The Aeneid By Virgil Vs. Aeneas Essay - 1506 Words

In The Aeneid by Virgil, the main character Aeneas is born of Venus; he is the pious, loyal hero of Rome from Troy. The idea of a hero in Virgil’s epic poem was built upon a dual pillar structure of piety and loyalty. The ideal version of piety is exemplified in Aeneas, who often sacrifices his own loyalties to appease the gods. The other pillar that the book stands upon is loyalty to friends, family, the gods, and the future. These two pillars often clash and Aeneas must choose one over the other, Aeneas always chooses loyalty to the gods, referred to as piety, over any other loyalty that he has. The clash of these two virtues cause Aeneas to always be in action. Virgil defines action as the movement toward a goal. This paper will prove these definitions as well as how a person who holds Aeneas’ virtues would look like in the modern era. Piety being the most important virtue that Aeneas holds will be discussed first. Piety is defined through Aeneas as fidelity to the gods as well as always choosing their wants over his own. Piety in The Aeneid is shown in several ways though Aeneas, one way is that he calls out to the gods in his need. When he was confronted with a fire engulfing his fleet he calls out to Jupiter and requests that he save the fleet (125). This demonstrates Piety because Aeneas completely surrenders his fate to the hands of the gods. Another aspect of Aeneas’ piety is demonstrated in Book IV when Juno schemes to make Aeneas and Dido, the queen of Carthage,Show MoreRelatedVirgil vs. Homer in Underworld1569 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ How does Virgil deviate from Homer in the underworld, and why? When comparing â€Å"The Aeneid† to â€Å"The Odyssey†, it is impossible not to notice the similarity between Homer and Virgil s poems. 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To illustrate, two common ideasRead MoreThe Role Of Religion On Roman Society3350 Words   |  14 PagesContents List of Figures†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ V List of Tables†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. VI Abbreviations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦ VI 1. Introduction – The Origin of Roman Religion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 1.1 The Foundation Myths of Rome: Romulus vs. Aeneas†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 1.2 Etruscan Influences on Roman Religion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 1.3 Roman Mysticism Pantheon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.. 4 2. The Signification of Religion in Roman Society†¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 2.1 Domestic Religion.........................................