Aeneid Themes
Rome/Augustus/Patriotism
Virgil’s patron
- Virgil was a client poet working for Maecenas, Augustus’ close friend and political advisor.
- Instructions from Virgil to burn the Aeneid after he died were overruled by Augustus.
o “Virgil wrote [...] acceptably in praise of his patron, the ruler of Rome” – David West
Rome as powerful and good
- 1 - Venus says to Jupiter that he once said Romans would one day “hold power over every land and sea”
- 1 - Jupiter gives a speech about how Rome will turn out, predicting their leaders etc. – “I have given them
an empire that will know no end.”
o Also predicts specific things that Augustus will do e.g. – “The dread Gates of War [...] will then be
closed”
- 4 – Character of Dido in Books 1 to 4 and city of Carthage reminds audiences of successful Roman victory
in Carthage, including the defeat of Hannibal in 202 BC and the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
- 6 – Anchises: “Your task, Roman, and do not forget it, will be to govern the peoples of the world in your
empire.”
o Critic Richard Jenkyns sees this scene as moving beyond the world that Aeneas recognises to talk
directly to the audience.
- 12 – Juno demands the Trojans not be made to “change their voice or native dress” when agreeing to
withdraw.
o 12 – “And now I, Juno, yield and quit these battles which I so detest”
Having been previously responsible for the suffering of their ancestors, she is now responsible
for Roman people’s ‘greatness’ nor barbarism.
- “The Aeneid is, in a real sense, the poet’s tribute to his country” – W. A. Camps
Patriotic characters
- Anything which is patriotic will highlight common ground, and help with the unification after the Civil
Wars.
- 2 – Anchises is very loyal/patriotic to Troy – he would rather die with no tomb (“an easy loss”) than leave.
- Aeneas’ piety throughout.
People of Rome as good
- 9 - Turnus’ boasting of Italian stock – because later they will merge so still positive for Roman audience:
o “We take our babies down to the river the moment they are born and harden them in the icy water.”
o “Our men endure hard labour and live spare”
o Criticises their Easternness – “You like your clothes dyed with yellow saffron”
Augustus/Augustan values as good
- Augustus is praised throughout through flattering stories of his ancestors where the resemblances are not
explicitly pointed out and direct allusion to Augustus in prophecies.
o “Augustus wanted an epic poem with himself as the hero” – Quinn
- The emphasis on building a new city will perhaps recall how Augustus is rebuilding Rome.
- Rome had endured a century of violence, discord, corruption and insecurity of life and property. Augustus
promised peace.
- “The Aeneid is Augustan in its presentation of Roman values” – Pattie
o Versus.: “The Aeneid is a pessimistic, even subversive, anti-Augustan epic” – Philip Hardie
- 1 – Jupiter predicts specific things that Augustus will do e.g. – “The dread Gates of War [...] will then be
closed”
- 2 – Aeneas is told to take the gods of Troy with him
o Augustus wanted to use the gods and religion to remind citizens of traditional Roman religion and
values.
- 4 – Aeneas is likened to Apollo (Augustus’ patron god)
- 4 – Dido may represent Cleopatra
o Reminder to the audience that Antony forged an alliance with a foreign queen rather than remain loyal
to the ideal of Rome.
Similarly in Book 8, the myth of Hercules and Cacus may be a myth intended to parallel
Augustus delivering Rome from the monstrous threat of Antony and Civil War.
- 6 – Augustus is specifically highlighted and flatteringly compared to Hercules and Bacchus.
- 6 – David West sees the parade in this book as functioning as a “funeral in reverse”, ending with a eulogy
of the Julian family of Augustus and an obituary of his nephew, son-in-law, and heir designate – Marcellus
o Such a powerful description that Marcellus’ mother swooned when she heard Virgil speak it.
,- 8 – 3/5 of the “story of Italy and the triumphs of the Romans” on the shield is devoted to Augustus’ defeat
of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium
o In line with Augustan propaganda, the name of Antony is never mentioned.
