During the century prior to Augustus’s rule, the Roman republic was ravaged by a constant series of civil wars, which caused large human and financial losses. Finally, under Augustus, the state was unified once again. With the restoration of peace and order, and with the government taking an active interest […]
Read more Critical Essays The Aeneid as a National EpicCritical Essays Literary Predecessors of the Aeneid
The foremost influence on Virgil was Homer, the Greek poet who composed the Iliad and the Odyssey. By Virgil’s time, Homer was acknowledged as the greatest of all poets, and Virgil studied Homeric epic poetry in order to develop his own artistic techniques. Writing the Aeneid, Virgil consciously competed against […]
Read more Critical Essays Literary Predecessors of the AeneidVirgil Biography
The eldest of three sons — his brother Silo died in childbirth, and Flaccus, his other brother, lived only to young manhood — Virgil came from a prosperous family. His father, an industrious potter and cattle farmer, married his landlord’s daughter, worked at beekeeping, and invested in the lumber industry. […]
Read more Virgil BiographyCharacter Analysis Turnus
Turnus’s character as antagonist serves a similar purpose in the second half of The Aeneid as did Dido’s character in the first half. Turnus’s militant fury is the counterpart to Dido’s erotic fury. Like Dido, Turnus is an individualist who follows his own will to the point of excess, and […]
Read more Character Analysis TurnusCharacter Analysis Dido
Because Juno and Venus manipulate Dido and Aeneas, Dido becomes infatuated with Aeneas. She neglects the building projects that are underway in Carthage and the city’s defense is not maintained. Virgil warns that love out of control can cause disorder, both physically and emotionally. He notes, “What good are shrines […]
Read more Character Analysis DidoCharacter Analysis Aeneas
In his role as dutiful servant of fate and of the gods, Aeneas never loses sight of his goal. Aeneas is “a man apart, devoted to his mission, a dedicated man.” He tells Dido that he is “duty-bound.” Aeneas faces adversity without ever losing faith in the will of fate. […]
Read more Character Analysis AeneasSummary and Analysis Book XII
Both Latinus and Amata try to dissuade Turnus from this resolution, which they recognize as foolhardy, but Turnus stubbornly sticks to his decision and sends his herald to inform Aeneas that both sides are to join in a truce, and that he and Aeneas will fight the next day at […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book XIISummary and Analysis Book XI
Now envoys come from Laurentum seeking a truce and asking Aeneas to allow the return of the Latin dead for burial. Aeneas grants this request, saying that he wants peace, and that he is willing to engage Turnus in single combat as a way of resolving the conflict. The Latin […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book XISummary and Analysis Book X
Meanwhile, the fighting outside the Trojans’s camp grows more furious, and there are many casualties on both sides. With a fleet of thirty ships filled with Etruscan warriors and Evander’s forces, Aeneas begins the journey from Agylla to where the battle is being fought. During the night, before the fleet […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book XSummary and Analysis Book IX
Unable to reach the protected Trojans, Turnus decides to burn their ships. However, before the ships can be set ablaze, Jupiter, in answer to a plea from his mother, changes them all into sea nymphs, who swim away unharmed. In acting as he does, Jupiter fulfills a promise he made […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book IX