During my recent Roman appreciation phase I decided to read the classic epic poem, The Aeneid, by Virgil. Written in 29-19 BC this is considered one of the greatest works of literature during the Roman era and also a key source of Roman mythology. The work was presented in it's entirety to the first emperor of Rome, Augustus. It glorified Roman culture, thru a mythical tale of origins, deities, heroes, and Rome's history to come. There can be no question however that the format of this epic was essentially derived from Homer's Illiad. The same can be said about Roman mythology which is basically a re-identification of already established gods from Greek mythology.
In this post I want to review Virgirl's
Aeneid, but also touch briefly upon Roman mythology which I'm not as familiar with. To be honest I've always considered the gods and stories of Roman mythology as mere imitators to Greek Mythology. It was the Greeks after all that came before the Romans, and greatly influenced their society, democracy, architecture, philosophy, military, their alphabet, literature, and mythology. However quite fittingly Virgil does give homage to their Greek predecessors by pulling his protagonist from the
Iliad and into his own tale pertaining to the establishment of Rome. In that sense I do enjoy this concept of pulling a character from Greek origins to establish a new origin that would become Rome (which in essence is what happened historically).
This story that recounts the foundation of Rome, is a break from the much older tale of the twins Romulus and Remus. However Virgil still gives homage to these legendary Roman founders, as kingly ancestors to the hero Aeneas, the protagonist of the story. Aeneas was a Trojan hero, who leads his people from their burnt city to find a new land. Their journey is a perilous one, similar to the Odyssey, with many challenges thru their maritime affair. They briefly land at the kingdom of Carthage, led by the queen Dodo who falls in love with Aeneas. However the gods convince Aeneas to carry on, which ultimately breaks Dodo's heart which serves as a legendary cause for the historical Punic Wars. The Trojans eventually are guided to the land of Italy, where they do battle with the local Latin people to establish the city of Rome. Similiar to the Iliad it's a story with many gods and many heroes, far too many to keep track of them all. Therefore before I dive deeper into the plot, I'd like to outline some of these key Roman gods and heroes.
Roman Mythology
- The Twelve Great Gods
- Jupiter (King of the Gods; sky and thunder)= Zeus
- Juno (Queen of the gods, wife of Jupiter)= Hera
- Neptune (God of the Sea) = Poseidon
- Minerva (Goddess of Wisdom, justice, and victory)=Athena
- Mars (God of War) = Ares
- Venus (Goddess of Love and Beauty) = Aphrodite
- Apollo or Sol Invictus (God of the Sun) = Apollo
- Diana (Nature, Hunters, Wildlife, night, and the moon) = Artemis
- Vulcan (God of fire and forge) = Hephaestus
- Vesta (Goddess of family and home)= Hestia
- Mercury (Messenger God, commerce, and trade)= Hermes
- Ceres (Goddess of Agriculture)= Demeter
- Other Principal Gods
- Saturn (God of Time) = Chronos
- Pluto (God of Death, and the underworld) = Hades
- Tellus (God of Earth) = Gaia
- Luna (Goddess of the Moon) = Selene
- Fortuna (God of Fortune)= Tyche
- Heroes
- Romulus and Remus- The twins who were cared for by a she-wolf, later fought amongst themselves. Romulus killed his brother Remus then founded the city of Rome and reigned for 40 years.
- Aeneas- demigod son of Venus, cousin to the Trojan warrior Hector, he founded Rome
- Cloelia- Bravely led a group of Roman virgins to escape their Etruscan captors by crossing the Tiber river
- Evander- Fled Arcadia, Greece to establish the city of Pallantium in Italy
- Hercules- Derived from the Greek legend of Herakles who performed great labors
- Lucretia- She was wrongfully raped and committed suicide, but this act led to a rebellion of the wicked Tarquin king
- Numa Pompilius- Succeeded Romulus as a legendary king, to establish many great Roman institutions such as their calendar, priests and priestesses, and temples to the gods.
- Silvius Brabo- A mythical Roman soldier who cut off the hand of the giant Druon and threw it in the Scheldt River, which became the namesake of Antwerp, Belgium (which means hand-throw).
Book Summary
The story is broken up into 12 chapters and begins with the defeated Trojans lead by Aeneas sailing eastward from their ruined city of Troy. Aeneas seeks the land of Italy, where legend has foretold will become home to the greatest of nations. However the goddess Juno is still bitter over not being chosen by Paris, and sends a furious storm upon Aeneas fleet. Neptune intervenes to calm the sea, and the Trojans land on the shores of Africa to regroup. The goddess Diana, then convinces Aeneas to visit the city of Carthage. There he meets the queen Dido, who has also led an expedition from their ruined state of Tyre, to found the city of Carthage. Under the influence of the goddess Venus, Queen Dido falls for Aeneas.
In Book 2, Aeneas recounts the sack of Troy by the Greeks, to the Queen Dido of Carthage. He shares how the recently killed Hector visits him in a dream to escape Troy with his family and find a new home for the Trojan people. During this escape Aeneas witnesses King Priam killed by Achilles' son Pyrrhus. He also realizes his wife Creusa has been lost, and when he returns to the burning city, he only finds her ghost, he tells him to seek the land of Hesperia (the western land of Italy). He then details their voyages from Troy to Thrace, to the island of Crete, and the city of Butrint (Albania) where a separate group of Trojan exiles have begun to rebuild a city. However rather then join his countrymen there, he is realizes his destiny is to travel further to Italy. From there his crew land at Sicily, where they meet one of Ulysses crewmates, Achaemenides, and take him onboard whilst escaping the terrible cyclops Polyphemus (who was also in book Odyssey). Before arriving to Carthage, Aeneas father Anchises dies of old age, which sends him to grief.
