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BOOK ONE
Invocation of the Muses 1-4
- line suggests both appropriations of Homers poems
- “came by destiny” has gods support and has been a journey none the less (the gods knew
all along Rome would rule the world)
- principle opponent introduced: Juno who was on the Grecian side because of the
Judgement of Paris
- poem thematically structured by Juno’s anger starting and ending
Simile of the Magistrate 201-215
- Poseidon tries to calm the waves to step Aeneas from being blown off course
- Compared to the effect of a political leader able to quiet a riot, calm a political arising
- Very Roman, comparing nature to politics
- Main theme: power of rage to be suppressed
- Allusion to Plublius Clodius and his gang organizations
- Political official could be Augustus calming madness at the end of the republic (brought
peace)
Jupiter’s Promise to Venus 384-398
- fight to establish rather than to destroy a city
- import culture and way of life just as the Romans do
- furor = Latin for anger/fury
- chains up “angry” god and re-establishes the golden age
The Building of Carthage 578-597
- Dido had fled from Tyre
- Mythical explanation for conflict with Rome
- Image of Carthage being built stirs within him the desire to build his own city
- Aeneas begins a new her definition with emphasis on family, value, civilization, etc.
- Bees = social, productive, organized, co-operative
BOOK TWO
- dido offers alliance and share in the building of Carthage
- Venus sends amor (god, son) to affect Dido so that she won’t harm Aeneas
- Asks Aeneas the story of the fall of troll (thus books 2 + 3)
The Horse and Sinon 59-70, 82-93, 141-145, 196-215, 268-272
- Myth explicitly states that the Trojans were their ancestors
- However, may be bad because the Trojans were viewed as opulent, wealthy but soft
easterners, soft for wealth
- Also, they were the LOSERS of Troy
- Virgil has to change their image
- Do that with the Horse
- Greek actor Sinon who lies
- Drama was seen as beneath the Romans but suitable for the dramatic Greeks
- Sinon lies and performs
- After 10 years of warfare, a trick is what gets them
- Suggestion that the Greeks could only attain victory by mean of deception
The Ghost of Hector 360-397
- Hector passes the torch to Aeneas
- If Troy could have been saved, I would have done so
- Take the Lares and Penates and found a new land
Aeneas Fights 421-426, 465-475
- Aeneas is a new hero: not a war hero but a civilization hero
- Driven by fury at first but will change and become the epitome of civilized behaviour
Aeneas Flees Troy 730-736, 780-786, 921-935
-
Neoptolemus / Phyrrus kills son of Priam in front of him and then kills Priam on an altar
Pietas = pious ness/piety, respect and duty and devotion to gods, state and family
Typical of Aeneid
Carries Penates, brings son, carries father = all great symbols that rome will continue in
this tradition
BOOK FOUR
Dido succumbs to Amor
- Venus sends son to make her fall in love and therefore not harm Aeneas
- Juno’s in support but for more malevolent reasons (she thinks Aeneas will lose)
- 33-40
- Dido was married before
- Referring to univira but changes later
- 66-75
- The addition of the Trojans will make Punic glory glow
- If Aeneas stays, Rome will not be founded
- Trojan power would be merged with Carthaginians
- 95-102
- Aeneas doesn’t know the affect he’s having on Dido
- Like a stage shot by a hunter who doesn’t know his arrow hit something
- She is halting civilization
- 120-126
- counter point to Aeneas’ initial view of the city as a result of Dido’s own distraction
The Union of Dido and Aeneas 226-238
- gods messing with fate so they both end up in some deserted cave in a rainstorm
- a pseudo marriage only
- eerie rituals surrounding this marriage: torches are flashes of lightning, hymns are sung
by nymphs
- emphasizes that it is not really a binding marriage
