The Violence of Virgil's Aeneid
The story of Virgil's Aeneid was drawn from many sources, the most
influential being the work of the Greek poet Homer. Virgil based the first six
books of the Aeneid on the Odessey and the last six books on the Iliad both
written by Homer. The Aeneid describes the adventures of Aeneas, the legendary
Trojan hero who survived the fall of troy, sailed westward to Italy and founded
Rome. During the time that Virgil wrote the Aeneid he incorporated all known
Rome history up to his own time.
The book is world renowned and also is said by many to be one of the
best works ever. The last chapter of the Aeneid has caused some problems for
readers. The first problem that is evident is the manner in which Aeneas deals
with Turnus. In book XII Turnus states that the fight should be between the two
men as apposed to both armies fighting any further. Turnus had every right to
dislike Aeneas who came unannounced, tried to take his fiancé, Aeneas' son
killed their sacred deer, and he took his land. They have a great dual and
Aeneas disarmed Turnus by striking him in the leg. With his sword to his chest
Turnus makes a last request for his body to be returned to his family, as Aeneas
is considering the request he notices that Turnus is wearing the sword belt of
Pallas and the stoic ways of Aeneas leave him as rage, fury, and anger run
through his body. He kills Turnus in anger and dedicates his death to Pallas.
This loss of control and act of violence is the opposite of stoicism and the way
Aeneas had been portrayed the rest of the epic.
Turnus has to die for the founding of Rome to occur but he should not
have been killed in such a way. The killing was payback for the dishonorable
way that Pallas was killed. The sword belt had images that reflect Augustinian
Rome as did the shield in book eight. The theft of the belt from Pallas can be
compared to the stolen helmet and the youth slain when his guard was down and
A twenty-first century reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey will highlight a seeming lack of justice: hundreds of men die because of an adulteress, the most honorable characters are killed, the cowards survive, and everyone eventually goes to hell. Due to the difference in the time period, culture, prominent religions and values, the modern idea of justice is much different than that of Greece around 750 B.C. The idea of justice in Virgil’s the Aeneid is easier for us to recognize. As in our own culture, “justice” in the epic is based on a system of punishment for wrongs and rewards for honorable acts. Time and time again, Virgil provides his readers with examples of justice in the lives of his characters. Interestingly, the meaning of justice in the Aeneid transforms when applied to Fate and the actions of the gods. Unlike our modern (American) idea of blind, immutable Justice, the meanings and effects of justice shift, depending on whether its subject is mortal or immortal.
[2] Homer's Iliad: books 13 &14. [3]Aeneid: book: 1.144 ff. [4] Aeneid: book: 1.88-89. [5] Ovid's Metamorphoses: translated by A.D.Melville: p.16. [6] Galinsky: Ovid's Metamorphoses: p.168. [7]Metamorphoses: p.7.
From one point of view, Aeneas seems to always have the military upper hand, and Turnus seems physically inferior, thus not threatening. However, from a different perspective Turnus is deceptive, thus menacing. When he thinks he can win, he does not hesitate to act. After refusing Aeneas’ challenge, he sees a stone and tries to "hurl [it] at his foe" (Vergil XII 1226). Even though "the stone itself,/ Tumbling through space, [falls] short and [has] no impact" (XII 1230-1231), Turnus clearly seeks to destroy Aeneas.
Pierce, Jon L. and John W. Newstrom (2011) 6th edition. Leaders and the Leadership Process.
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
Turnus may have spared if he did not gloat about killing Pallas. After killing Pallas, Turnus stepped on his body and took his sword belt. He refused to bury Pallas, as well. If he would have buried Pallas instead of embarrassing him. Aeneas probably would have had some consideration being that the killing occurred during a war, in which many people killed each other.
“I was obliged to memorize the wanderings of a hero named Aeneas, while in the meantime I failed to remember my own erratic ways. I learned to lament the death of Dido, who killed herself for love, while all the time, in the midst of these things, I was dying, separated from you, my God and my Life.
