Transcript from the Aeneid from Book II, The Fall of Troy by Virgil

from the Aeneid
from Book II, The Fall of Troy
by Virgil
The Mykonos Vase, with one of the earliest
known renditions of the Trojan Horse
The Character of Virgil
• Full name is Publius Vergilius Maro, and lived
much of his life under political turmoil
• It was only until Virgil was 40 that Caesar’s
nephew, Octavian (Augustus), restored order to
Rome; this is when Virgil composes the epic
history of founding Rome
• Vigil’s deep roots are in the Italian countryside
(Mantua); went through a period as a young
man where he composed “pastoral” poetry
• Father was a farmer who afforded Virgil a good,
but modest, education
The Character of Virgil
• The shy, young Virgil, for the first time, was in
the big city
• Studied Greek law, philosophy, and literature;
tried his hand at being a lawyer but found it to
be too stressful
• Another war broke out, and Virgil went back to
his country home (pastoral poetry period)
• Family’s land was confiscated during that time
• Octavian’s minister of propaganda helped them
to get it back
The Character of Virgil
• The minister took a liking to Virgil’s work
• With a reputation in place, Virgil constructs the
journey of Aeneas, called the Aeneid
• The writing of the Aeneid was a methodical and
slow process that consumed the last ten years
of his life
• He complained that the project was driving him
insane
• Virgil became ill on a trip to Greece when the
manuscript was nearly finished
The Character of Virgil
• As his dying wish, he begged his friends to burn
the manuscript
• Augustus understood the literary importance of
the work, as well as the value of the piece as
propaganda: he decides to preserve it
• The work is roughly based on works found in
the Iliad
• Virgil, indirectly, accomplishes his goal: creating
a national epic
Ulysses vs. Aeneas
• There are many parallels between Aeneas and
Ulysses
• Ulysses is the “singer” of his heroic feats, while
Aeneas is the “teller” of his
• Ulysses delights in recounting his many
adventures; for Aeneas, the recollection of his
journey brings him much pain
• Ulysses is a proud man who is more so a
boaster in opposition to Aeneas, whose journey
has made him humble
Aeneas
• His journey begins after being exiled after the
burning of Troy by the Romans
• The ghost of his dead wife (Creusa), has told
him to sail to Italy
• Aeneas is often times blown off course
• At one point, he lands in Carthage, where he
meets Queen Dido
• Dido curses him when he leaves, and commits
suicide out of grief for his departure
• So begins Book VI, which we will cover later
A New Take on the Bildungsroman
• Virgil, a Roman, felt it necessary to transform
what he learned from the Greeks
• Aeneas, when found in Book I, is weeping in
frustration and envious of those who fell in Troy
• Aeneas, like Ulysses, is courageous and
valiant, yet deeply sensitive, complex, and
enigmatic; Ulysses, on the other hand, paints
himself as larger than life: he is Superman,
while Aeneas is Batman
• Aeneas replaces an older heroic ideal with as a
hero with human limitations and adverse fate
Virgil’s Influence
• Though written before the birth of Christ,
the Christian ideals of duty, moderation,
and piety are found throughout the Aeneid
• Literary critics recognize Virgil’s epic as
the fullest development of the classic epic
• At the same time, many Christians still
view Virgil as a heretic and the Aeneid as
a pagan work
Introductionto the Aeneid, Book II
• Virgil’s invocation before book one is “I
sing of arms and the man”
• Extended battle scenes and many other
epic elements were borrowed from Homer
• Aeneas is the narrator, but plays a
secondary role
• The narrative is a story between external
and internal conflicts