The Gods Command Aeneas to Sail
- gods intervene and tell him to sail just like calypso in the Odyssey
- difference: Aeneas is the one who doesn’t want to go; early on not willing to take on his
fate
- 309-323
- if he doesn’t want to go we’ll guilt him on duty to family
- decides then to go but also decides to hide it from Dido
- 436-454
- “at least leave me a kid!” says Dido
- no conception indicates the gods did not mean it to be
- improper desire leads to destructive effects with neighbouring tribes because of Aeneas
- she turned them down in marriage but said yes to an affair with Aeneas
- 462-478
- “If I had my way I would re-establish Troy but I cannot do that without leaving” says
Aeneas
- a late realisation
- takes easy way out saying we weren’t really married
- 497-499
- lack of control in Aeneas’ part
- you can be petulant or accepting of destiny
Death of Dido
- Dido tricks her sister Anna
- Says she wants to use magic spell to free her of desire for Aeneas
- 865-875
- reference in curse to Hannibal who will avenge her
-
calls on people to be forever enemies
958-967
Proserpine hasn’t claimed he spirit yet because she wasn’t fated to die yet
BOOK FIVE
- in book five, they sail to Sicily and his dad get his funeral games 2 books late
- like Patroclus in Book 23 of the Iliad
- then goes to visit Dad in the underworld
- Hero’s go to showcase their exceptional nature
- Figurative: you’ve died and been reborn
BOOK SIX
Aeneas and the Sybil
- arrives in Cumae and goes to her to gain underworld guidance
- 105-116
- typical of roman religion: an exchange
- reference in itself to the establishment of the Sibylline books and their priest
- 130-142
- Sybil prophecies the future
- Tells of 2nd half of the Aeneid is like a second war with troy
- This time troy will win
- Turnus = 2nd Achilles
- This too will be a fight for a woman
Aeneas and Dido in Hades
- 613-639
- Virgil’s depiction of the underworld is a composite of many views
- Aeneas didn’t know that Dido was dead until he met her there
- Parallel scene like the Odyssey where Ajax is still so mad he refused to speak to Ulysses
(because of their fight over Achilles armour)
- Different because of bond (friends vs. lovers)
- Undying anger = keeps up her anger and hatred in the underworld and therefore for all
time
Hades as Punishment
- new conception of the view of Hades
- 813-821
- brothers who hate brothers = civil war
- beating men, greedy bastards, all kinds of family sins
- also failures who couldn’t be loyal to your lord/master
- like you must be loyal to paterfamilias of the state = Augustus
Aeneas Reviews his Descendants
- will allow an overview of Roman history and all the souls that will come to be
- Anchises will tell
- 910-928
- reception of Aeneas by Anchises
- shows his devotion to his father
- more important family bond than marriage
- 956-972
- parade of heroes he hopes will inspire Aeneas to found the new line
- 1040-1051
- gods favour Rome’s foundation
- heavy emphasis on warfare
- Romulus is a child of Mars himself
- 1058-1086
-
jumps temporally 700 years to Augustus suggesting that Augustus is the second founder
of Rome
presentation here avoids mention of Remus and his murder and consequently civil war
presents Augustus as culmination of entire destiny of Roman history
he will establish a 2nd golden age, like Kronos’/Saturn’s time
Augustus is compared to Herecles saying Augustus travelled more than the famous
traveller!
1113-1126
now Caesar and Pompey
family tie to state crime emphasis weight of civil wars
emphasis on Julius’ civil wars, not Augustus
1145-154
Very important!
Sums up Rome’s own view / self conception
Issues of sculpture, or astronomy or rhetoric should be conceded to Greeks
But we Romans should focus on our own skills: administration, warfare, pacification, law
and civilizing
Political arts
Ha… Virgil, a poet, writing this himself condemning poets…!
