The Aeneid by Virgil

The Aeneid by Virgil

In Virgil’s famous text The Aeneid he writes about the history of the coming of Rome and the journey of its Trojan founder, Aeneas, from the wreckage of his old home at Troy. While this text is extremely supportive of the greatness of the Roman Empire, it also has a distinctly private second voice that talks about loss. We also find that in Confessions by Saint Augustine the author at times addresses God very personally, and at other times does not refer to him much at all. The private tones of these two texts contrast in that Augustine’s is generally positive, while the corresponding voice in Virgil describes loss.

Virgil begins The Aeneid with a general summary of the story that he is about to tell and, while the great rise of Rome is foretold, the suffering of its founder is also interwoven. That the greatness of Rome is mentioned so early is not surprising, because the purpose of this text is to glorify Rome, its people, and their histories. Virgil begins his text with, “I sing of warfare and a man at war. / From the sea-coast of Troy in early days / He came to Italy by destiny,… / [There] he could found a city and bring home / His gods to Latium, land of the Latin race, / The Alban lords, and the high walls of Rome.” (Virgil, 3) These first few lines appear very optimistic and boastful. Aeneas is destined by fate to found Rome, and also to bring with him the favor of his gods. When read in this form, these lines are positive; however, Virgil also forecasts misfortune for Aeneas.

Several of the first few lines also contain prospects for Aeneas to suffer losses. In the lines in the preceding paragraph, the first ellipsis reads as follows: “…A fugitive...

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...der’s attention to important issues within the text without compromising the author’s style or message. The main differences between the two are that it is more accurate to characterize Augustine’s writing as having one voice which speaks in a private, direct tone to God when he has something important to say and in a general, relaxed tone the other times. In contrast, Virgil writes in a private voice to pity the large amount Aeneas suffered against his own will to found Rome while the public voice solicits propaganda for Rome. Nevertheless, both authors successfully use their styles to convey important ideas which we continue to see and hear of today.

Works Cited

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1990.

Saint Augustine. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.