The Truth Behind The Aeneid

In its simplest definition history is an account of the past, based on evidence. The word history comes from the Greek word historia which means inquiry, an act of asking for information. When looking at history its more than just the facts and accounts of our past, it is how the stories are told where one is able to find the deeper truths. During our time in this course over the past semester we have read and used countless accounts of history to learn about our past. Within some of these accounts one can find a more intricate/embellished truth behind history. When looking at Virgil and his best known writing the Aeneid, the story of founding of Rome, one can see the intricate truths behind the story. The Aeneid, is the famous story of the

The Iliad poem is set during the Trojan War, the main character of the story is the great warrior Achilles, son of Thetis, the god of water and Peleus. Throughout the poem Homer constantly writes about how big of a role the Greek gods played in this ten-year war. For instance, Homer writes, “He (Agamemnon) spoke in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard him. Down from the peaks of Olympus he strode… Then he sat down apart from the ships and let fly an arrow: terrible was the twang of the silver bow.” Homer then continues to go on about how Apollos arrow “actually” struck first the animals and then the men. At the time this was the only historical accounts that were written. Therefore, people had no other reason not to believe these embellished accounts of the past. Additionally, when Homer writes about the great fight between Hektor and Achilles, he talks about how Athena, god of wisdom, aids Achilles during the fight. After Achilles misses with his spear Homer writes, “Athena then snatched up and gave it back to Achilles without Hektor’s seeing her…” it seems that Homer using embellishment to give more life to the account of the Trojan War. Another example later in the account of the fight when, “sprang on Achilles like a soaring eagle which swoops down from the clouds on to some lamb or timid hare” this type of vivid writing gives the reader strong imagery yet, at the same time it takes away from the truth of the