1203-1210
Aenas realizes his destiny
goal of motivating quite effective
BOOK SEVEN
Second Invocation of the Muse (47-59)
-
parallel of book 1 of the Iliad on a higher level
book 7 – is like the Iliad
battle and fight for a bride
native Italians against the Trojans
calling on the muse because a greater story is coming
Alliance of Aeneas and Latinus (125-132, 350-370)
-
125: Latinus gets message from god-dad Furnus that he should marry his daughter to a
foreigner
problem is she in unofficially promised to Turnus
Juno Rouses War (422-441, 495-514, 629-647, 757-768)
-
422: releases Electo, her fury, to slow the marriage
can’t stop the marriage but she can slow it down
Aeneas is a second Paris but he is a builder and not a stealer
New Troy will not fall
She will rouse the underworld gods this time for a fury (at the beginning called on the
wind, now the underworld gods)
495: Amata affected by furies and gets crazy Bacchic-styles and wants the war with
Aeneas
she wants to marry her daughter to Turnus
629: Electo affects people to war; Aeneas’ son kills a tame pet deer and the Latins get mad
757: Juno talks to Electo; can’t let too much happed because she knows she’s doing wrong
King Latinus Overwhelmed (786-826)
-
786: Turnus and Amata arrive wanting war
Latinus won’t decide
They decide to make a war without his consent
Latinus thus gives up control of the state
Throwback to Neptune metaphor: this time king is duelling with the sea / crowd yet
cannot quell it
Parallel of what is happening at the end of the Republic at Virgil’s time
No one is in control
BOOK EIGHT
The River Tiber Welcomes Aeneas (48-55)
-
River god accepts him as ruler
Gives him divine claim
Throwback to myth of men born form the ground: if the ground accepts you, it was meant
to be; the land itself accepting Aeneid as being from the area
born right out of the earth
accepts him as the right person to possess land as rightful owner
Evander (474-485, 694-701)
-
even though the King is on Aeneas’s side, the people are against him
goes looking for supporters
finds Evander
Greek Evander
Makes peace
Evander sits at Rome’s future site
Offers a pastoral view of Rome; humble campsite of the Roman Forum
Evander is older so lends men and his son Pallas, who is later killed like Patroclus
Pallas given to learn from Elder Aeneas: promotion of Roman ideals
Shield of Aeneas (ecphrasis, 912-921, 926-931, 941-948)
-
shield link to the Iliad like Achilles’ shield and armour made by Hephaestus
on it, Pious Augustus seen leading the gods into battle
941: Egyptian gods versus the Roman ones; Cleopatra presented as the raging queen
ecphrasis = description will have thematic connection to the rest of the story
Virgil’s discussion of the battle of Actium and Octavian takes control of the state
Could present Antony as foreign enmity allied with Cleopatra, and allows Augustus to
present Antony as a foreign enemy
BOOKS NINE, TEN, AND ELEVEN
- all the Illiadic battle books
- Pallas is killed by Turnus
- Turnus takes Pallas’ scabbard
- Evander told Aeneas to seeks Etruscan aid
- Battle is going badly for the Italians so they decide to let all ride on the battle of Aeneas
and Turnus
BOOK TWELVE
The Proposed Duel Between Aeneas and Turnus (37-63, 92-100, 237-264, 430-436)
-
37: They propose a duel
Latinus says it might not have to take place for fighting to stop completely
Why so much blood? He pleads
92: sexual passion connects to war; it’s responsible for the stopping of civilization (Dido,
Lavinia)
237: Aeneas, Turnus and Latinus meet to dicuss battle terms
Italians do this wrong
proper procedure was important to the Romans
Aeneas invokes god with good desire (not violent)
Turnus’ sister Jaturna turns up and tried to save Turnus, breaks truce between Latinus
and Turnus
Know Turnus will die eventually
430: Aeneas tries to keep duel and make peace
can’t control his men though
Return to War (595-602, 670-686, 767-781, 789-807)
-
595: Aeneas tells son to fight in in family tradition of glory; promotes Roman ideals
670: why must they rage on?
767: Jaturna leads Turnus away to save him and Aeneas charges the city to draw him out
could burn down the town but won’t because that would make it an unholy war
789: Aeneas calls on gods and shows again how pious he is
metaphor: smokes bees out of a hive and extracts the honey
The Duel (870-879, 1108-1140, 1266-1276, 1291-1298)
-
870: Turnus recognizes his sister screwed things up and goes for duel to end the battle
(Roman ideal of living up to the standards of your forefathers)
1108: Juno and Jove make up and Juno ends her anger
Rome will not be another Troy because they worship her and she gets her wish for Troy to
be destroyed
1226: earthly fight
Turnus’ strength fails and is struck
Asks for his body to be given proper rites
Aeneas considers sparing him but sees scabbard and freaks out and kills Turnus
OVERALL:
- Aeneas not coming as a conqueror
- The poem is not finished
- Half lines
- Virgil died before he finished it
- There is a lack of resolution to the poem
- Ends in a cold rage… possibly Vigil’s comment on war and anger