Fate, Discipline, And Competition In Virgil's The Aeneid

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In The Aeneid there are rich implemented principles such as fate, discipline, and competition which greatly influenced the Roman empire causing it’s rise from obedience to the principles as well as it’s fall from disobedience. Virgil lived during the dawn of the rising sRoman empire, and his book was a catalyst to the greatness that grew within the nation. The Aeneid focused around the principle that fate’s power and dominance overrule human life, which in turn would bring indolence or proactivity depending on the individual’s capacity. Although fate can easily be ripped down as a belief it did many great things for the Romans whether it is real or not. Unfortunately the themes of deceit and trickery also crept into the book’s contents, which …show more content…

The idea that one’s destiny is already determined is both comforting yet brings dismay because it leaves a feeling of powerlessness which is fine for the lazy but painful for the proactive. This idea is surely a failure among principles but even so the role of fate is not completely limited to these terms and ideas. Fate in the book was seen more as a mission that Aeneas had in life, and it would only happen on his obedience to his tasks. This type of belief that “actions determine fate” is actually quite healthy for a society to follow. During Aeneas’ journey there were several times that he faced difficult temptations that tested his obedience …show more content…

During their travels the Trojans often played games and had competition, this principle of honor and competition would develop a type of mastery within the nation. But even so competition is a catalyst for anger and hatred that can boil men’s blood, so did it build or break the Roman empire? In either case it happened, which did improve the men’s strength from athletic competitions and grew the culture immensely, but also inspired a competition that had the ability to ruin the people’s love for each-other. In addition this competition has inspired western culture even today with the Olympics and sports. Aeneas’ men were inspired and motivated in their competition which led them to pushing and working harder than their normal capacity would allow, so this competition helped the people work harder than thought possible. Although the side-effects of things like this could be problematic the good that comes from it outweighs the problems, and it is a principle for nations to seek out correctly. In conclusion the competition of the Romans inspired men and women to go beyond their natural capacities and do great things for their nation, proving that it acted as a type of masterful competition against one’s

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