descendant of Aeneas. It has been said that since Virgil was a protg of Augustus and depended on him, he could not criticize him openly, and therefore he chose this oblique way of doing it. An opposite view is given by another group of academics, who state that too much need not be read from this passage. In describing Aeneas' exit from the underworld, Virgil has stated that true shades (ghosts) left through the Gates of Sleep, at night; since Aeneas was not truly a ghost (not having died) he left through the other, and during day. They also add, that this was just a caution by Virgil to the reader not to take the theological implications of Aeneas' visit to the underworld (for instance, reincarnation) literally. These scholars also point out that Virgil died before Aeneid was published, and he had meant to revise these passages, but was unable to. The book was published a year after his death. After Aeneas exits the underworld, the Trojans continue their journey till they reach Latium. There, they are welcomed by King Latinus, who hopes that Aeneas is the very person, who according to a prophecy was to marry his daughter, Lavinia. However, Lavinia's mother, Amata is not in favour of this, and she wishes her daughter to marry Turnus. So she is hostile to the Trojans. In the meantime, Ascanius happens to hunt a stag, which is the pet of the local huntsmen, and the situation being such, not much more is needed for a full scale war to break out. Aeneas is away (this is when Venus gives him a new set of weapons forged by Vulcan) when Turnus attacks his men. When Aeneas comes back the battle is raging, and Turnus attacks and kills Pallas in battle. He arrogantly appropriates Pallas' sword-belt as a trophy. The killing of Pallas is a turning point in the story, as this infuriates Aeneas, who has hitherto been emotionally calm. It is now inevitable that Aeneas will fight to the bitter end. Aeneas is ready to fight, and is in danger of killing Turnus. This is when Juno begs Jupiter to permit her to save Turnus, especially since Aeneas himself receives Venus' protection. The lines 10.890-966 (77 lines) deal with what happens at this juncture. Juno assumes Aeneas' form and comes in front of Turnus. Turnus thinking her to be his adversary chases her, and she leads him away to a ship moored there. Turnus follows this phantom. But once he is on the ship, the moorings are loosened, and he drifts away from the scene of battle, and is thus protected from Aeneas' wrath, and death. However, Juno instead of helping Turnus has humiliated him. Turnus feels that his honor has been sacrificed, and for the Trojans and Aeneas this is a moral victory-as their adversary has shamefully fled the scene of battle. This boosts their spirit. Turnus himself now decides that he has to avenge his honor on the battlefield-it is a question of do or die for him, and there is no turning back. Book 10 is also reminiscent of the Siege of Troy, with some differences. In Troy, the Trojans lost on home ground to the Greek plunderers who came to rescue the maiden, Helen. In Latium, the Trojans, who were initially welcomed by the Latins, now defeat them on their (Latin) territory. But the Trojans do not plan to leave. They will stay there and establish their line and their hegemony. The final book (12) is the one in which Aeneas meets Turnus in combat and kills him. Aeneas decides to a duel with Turnus, so that unnecessary lives are not lost in the battle. However, at Juno's bidding, Juturna, Turnus' sister, eggs him on to break the truce, because they fear that Turnus will be killed by Aeneas in a hand to hand combat. In the confusion that follows many more are slain and Aeneas himself wounded, but he is helped by a balm sent down by Venus, and comes back to tackle Turnus in a duel. The lines 12-760-781 talk of Aeneas' resolve to raze the smoking rooftops of Latium. By attacking the city itself (till now both the armies were ranged outside on the battlefield) he plans to take it over, and once and for all uproot the cause for war itself. These lines speak of Aeneas' resolve that builds up to be decisive. His resolve leads to his fighting Turnus, and at the last moment, just when he is about to relent and let Turnus go as Turnus himself begs him to spare him, he sees the sword-belt of Pallas worn by Turnus. This enrages him further, and he finally slays Turnus. Thus ends the epic, with the victory of Aeneas and his marriage with Lavinia. In the end, Juno too gives up her support of Turnus, when Jupiter reminds her that in any case Aeneas is destined to win. She however, extracts a promise from Jupiter that the Latin name will not die. So, the Trojan, Aeneas, 'allows' the Latin name and language to continue. We may conclude by restating that Virgil's Aeneid is a justification of the Augustan rule. He ensures that gods and destiny are shown to influence the course of events. Aeneas, though a heroic character in that he continues to strive and sacrifice personal happiness, is nevertheless a pawn in the hands of the gods. What happens to Turnus and him is determined in the heavens by Juno and Venus' desires, arbitrated upon by Jupiter. There are very few places where human will is shown as predominant. Works Cited Virgil Aeneid, translated by Robert Fitzerald Read More