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Summary The Aeneid - the social, cultural and religious context
An in-depth look into the social, cultural and religious contexts that played a role within the Aeneid, including mention of the gods as well as women and their role
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The social, cultural and religious contextPietas – duty to gods, state and family
- Traditional moral values of ancestors were thought to be what made Rome great
- Epithet ‘pius’ used throughout for Aeneas
As founder of Rome he should honour the gods/family and do what is right for his people
Easy to find examples of him making sacrifices/vows and showing respect to the gods
o Book 1 – introduces himself as ‘Aeneas, known for my devotion’
o Book 2 – Aeneas and his family leave troy
o Book 6 – Anchises’ account of his sons piety
o Book 7 – Aeneas makes offering on reaching his destination
Furor – irrational/uncontrolled behaviour
- Opposite of the civilised and controlled way in which the ideal roman should conduct himself
- Book 1 – simile which features clash of pietas and furor
Force of nature is likened to human behaviour – suggests pietas can overcomes furor (important
theme of the Aeneid)
- Used frequently in book 4 to describer dido
For her passionate loved but also her anguish and the madness that drives her to suicide
- Furor is the rage that drives Homeric heroes to kill
Drives Turnus and Aeneas
o Turnus – rushes into battle for personal glory
o Throughout the fighting images of him are of a wild animal, raging torrent or uncontrollable
fire
- Aeneas – moment of furor overcomes him when he sees Helen
Wants to kill her not for the sake of justice but from anger and revenge
- Aeneas – gives way to furor when avenging the death of Pallas
Cruelty defies all the decent behaviour we could expect of the ancestor of the romans who the
poem is praising
- Aeneas’ furor takes him beyond the cruelty of the war into behaviour which transgresses civilised
behaviour and is an insult to the gods themselves
- Book 12 – does not show humanity and save Turnus (as Achilles did for Priam in the Iliad)
Easy to condemn him for his act of inhumanity but in killing Turnus he is doing what Evander had
begged him – in an impossible situation as a leader
- Even as a hero Virgil seems to say that Aeneas can lose self-control and behave ignobly
Suggesting that no leader can gain and maintain power without compromising his ideals?
The importance of fate and destiny
- Word fate is connected to the Latin word for speak – meaning of that which has been
said/pronounced by a god
- Fate is used as a device for Virgil in his praise of Augustus
Gives him a context where he can refer to the future and highlight events
Jupiter
- Book 1, 2, 4, 10, 12
- Embodies the notion of fate in the Aeneid and is responsible for its execution
Know that Aeneas is subject to a fate which will determine his destination – pursues his mission
because he knows it is fated
- While Jupiter ensures the fulfilment of fate he sometimes gets distracted in allowing attempts which
aim to divert/postpone the inevitable
- Juno is aware that Jupiter has the last word but it does not stop her from meddling
, - Flexibility in characters is important as otherwise the poem would risk being devoid of any real
characterisation or drama
The immortals
- Gods in the Aeneid are anthropomorphic (depicted in human shapes) – same as in homer and Greek
art
Was the tradition
- Using the gods to play a role in the poem – should not necessarily expect religious dogma or
philosophy
- Immortals include:
Gods from mount Olympus
Native Italian gods
Minor gods and nymphs
Deities that inhabit particular places
Forces such as the furies
Juno and Venus
- Juno – book 1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 12
- Venus – book 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
- Juno – driving force behind Aeneas’ troubles
Begins book 1 with any angry outburst
Goes on to cause the war
Book 12 – reconciled to his settling there
- Juno and Venus have all the human vices – significant to the narrative because they represent
opposing ambitions
Juno supports Turnus – Venus supports Aeneas
- Provide a means for Virgil to move the plot in unexpected ways
- Conversations are full of cunning
- Individual schemes totally disregard the consequences for mortals
Play a game of one-upmanship – confident in their own abilities
o Juno because she is the wife of Jupiter
o Venus because she is sure that she will be able to manipulate her father
Apollo
- Books – 4, 6, 9
- Only intervenes in the action once
Prevents Ascanius from continuing to fight in book 9
- Presence as god of prophecy and archer god felt throughout the epic
The role of the immortals
- Drive the main events in the plot
Jupiter ensures fate is followed
Juno puts obstacles on Aeneas’ way – the storm, marriage with dido, war with Latin’s,
intervention of Juturna
Venus protects Aeneas in Carthage and troy, makes dido fall in love with him, stops him from
killing Helen, helps him find the golden bough, brings him a shield and heals his wounds
- They enact their own drama on Olympus – gives the Aeneid another tier of action
Juno and Venus – vie for his approval for their plans and are suspicious of each other
- Create excitement and suspense – an immortal can appear at will and intervene in action audience
can never be sure that things will go to plan
Juno removed Turnus from the battle by luring him away with a phantom of Aeneas
Apollo comes down from his could to restrain Ascanius
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