In Virgil’s poem, The Aeneid, the ideal Roman hero is depicted in the form of Aeneas. Not only does Aeneas represent the Roman hero, but he also represents what every Roman citizen is called to be. Each Roman citizen must posses two major virtues, he must remain pious, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In the poem, Aeneas encompasses both of these virtues, and must deal with both the rewards and costs of them.
In his Confessions, Augustine relates that, in his school years, he was required to read Virgil’s Aeneid. The ill-fated romance of Aeneas and Dido produced such an emotional effect on him. Augustine says that Virgil’s epic caused him to forget his own “wanderings” (Augustine 1116). He wept over Dido’s death, but remained “dry-eyed to [his] own pitiful state” (Augustine 1116 – 7). Augustine later rejects literature and theater because he believes that they distract the soul from God. Nonetheless, Augustine shares many of the same experience as the characters in the Aeneid. Augustine discovers that love can be destructive, just as it was for Dido. Both Aeneas and Augustine of them give up love for the sake of duty. Aeneas leaves Dido to fulfill his calling given by the gods. Augustine ends his lustful affairs in order that he may devote himself to his God.
Many people seem to be under the impression that the Aeneid is a celebration of Roman glory, led by the hero of fate Aeneas. I find these preconceived ideas hard to reconcile with my actual reading of the text. For starters, I have a hard time viewing Aeneas as a hero at all. Almost any other main characters in the epic, from Dido to Camilla to Turnus, have more heroic qualities than Aeneas. This is especially noteworthy because many of these characters are his enemies. In addition, Aeneas is presented as a man with no free will. He is not so much bound to duty as he is shielded by it. It offers a convenient way for hum to dodge crucial moral questions. Although this doesn’t necessarily make him a bad person, it certainly makes him a weak one. Of course some will argue that it takes greater moral conviction to ignore personal temptation and act for the good of the people. These analysts are dodging the issue just like Aeneas does. The fact is that Aeneas doesn’t just sacrifice his own personal happiness for the common good; he also sacrifices the past of the Trojan people, most notably when he dishonors the memory of his fallen city by becoming the men he hated most, the Greek invaders. The picture of Aeneas as seen in the end of the Aeneid bears some sticking resemblances to his own depiction of the savage and treacherous Greeks in the early books.
"My lord who rule The lives of men and gods now and forever, And bring them all to heel with your bright bolt, What in the world could my Aeneas do, What could the Trojans do, to so offend you?
"Stuff," or geras as it was called in Aeneas' time, was the main objective of pursuit for heroes. It bestowed kleos but more often was the means to their untimely end. Aeneas and Turnus both fell under this curse leading to Aeneas' kleos and Turnus' untimely end , but their geras was often bestowed upon them by the Gods. These godly gifts prophesized events to come, and give us a way to compare and contrast the two men - Aeneas and Turnus. In this paper, I will analyze the armor that Turnus and Aeneas receive from the Gods, and show that it prophesizes the world to come, the endeavors of the two heroes, and more importantly it prophesizes the ending of the poem through the scenes depicted on the "stuff" given by the gods.
When discussing the fate of Aeneas, a thought provoking question is posed that is commonly debated. If Aeneas is commanded by fate, does he have free will? It is important to approach this question with a solid understand of fate. There are two common sides to the debate of whether Aeneas had free will or not. One view believes Aeneas had no choice but to follow his destiny because he was commanded by fate, and prophesied to found the race that will one day build Rome. The other side states Aeneas did indeed have free will, and even though his fate was set, room is available within his fate for events to change. One can argue Aeneas makes some of his own choices, but no particular detail of his life is untouched. Destiny determines that the Trojans will found a city in Italy, but it does not stipulate how that will happen. This is where room is left for free will. After much research and considering the views of many commentators and the proof they showed, the answer can simply be found by going back to the text of The Aeneid.
Raymond W. Cox III, Gregory K. Plagens, and Keba Sylla, “The Leadership-followership Dynamic: Making the Choice to Follow,” International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences 5, no. 8 (December 2010): 46, Academic Search Complete, http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=73343622&site=ehost-live (accessed March 1, 2014).
Bennis, W. & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: The Strategies for taking charge. New York: Harper Row.