Queen Dido is moved by this adventurous tale and later makes love with Aeneas in a cave, which she considers as a consummation of their marriage. Aeneas however is quickly reminded by the messenger god, Mercury that his destiny lies in Italy and not in Carthage. He therefore reluctantly leaves Dido, who becomes heartbroken and commits suicide by stabbing herself. She curses him upon her death, urging her descendants to take revenge on his people (which is no doubt a reference to the Punic Wars of Carthage and Rome). As he sails away Aeneas sees the smoke from Dido's funeral pyre and realizes it is a bad omen of things to come. In Book 5 the crew return to Sicily to regroup and partake in funeral games to honor Aeneas' dead father. These games include a boat race, foot race, boxing match, and an archery contest. During these events Aeneas begins to display great leadership and love of his people.
Still in grief by the death of his father, Aeneas is given a rare opportunity to visit the underworld to speak to his father. He is guided by the priestess, Cumaean Sibyl who warns him that the journey down is easy but the return journey is labor-some. Once they enter the realm of the dead, Aeneas sees the realm of Tartarus, where the wicked are punished as slaves. There is also the Fields of Mourning, where he tries to speak to the spirit of Dido, but she does not respond to him. Aeneas then enters the realm of Elysium where the just and righteous dwell. It is there that he meets the spirit of his father, who embraces him and reminds him of his destiny to establish a great nation.
At book 7, Aeneas finally arrives on the western coast of Italy in the region of Latium, where war quickly breaks out between the Trojans and the Latins. Aeneas wishes to find a peaceful diplomatic solution, however the goddess Juno once again intervenes by stirring fury into the local ruler Turnus. The goddess Venus convinces her husband Vulcan the blacksmith to create a powerful shield to present to Aeneas, which becomes a symbol of Rome. While Aeneas is away from the Trojan camp seeking new allies, Turnus attacks the Trojans and kills Aeneas' friends Nisus and Euryalus. Aeneas returns to the camp with the Arcadians and Tuscans to wage war on Turnus. The prince of Arcadia, Pallas is killed by Turnus while Aeneas kills the Etruscan king, Mezentius.
In Book 11 the fighting over Latium resumes, where Camilla takes centerstage on the battlefield. She is an Amazonian warrior, princess of Volsi, ally to King Turnus, a great huntress, and favored by the goddess Diana. She fights courageously until she is poisoned by the coward Arruns, who is then shot by an arrow guided by Diana. This string of events leads to the final confrontation between Turnus and Aeneas. Knowing all is but lost at this point the queen of Latium hangs herself. Aeneas is the superior fighter and easily able to defeat Turnus. When Turnus begs for mercy Aeneas briefly considers it, but then refuses as he remembers the death of Pallas. This marks the abrupt ending of the Aeneid, where the Trojans claim Latium as their land.
The Review
I won't lie I did find this epic poem quite difficult to comprehend, as I do with most poetry. This was also the case when I read other ancient writings such as The Iliad, the Odyssey, and Gilgamesh. I felt there are just too many characters, heroes, and gods dropped into the story without much context. I suppose it probably does take some serious back study and several reads to appreciate it all the more. I did find the opening 6 chapters (pertaining to their voyage to Italy) a lot more interesting then the closing 6 chapters (regarding their war in Italy). I especially enjoyed the reference to Queen Dido as the founder of Carthage, her love with Aeneas, and her heartbreak that would lead to the Punic Wars.
I felt aside from the romantic story of Dido, the tale was more-or-less an imitation and continuation of the
Iliad and the
Odyssey. Many of the characters from the Iliad are referenced in this story such as Aeneas, Hector, Priam, Andromache (Hector's wife), Pyrrhus, Achilles, Ulysses, Polyphemus, and so forth. Just as in Homer's great epic poems, there are two simultaneous stories going on at a time set in the realm of the gods and the realm of humans. All the events that unfold throughout Aeneas' adventure are influenced by the actions of the god. Also just as in the Iliad, there is an entire chapter dedicated to funeral games in the Aeneid.
However another original aspect I enjoyed was the depiction of the Underworld in Book 6. Although the realm of Hades was frequently mentioned in the Iliad and the Odyssey we never got visit it until this book. Here the poet Virgil gives a very detailed account of the afterlife, which would later inspire Dante Alighieri to write the Divine Comedy. Aeneas is guided by the prophetess Sibyl, where they meet the ferryman Charon, and they offer him a golden branch to cross the river Styx into the realm of the dead. Virigl's underworld is divided into 3 major realms including Tartarus (for the wicked), the Fields of Mourning (for the sad lost souls), and Elysium (for the righteous). He then meets with his father who reassures Aeneas of his destiny. I always love a good depiction of the afterlife.
I can certainly see why this epic poem is sometimes lost in the shadow of Homer's works, and also why the gods of Roman mythology aren't quite as prevalent as those of Greece. Their essentially replications of Greek literature, adapted into a new society and culture. This work is still no doubt a celebration and glorification of ancient Rome. Even many of it's historical leaders such as Julius Caesar and Augustus are mentioned in the book as descendants of the legendary Aeneas. The release of this poem came at a pivotal time in Roman history, at it's transition from Republic to Empire. Although it has much similarities to the Greek writings, I think Virgil did succeed with some original elements and creating the epitome of Roman excellence.
