Virgil The Aeneid The Norton Anthology of Western

Virgil: The Aeneid The Norton Anthology of Western Literature Ninth Edition Volume One Martin Puchner, General Editor Suzanne Akbari Wiebke Denecke Barbara Fuchs Caroline Levine Pericles Lewis Emily Wilson

Virgil § § § § Mantua, Italy pastoral upbringing imperialism military unrest new Rome civil war propaganda Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 2

Augustus Caesar Augustus claimed to restore the old ways of the Republic, calling himself the “Princeps” (First Man). Throughout his rule, Augustus was interested in controlling his public image and knew that careful manipulation of information was essential if he were to avoid the fate of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, who was assassinated after styling himself a “dictator. ” Augustus knew that maintaining personal relationships with the writers of Rome would play an important role in his public image, and he hoped that Virgil would provide him with a great national epic to justify and glorify Augustan Roman power. It is possible that Augustus had hoped for a more direct account of his own glorious deeds in Virgil’s Aeneid but likely realized this would not withstand the test of time. Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 3

Elements of Epic Writing § length § content: historic, mythic § motifs § divine intervention § heroic flaw § orality and performance, writing § language Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company “Tell me Muse, how it all began. Why was Juno outraged? What could wound the Queen of the Gods with all her power? Why did she force a man, so famous for his devotion, to brave such rounds of hardship, bear such trials? ” (I: 9– 13) 4

Aeneid: Elements and Themes § § § finding and creating a home nationhood parallels to historical romances civil war or imperialism? literary antecedents Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 5

Pietas § warrior code § Anchises’s death Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 6

Dido and Aeneas The love between Aeneas and Dido is important, not only as a tragic influence in the epic, but also because it most clearly depicts Aeneas’s pietas. While Aeneas’s recounting of the fall of Troy is a story that does emphasize his pietas in relation to the city, gods, and his family and comrades, Dido most clearly challenges, or tempts, Aeneas to abandon this virtue. Mercury’s warning to Aeneas that he must leave Dido emphasizes pietas and duty, and Aeneas suddenly conforms his mind to the will of the gods and his destiny, though he still loves Carthage and Dido. Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 7

Historical Relevance Juno’s enmity toward Aeneas and the Trojans is important for its emphasis of the historical continuity among the Greeks, Trojans, Romans, and Carthaginians, but it also serves as a potentially ominous warning about the future of Rome to Virgil’s audience. Juno’s hatred for Aeneas is based on the old allegiances of the gods found in the Greek myths and Homer’s epics, and Virgil’s use of this anger as a primary force in the Aeneid emphasizes this historical unity. It also, obviously, explains the root of the enmity between the Carthaginians and Romans. However, while Virgil’s audience would have proudly regarded the destruction of Carthage as the triumph of Rome, Juno’s anger at the conclusion of the work is ominously unabated. Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 8

Ekphrasis, as a verbal depiction or description of a visual work of art, is often laden with references to other works of visual and literary art, and this is the case with Aeneas’s shield (Book VIII: 725– 857). Virgil’s elaborate descriptions, which include verbal parallels to the descriptions in Homer and Pseudo. Hesiod, are important for presaging the coming struggles and triumphs of the Romans up to Virgil’s own time. This depiction, which fills Aeneas with “wonder, ” illustrates that despite his prudence and pietas, Aeneas is acting for something far greater than even he understands: he becomes the founder of what is presented as the ordering principle of law in the world, the Roman Empire. Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 9

Aeneas and Turnus is Aeneas’s primary antagonist and the original suitor of Lavinia prior to Aeneas’s arrival. The king breaks his oath to marry Lavinia to Turnus, which becomes one of the main causes of war between the Trojans and Latins. Turnus’s gloating over the slaying of Evander’s son, Pallas, inspires Aeneas to vindicate Pallas. Students, if they have read the Odyssey section on the execution of Penelope’s suitors, will remember that, in classical culture, it is inappropriate to gloat over a person’s dishonorable death. Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 10

Discussion Questions What is the role of the gods in the Aeneid? Do humans have free will? Are they doomed to a certain course of action? Are they able to change their fate? Are the gods capricious, or is there a principle that governs their actions, affections, and persecutions? Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 11

Discussion Questions What is the significance of the work concluding in a moment of unheeded pleas for mercy and an unwavering rage in the hero of the story? What might this indicate about Rome? Copyright © 2014, W. W. Norton & Company 12

This concludes the Lecture Power. Point presentation for Volume One: The Aeneid Visit the Study. Space for the Norton Anthology of Western Literature, 9 e wwnorton. com/nawest