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The Aeneid
The Aeneid is an epic poem written by Virgil in the 1st century BC. It tells the tale of Aeneas, a Trojan.
308 Questions
Did Aeneas feel like a unwilling pawn to the gods?
Aeneas was very mindful of his duty to the gods. He was told by Hector in a dream that Troy would fall, and he should leave the city with the gods of the city immediately so that he could found a new city for them. While his first reaction to the danger to his city was to fight, he eventually saw that his duty to his gods was more important and left his burning home behind.
This is an example of furor and pietas, furor being the indulgence in his emotions when he was fighting, and pietas being the duty he showed to his gods and family when he left the city. There are many examples of his showing these qualities, and the pietas (pious) emotions usually win over Aeneas eventually.
Basically, much of Aeneas' troubles were due to the gods, but he was not adverse to fulfilling his duty, as this was his way of leading his people to a new prosperous life and continuing his divine heritage.
First and foremost, Juno hates Aeneas because he is a Trojan. The Trojan War began with the Judgement of Paris. Paris, a Trojan prince determined that Venus was the best goddess of all over Pallas Athena and Juno. Venus rewarded Paris with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, a Greek princess. Well, Helen's husband invaded Troy to get his wife back. The gods chose sides in the war, and Juno was on the side of the Greeks. Juno also hates Aeneas because he is the hero that will defeat her kingdom. Juno loves Queen Dido and her kingdom of Carthage, but Fate foretells that Aeneas will come and create an empire that will defeat Carthage. Juno tries to keep Aeneas away from Italy, but in the end surrenders to Fate and helps Aeneas in his quest.
Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil's "Aeneid," killed several key figures during his journey, most notably Turnus, the leader of the Rutulians. Their confrontation culminates in a fierce duel where Aeneas avenges the death of his friend Pallas, whom Turnus had killed. Ultimately, Aeneas kills Turnus in a moment of rage and retribution, marking a pivotal point in the epic's narrative.
What does Aeneas do to help his father reach safety?
As Troy crumbles and falls, Aeneas carries his elderly father on his shoulders through enemy spears and the fires of the falling city.
What are the flaws in the character of Aeneas that make him a real human being?
he save his father and his son during the Trojan war
Who is the trojans hero that fell in love with queen dido?
Aeneas, the hero of Virgil's Aeneid, falls in love with Dido while taking refuge in her kingdom. Venus makes Aeneas fall in love with Dido and vice versa.
What are the prophecies given by Anchises to Aeneas?
Anchises told Aeneas that he would be the ancestor to a line of people that would rule the world (otherwise known as the Romans)
In the Underworld, Anchises showed Aeneas some of his people, pointing each out and telling of their accomplishments.
Who commissioned the writing of the Aeneid?
The Aeneid was commissioned by Emperor Augustus, also referred to as Octavian.
Aeneas was portrayed in the great Latin poems. According to mythology, Aeneas was the son of Venus and among the famous heroes in the Trojan War.
What happens to Dido after Aeneas leaves?
When Aeneas leaves Dido(Elissa)(Arsilla) She comitts suicide by stabbing herself.
What heroic deeds does Aeneas accomplish?
The Aeneid recounts Aeneas' journey from Troy to Italy. He first lands in Carthage where he lives with Dido for a period. He then is reminded of his destiny to found Rome, so he leaves and she kills herself. They continue traveling, stopping in Sicily, Italy and Tiber. Aeneas' main heroic deed was founding the city of Rome.
What convinces the Trojans to bring the horse into the city?
In The Aeneid, Aeneas recounts his story of Troy to Dido. He tells her that Sinon, a Greek, helped to convince the Trojans to bring the horse into the city by telling them that it was made in honor of Minerva. Laocoon, the Trojan priest, hurled a spear at the horse and he and his two sons were eaten by serpents that rose out of the sea. The Trojans see this as Minerva's protection of the horse and believing it was a holy object, brought it into the city.
Aeolus is the name of at least three different mythic figures, all of whom had different families.
