Aeneas

A detailed Summary of 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

First there is the typical 'Greek' model of heroic conflict, in which there is a heroic figure that must battle (and dispatch) a clearly evil antithetical figure whose only goal is to cause pain and to further his own ends. This conflict is portrayed by Aeneas' battle with Mezentius. Mezentius is an Italian general who is described as "Mezentius the cruel, despiser of the gods" pp. 184, ln 855, an exiled king who seeks revenge (pp. 271, ln 168-1169). He is an evil personage who chains his living enemies to dead bodies, so that their putrefaction can enter the enemy's living body. "when Aeneas sees [Mezentius] down the long line of attack, he hurries on to meet him. The massive body of Mezentius stands, unfrightened, steady, and awaiting his great-hearted enemy; his eyes take measure of how much space is needed for his spear: ' My own right hand, which is my god...'" pp 268, ln 1056 - 1062 Virgil shows the conflict between the two by saying that as soon as Aeneas caught a glimpse of Mezentius, he knew that he had to battle him. Mezentius' lack of piety (to gods) is shown through his comment that the whole of his beliefs rests in his hand, or his own strength. Mezentius is injured, when his son Lausus joins the fray in order to save his father. Lausus is an interesting character: he is an admirable, likable, tragic, enemy, a small-scale version of Turnus. When he is first introduced, Virgil says, "Lausus, tamer of wild horses, a hunter and a victor over beats, who leads out of the city of Agylla a thousand men who followed him for nothing; one worthy to obey a better father - a father who was not Mezentius." Pp 184, ln 859 - 863. When Aeneas fights Lausus, this is what happens:

h, and Aeneas' growth from a Homeric sort of hero into a Roman one. In Book 2 especially, Aeneas does not show himself to be "pious" in the Roman sense of the word. His first thoughts are to search for vengeance among the Greeks whom are pillaging Troy. He says, " 'the city that you would help is now in flames. Then let us rush to arms and die. The lost have only this one deliverance: to hope for none' so were these young men's spirits spurred to fury. Then - just as plundering wolves in a black fog," pp 41, ln 475 - 481 He behaves like a Greek hero, that is, he is out for his own personal glory and seeks satisfaction for his feelings of being wronged. He completely ignores his obligation to his country, to preserve his gods and escape to found Rome. He is described as a wolf, a creature typically seen as a scavenging, unhonorable, thing. In book 4 we see an Aeneas who has just lost his father, his source of guidance. He commits a huge amount of mistakes that cumulate in the death of Dido and the burning of Carthage. The gods tell him that he must leave so that he can found his new city. By Book 7 Aeneas is essentially a fully Roman hero. He is "pious Aeneas". In addition to this, he shows strong emotion when he kills, a strong disdain of slaughter. An interesting juxtaposition of ideas about heroics and villainy comes into play while delving into the last half of the epic.

"The blade passed th

Some common words found in the essay are:
Mezentius Pp, Roman Book, Italians Turnus, King Latinus, Aeneas Mezentius, Book Aeneas, Juno Aeneas, Virgil Mezentius, Greeks Rome's, Entellus Dares, king latinus, mezentius' lack, pp 184 ln, pp 184, greek hero, 184 ln, anchises' son, lausus' mother, duty one's, pious aeneas, mezentius' lack character, drawn conflict juno, cares lausus',

Approximate Word count = 2087
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English