Virgil’s Aeneid
I.
Is there a basis
in actual Roman prehistory? Possibly.
II.
How Virgil
appropriates Homer’s epics
A.
Uses Homer’s way
of organizing narrative
1. Long verse narrative (12 books vs. 24)
2. Overarching plot that organizes a variety of stories
3. Strong horizontal forward movement
4. Begins in medias
res
B.
Poetic style
calculated to remind readers of Homer
1. Recurring adjectives and phrases, such as pius Aeneas, like Homer’s oral formulas
2. Long pieces of impressive oratory
C.
Parallel elements
in the stories
1. Same pantheon of gods, though with Latin names
a.
Zeus and Hera – Jupiter and Juno
b.
Aphrodite – Venus
c.
Poseidon –
d.
Hermes – Mercury
e.
Athena – Minerva
2. Invocation to Muse
3. Voyage to the hero’s “home”:
4. Visit to Hades
5. Odysseus had Athena for him, Poseidon against; Aeneas
has Venus for him, Juno against.
6. Odysseus’ long recitation of the aftermath of
7. Dido is like Kirke and Kalypso.
8. Hermes brought message to Kalypso;
Mercury, to Aeneas.
9. Epic games
10. Big storm narrated in grand style
III. How he tries to outdo Homer
A.
Grand poetic
effects not available to Homer: speeches; descriptions of storms etc.
B.
Grander scale:
1. Geography: whole Mediterranean world
2. Time: all 12 centuries, right up to Virgil’s Augustan
present
C.
A nobler goal for
the hero: the destiny of
D.
A theology:
Anchises’ explanation of Hades
IV.The Aeneid is, essentially,
imperial propaganda
A.
Commissioned by
Augustus, completed after Virgil’s death (19 B.C.) on Augustus’ orders
B.
Chief theme:
being pius
(dutiful and loyal to one’s family, past and future)
1. Aeneas’ relationship with Dido
a.
Passionate toward
her, but obeys Mercury (“oak in a storm” – p. 660, l. 587)
b.
Contrast with
Dido
i.
Kicks against
fate (wants Aeneas to co-rule, kills herself, ignores demands of queenship)
ii.
Alternating
love/hate vs. Aeneas love/duty
iii.
A woman who
rules!
iv.
Her destiny
(husband Sychaeus) is really her past; Aeneas’ is his future.
2. On last night in
a.
Message from dead
wife: leave now, re-start in
b.
Contrast with the
bloodthirsty Greek Neoptolemus killing King Priam of
c.
Carries father
Anchises out of the battle on his back
3. Continual reminders of the glory toward which Aeneas’
sacrifices are leading
a.
Anchises in Hades
shows him a pageant of what is to come
b.
The shield Venus
gives him, featuring
4. Impact on Roman readers:
a.
Aeneas as role
model of self-sacrifice
b.
Aeneas and his
companions were the ancestor of all the main tribes that
made up the Roman people: one big family, with family obligations.
c.
Justifies cruelty
and conquest
A.
The poem takes
the gods down a bit, Augustus up a lot
a.
Aeneas is son of
Venus, father of Ascanius Iulus,
ancestor of the Julian clan, which Augustus leads.
b.
Virgil has less
reverence for the divine than Homer did:
i.
P. 644 l. 160
vague about Zeus’s interest in hospitality
ii.
P. 649 l. 87
criticizes “soothsayers” – in
c.
These gods
squabble and seem less worthy than Homer’s “gay gods.”
d.
They are
subordinate to Fate
e.
Divinizing of the
emperor
i.
Augustus took the
title Divus
ii.
Cult soon
involves making sacrifices to the emperor