Aeneas was a Trojan noble (husband of Hector's sister Creusa); he was the son of Aphrodite and a Trojan man named Anchises. When the city was sacked, he and his father escaped and sailed to Carthage, where the queen (Dido, formerly known as Elissa) fell in love with him; after Aeneas sailed for Italy, she leapt from onto a pyre and killed herself. Once in Italy, Aeneas joined in a war with the tribe of the Latins, married the king's daughter Lavinia, and became the king of Italy. His descendants were Romulus and Remus, who were the legendary first kings of Rome. Incidentally, another descendant of Aeneas'- Brutus, his great-grandson- became a king of Britain.
Who did Virgil write the Aeneid for?
It's not clear how the poem was started, or if Virgil was commissioned to do it originally, but Augustus read part of it and ordered Virgil to continue. As it was not finished at his death, Virgil wanted it destroyed, but Augustus overruled him and had it published. So you could loosely say that Virgil wrote the Aeneid for Augustus.
Is the mythological character Aeneas real?
No,as he is a mythological figure.
---- Alternate Viewpoint
Wyatt Earp was true in the sense that he was a real person - but most of the stories told about Wyatt Earp never happened. When someone becomes famous in a society where there are no real checks on what is true and what is just a good story, good stories get stuck to the famous person.
We don't know if Aeneas was among the actual defenders of Troy or not, but we do know that most of the stories told about him were made up by people hundreds of years after his time.
So perhaps Aeneas is true, but the stories about him are mainly untrue. Or perhaps even Aeneas is untrue. In practice there is no real difference.
Why is Aeneas adamant on moving on away from dido?
Aeneas has fallen deeply in love with Dido during the course of books II and III, and has even started work on the foundations of Carthage. But Jove sends Mercury to remind him that his destiny is to found Rome, and that he should not be becalmed on the north African coast, helping to build what will one day be Rome's most serious nemesis.
Mercury's taunt begins at IV. 265
Tu nunc Karthaginis altae
fundamenta locas pulchramque uxorius urbem
exstruis? heu! regni rerumque oblite tuarum
Are you now placing the foundations of haughty Carthage, making a fine city, pussy-whipped? Oh dear! Have you forgotten your own kingdom and your own responsibilities?
All through the poem Aneas is called pius (godfearing) - which means that Aneas' special strength as a hero is that he is willing to follow his destiny - ignoring his own desires where he has to.
Mercury knows this, and he knows that Aeneas will follow the will of the gods (to found Rome), even if it means he must leave his own true love behind him. (We don't worry overmuch about this; we know that Dido is only a comma between Creusa and Lavinia).
But Mercury takes care to call Aeneas uxorius (dominated by a woman) - since the gpd knows that will sting. This is a world where men care far more what other men think of them than whether women get hurt or not.
What does Hector advise Aeneas to do?
During the fall of Troy the ghost of Hector appears to Aeneas and brings him the City penates which he tells Aeneas must be carried to a new city which Aeneas will found in Italy.
The penates were the special gods of a city - the soul of that city - and a city only truly died when its penates were destroyed or captured.
Hector was the Protector of Troy (there is some evidence that Hector means 'bulwark', and Hector's son - Astyanax - is 'lord of the city'). So there is a religious significance that Hector brings Aeneas the soul of Troy to carry to a new city in Italy.
(Astyanax will not survive the fall of Troy, as we discover in Euripides' Trojan Captives).
If Aeneas can escape with the penates Troy can live again in a new city (first Lanuvium, then Alba Longa, and finally Rome). As guardian of Troy Hector will protect its penates, even after his death.
In Virgil's the Aeneid how are the woman's lives portrayed?
The women in the Aeneid are unusually active and autonomous - especially when compared to other women in literature around this period.
Much of the action is carried out by goddesses (Aeneas' mother Venus, and his nemesis Juno) and in the first half of the book Dido is a dominant female leader, while in the second half Lavinia is almost as self-determining.
Vergil thought that women were important: a useful quotation to show this comes near the mid-point of Book I:
corripiunt onerantque auro; portantur avari
pygmalionis opes pelago: dux femina facti.
they seize and load with gold; even the wealth of miser Pygmalion is carried across the sea: a woman is in charge of the adventure.
