Aeneas
The Aeneid is a poem of parallels and contrasts. This is because Virgil crafted his epic as a means of placing the Romans above the Greeks on the literal level. It was often understood that while Rome had a far superior military, the Greeks had a far more evolved sense of Art and the more sublime aspects of existence. As such, Virgil wrote the Aeneid as a direct parallel to Homer’s great epics: the Odyssey and the Iliad. He saw these works as the pinnacles of Greek fable, and as such he felt that he had to write a superior epic in order to show the Greeks Rome’s cultural dominance. He felt that the best way to do so was to closely emulate the Homeric epics with one important change: heroes with Roman minds and ideals. The typical Greek hero, such as Achilles, was a much more self serving glory hound, who took a sort of delight in the wanton slaughter of enemies and had much less depth of character. Aeneas, on the other hand, is a more developed hero. He has a three-fold code of conduct: Duty to the gods, duty to one’s country, and duty to one’s family. This is called ‘pietas’. Throughout the Aeneid, he attempts to find the best course of action to satisfy his duties. As such, the Aeneid’s first half is very much so one of growt
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Mezentius Pp, Roman Book, Italians Turnus, King Latinus, Book Aeneas, Aeneas Mezentius, Juno Aeneas, Virgil Mezentius, Greeks Romes, Entellus Dares, mezentius lack, king latinus, drawn conflict juno, battle mezentius, typical greek, pp 184, 184 ln, lausus mother, greek hero, duty ones, pp 184 ln, mezentius lack character, pious aeneas,
Approximate Word count = 2087
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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