The Personification of Rome
Virgil spent a substantial amount of time and research on his masterpiece, The Aeneid. His goal was to create a piece of literature that would be praised by King Augustus Caesar of Rome. In order to properly display his devotion and gratitude towards his gracious leader, Virgil wrote The Aeneid as an adoration of Rome. The book was designed to exalt the country ruled by Augustus, while simultaneously giving a sense of the new, ordered society. The features and virtues of Rome were indirectly personified through Aeneas. This was proven by the background and roots of the creation of the book, the main characters similarities to Augustus, and his dedication to duty and responsibility, which resembled that of Rome and its people. Virgil first befriended Octavian, or future emperor Augustus, when he was studying law and rhetoric in Rome. During the reign of Augustus, poetry and prose flourished in Rome. Both the king himself and his close advisor, Marcenas were patrons of influential poets and writers of that time. As a result, the relationship between Augustus and Virgil became one of respect for each other and their duty to society. With this is mind; Virgil took on the task of creating an epic poem that would embody the charact
Virgil visited various landmarks and sites that me writes about in his depiction of Rome. Upon reaching Athens, and ultimately facing declining health conditions, he came across King Augustus and was asked to accompany him to Italy. The trip was not beneficial to the health situation at hand, and Virgil was not able to survive the voyage. As a final request before his untimely death, Virgil asked that his work up until that point on The Aeneid be destroyed. Such a request was due to the fact that he did not want to present Augustus with an unfinished piece. However, Augustus disobeyed his dying wish and, instead, put two of Virgil's friends on the job of finishing his epic . Augustus and Aeneas also shared the quality of being dedicated to the duties and responsibilities of the given time, particularly their devotion to the gods. As written in the epic, Aeneas abandoned his love for Dido to follow the command given to him by Mercury, who was sent by Jupiter. Aeneas was informed that the duty given to him by fate was to discover a new homeland. He had strayed away from that while pursuing his minds desire to be with Dido. Mercury informed Aeneas that he must sail from Carthage immediately and seek out the destiny that he was sent to. Due to his devotion to fate and the gods, Aeneas acted immediately upon Mercury's request, and set his ships to leave. All of which was done without informing Dido. She eventually discovered the truth on her own, and was not happy with the decision of Aeneas. As a result, she committed suicide and prayed for eternal hostility between her people and those of Aeneas (Virgil, 4:97-118). Augustus, too, felt similarly in his devotion to the gods. He put fate and destiny above all else. Such dependency on the will of the gods was
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Approximate Word count = 1193
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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