Essay on Fate of the Passionate in Virgils Aeneid

Virgil’s The Aeneid, to this day, remains one of the most influential epics to ever grace the merciless limitations of manuscript, inspiring, in pop culture as well as literature, an onslaught of themes, mythology, values, and the general sense of what a hero must be-or do- in order to overcome the obstacles of the gods and man. Written somewhere between 29 and 19 BC, consisting of twelve books (although never completely finished), The Aeneid takes us through the turbulent journeys and prophesied triumphs of Aeneas, a warrior and man bound by piety and destiny. Like usual, in every great epic, there are many battles: heads gashed open and gore galore; however, to say that this†¦show more content†¦Unfortunately, but not unexpected, Creusa, being left behind in the rear, disappears; and, before he leaves, she reappears before Aeneas in spirit. It is only then that he realizes that she had been killed in their hasty withdraw: his first, or so the manuscript reveals to m e, loss of heart and love. Now, relating to Aeneas, and possibly to Virgil, I can’t help but feel the pain in Aeneas’s reflection on that particular scene: She spoke and faded into the insubstantial air, leaving me there in tears and longing to reply. Three times I tried to put my arms around her neck. Three times her phantom melted in my arms, as weightless as the wind, as light as the flight of sleep. (47) When I left to join the Army, four or five years ago, I felt the same way about leaving my love behind, my fiancà ©e, and judging by the words above, regardless of whether or not they are archaic, they hold my memory and pain of leaving; however, unlike Aeneas, my love didn’t die. She just abandoned me when it was time for me to leave, the ghost of her face lingering in my minds eye and the scent of her perfume forever embedded within my flesh. As Aeneas continues to explain his journey to Dido, describing his wanderings, he fails to mention Creusa any furt her, probably for two reasons: one, Virgil saw that the particular plot device had served itsShow MoreRelatedThe Aeneid is a poem written by the ancient Roman poet Virgil during the height of the Roman900 Words   |  4 PagesThe Aeneid is a poem written by the ancient Roman poet Virgil during the height of the Roman Augustan age. The poem highlights the resiliency, bravery, and selflessness of Aeneas, a Trojan hero who leads his people away from Troy and on a journey to eventually found Rome. In the Aeneid, Virgil asserts the importance of one’s commitment to duty, and this assertion reveals that ancient Romans valued and admired one’s commitment to duty above all other character traits. In the beginning of Virgil’sRead MoreThe Theme of Ultimate Victory in The Aeneid 1800 Words   |  8 PagesTHESIS STATEMENT In the epic poem The Aeneid, Virgil stressed the theme of ultimate victory over defeat through Aeneas’ adventures to Italy. PURPOSE STATEMENT Through the analysis of the text and critical analyses of the Aeneid, it is true that Aeneid is ultimately the victor in this war for freedom. INTRODUCTION Imagine you were a well- recognized noble; you had everything you could ever possibly want. Then imagine sudden defeat. You are no longer a noble, but a fugitive. There seemsRead More Essay on Fate and Human Responsibility in the Aeneid2525 Words   |  11 PagesFate and Human Responsibility in the Aeneid  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚               If youre going to write an epic about great heroism, dont use the Aeneid as your primary guide. Its not that heroism cant be found in the Aeneid, its just hard to prove. First off, Virgil writes a story in a fatalistic universe, wherein every action and every event is under Jupiters divine thumb .   Fatalism is all-pervading in Virgil . . . in it [the Aeneid] the words fatum and fata occur some 120 times (Bailey 204). And inRead MoreFate in The Aeneid Essay999 Words   |  4 Pagesto understand in old world literature, from Homeric epics to Virgils work, The Aeneid, what the relation of fate is to the Pantheon of gods. There seems to be an ongoing debate within the texts discussing whether fate is the supreme ruling force in the universe and the controlling element of the lives of men, or whether fate is the will of the king of gods, Jupiter. In, The Aeneid, several situations and instances of the use of fate are presented to the reader. The direction and destinati on ofRead MoreEssay about Antony and Cleopatra and The Aeneid1870 Words   |  8 Pagesreasons why The Aeneid is associated with the Shakespearean play Antony and Cleopatra. First, The Aeneid was written by a Roman named Virgil who, among many other reasons, wrote it as a tribute for Augustus Caesar, the leader of the Roman Empire. Augustus Caesar was formally named Octavian and is a character in Shakespeares play. Secondly, both The Aeneid and Antony and Cleopatra share a common theme of a patriotic, heroic man having to choose between duty to his country and the passionate love of a beautifulRead MoreLove In Virgils Aeneid1299 Words   |  6 Pagesthrough a woman, or through the soul, by giving birth in virtue. In Virgil’s Aeneid, however, love is not this complex. Although love can involve the desire for good, as seen in Aeneas wanting his family, and the Trojan people especially, to prosper in the future, it can also act as a robber of rational thought, motivating peop le to act with uncontrollable passion, (as depicted again by Aeneas at the end of the Aeneid.) Looking at the Aeneid, the first instance of Diotima’s description of love and reproductionRead MoreSocrates Sense Of Virtue Essay1250 Words   |  5 Pagesvirtuous character was widely renowned, earning him a place in history as an example of the ideal Roman character. The notion of pietas drives Aeneas’ actions throughout Virgil’s Aeneid: he strives to uphold his duties and responsibilities to his family, his community, and, perhaps most importantly, the gods. At its beginning, the Aeneid describes him as â€Å"a man of faultless devotion† (Aen. 1.14). As Aeneas recounts the end of the Trojan War and his journey to Carthage, his actions confirm his identityRead MoreThe Aeneid By Virgil Between 29 And 19 Bc1434 Words   |  6 PagesThe Aeneid is an epic poem written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC. This works tells of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey from Troy to Italy to settle a new city for his people. The first half of the book entails Aeneas m aking his way to Italy while the second half describes the battle between the Latins and the Trojans. Both of these endeavors require the hero of the story to have a motivated disposition. These motivations come in the form of depictions of Roman history. The two significantRead MoreEros : Female Souls Thriving And Crumbling1735 Words   |  7 PagesEros: Female Souls Thriving and Crumbling The term â€Å"Eros,† referring to passionate love in English, has long been the mainstream of themes in drama, literature, arts, and cinematic media. The fascinating power of love has been exhaustively publicized, and the pursuit of love is diffused in streets and lanes. Conversely, in ancient times, many poets, especially Virgil, Ovid and Apuleius, described eros as such an evil spirit that it will destroy the female soul thoroughly, except for the one inRead MoreRepresentation Of A Cynical Outlook On Women1259 Words   |  6 PagesThroughout Virgil s The Aeneid, Aeneas conflicts between pietas and furor, in which several female characters influence his transition into the Roman leader whose virtue seeks duty towards the gods, family, and empire. In this epic, major woman roles such as Dido and Juno demonstrate raging qualities of furor that clash with Aeneas’ founding of Rome. These foil characters ravage Aeneas’ identity throughout his journey, and underli ne the misogynistic cultural views of Virgil’s era. However, this paper