This is a full essay for the question: ‘The Aeneid is suffering upon suffering with little reprieve’ How far do you agree? It contains scholarships and received full marks.
‘The Aeneid is suffering upon suffering with little reprieve’ How far do you agree?
Virgil begins the Aeneid talking about the suffering Aeneas will face throughout his journey to
found Rome. He will face ‘endless hardship and such suffering’ in war, at sea and in land at
the hands of the gods. Virgil directly sets the reader up with these statements, surrounding
them with the knowledge that suffering will encapsulate what is to come and Jupiter will
reinforce this throughout further in his speeches. Suffering is also faced by other characters
as well, most notably, women, soldiers at war and the gods themselves. There is certainly
little reprieve from this theme, although its strength is reduced through the constant reminder
of the prosperity that is to come. Therefore, it is very much correct to state that the Aeneid is
suffering upon suffering with little reprieve.
Aeneas and his men suffer constantly within the Aeneid. This is especially seen in the first
half of the Aeneid where the wanders across the sea looking for the new Troy. Ancient
culture was orientated on geographic origin and stressed the idea that a homeland is an
individual source of identity. Because homelessness implies instability of both situation and
identity, it is a form of suffering in and of itself. Virgil adds to the sufferings of the Trojans by
putting them constantly at the mercy of forces larger than themselves. In Book 1, Aeneas
becomes terrified when faced with the monstrous winds of Aeolus. This is the readers first
image of Aeneas, and he is already set up as a hero who will face considerable violence
from the powerful goddess, Juno. Juno will further incite suffering for Aeneas when she
sends Allecto to madden Turnus and start a bloody war against his men in Book 8. Book 2
invokes suffering to the highest extent. The Greek invasion is ruthless with Virgil writing that
“bitter death was everywhere. Everywhere there was fear, and death in many forms”. The
brutal violence of Pyrrhus especially on the Trojans and Priam is horrifying and Aeneas
personally suffers through the death of his wife, who he loved. In Book 10, Aeneas suffers at
the sight of Pallas’ dead body. Rutledge is correct in stating that “Aeneas’ sense of loss over
Pallas can scarcely be described” as he suffers extreme sadness and grief over the death.
He then goes into one of his few moments of furor and commits some questionable acts on
the battle field, such as refusing Magus’ and Tarquitus’ plea, emphasising his suffering by
the fact he has broken up a family, a scared institution to him and later Rome, and lost
someone who he treated as a son. Later in Book 10 Aeneas suffers from his killing of
Lausus. Although Lausus was an enemy he still grieves the death due to memory as his own
devoted love for Anchises, his father who he also lost during the Aeneid. Aeneas faces only
some reprieval, such as his ability to see his father again in Book 6, his witness of his future
ancestors which gives him hope and his discovery of his destined city in Book 7 which brings
him excitement. However, for the most part him and his men suffer immensely while on their
journey and while fighting in Latium, particularly when mourning for their fallen comrades
The Gods suffer massively in the Aeneid as much as the mortals. Most notably is the
sufferings of Juno who is only ever appeased in Book 12. In Book 4, Juno suffers from the
death of Dido and consequent death of her favourite city, Carthage. She tries to bring Dido
back to life multiple times and helped Dido have a more pleasant death by sending down Iris
to help. This demonstrates Juno’s suffering at the death of a mortal who she did not want to
hurt. In Book 7 she is ‘pierced by bitter resentment’ when faced with the limits of her own
power and her inability to get revenge at the race who wronged her. Juno, in her own
suffering, causes the sufferings of other. This is most notably seen in Turnus who is brought
into a destructive rage for the rest of the Aeneid and cannot reach gratification. Venus also
suffers massively throughout the Aeneid. This is shown in Book 8 where she tells Vulcan the
suffering she has faced while worried about her son. Furthermore, in Book 10, Hercules
suffers and cries when he hears Pallas calling him for help but realising that he cannot
intervene. Jupiter further this moment of tragedy by reminding him of the cruelty of war and
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