“Civil War is presented as though it were a conflict between the barbarian East and the civilised
world of the West.” – David West
- 9 - “Father Aeneas” – Aeneas as a Father figure like the Pater Patriae – father of a nation (Augustus also
held this title)
o Prominence given to father/son relationships may also reflect the Julian Laws.
- 10 - “On the head of Aeneas there blazed a tongue of fire” – like Augustus on the shield or Achilles in the
Iliad.
o This is compared to “a comet on a clear night” – Julius Caesar was believed to have been deified
because when he died a comet appeared.
- What Augustus wanted "was not simply the glorification of a general or politician, but the justification of a
cause." – Kenneth Quinn
- Almost 90% of the heroes represented in the celebrated Book 6 parade are members of the Julian family.
Future legacy of Aeneas as good
- Iulus gives his name to the Julian clan, and therefore forms a linguistic (if not genetic) link between
Augustus, the adopted great-nephew of Julius Caesar, and Aeneas.
- 6 – Elysium is home to the “ancient line of Teucer”
- 6 – Anchises describes the future of the Roman people
o His immediate descendants like Silvius and then the kings, Procas, Capys, Numitor and what they will
do.
o Romulus who founds Rome.
o Augustus Caesar – “the man who will bring back the golden years to the fields of Latium”
More expansive empire than Hercules and Bacchus ever reached.
o Other kings and leaders who contributed a lot e.g. Laws
o Marcellus – Early
o Marcellus – Related to Augustus – young heir of Augustus who was killed – this serves as a sort of
eulogy.
- 7 – The prophesy Latinus hears says: “The descendants of that stock will see the whole world turning under
their feet and guided by their will”
- 8 - Aeneas’ shield contains the “story of Italy and the triumphs of the Romans”
o At the top – Manlius; Gauls close by; priests of mars; naked Luperci; habitations of dead in Tartarus;
broad expanse of sea; battle of Actium; Caesar riding into Rome “in triple triumph”
“without knowing what they were, Aeneas lifted on to his shoulder the fame and the fate of his
descendants”.
- 9 – Apollo tells Ascanius: “You are born of the gods and will live to be the father of gods.”
- 12 – Jupiter tells Juno that “Aeneas is a god of this land, that he has a right to heaven and is fated to be
raised to the stars.”
Rome/Romans as bad
- 6 – The catalogue of heroes in the underworld ends on a note of tragedy with Marcellus, one of the many
mortes immaturae in the epic, ending with a greatness that might have been rather than focusing on the
greatness of Rome.
- 8 - Aeneas’ shield contains the “story of Italy and the triumphs of the Romans”
o “All the generations that would spring from Ascanius and the wars they would fight”
o Romulus, Remus and the wolf
o Rome and the rape of the Sabine women (and following war)
o The kings having made peace in armour by the altar of Jupiter
o Horse-drawn chariots pulling Mettus (a traitor) in two
- 12 – Despite being told by Anchises to show clemency/mercy, pious Aeneas rage-kills Turnus in an act of
furor.
- Cost of Rome:
o “Dido is the innocent victim of Rome’s destiny” – Sowerby
o Dido is a “heartbreaking symbol of the collateral damage the empire leaves in its wake” – Mendelsohn
o Palinarus, Dido and Deiphobus “remind us of the human cost of Rome” – Sharon Marshall
o 6 – The catalogue of heroes ends with Marcellus – on a note of tragedy – this has the effect of ending
on the greatness that might have been not the greatness of Rome.
- Reality of the empire:
, o Boyle sees the fact that Aeneas leaves the underworld through the door of False Dreams as a sign that
empire itself is a false dream that can not be realised as these characters imagine.
Virgil potentially criticising foreign influences in Rome
- Virgil criticising wealth and excess of Rome
o Enemies of the Trojans criticise their foreign ways
4 – Iarbas mocks Aeneas as “a second Paris, with eunuchs in attendance and hair dripping with
perfume”
9 – Remulus makes similar accusations – clothes dyed yellow and purple, a love of dancing,
pipes and tambourines, sleeves on tunic and bonnets with ribbons.
Turnus relishes the thought of bringing down the “effeminate Phrygian” and fouling in the dust
“the hair he has [...] steeped in myrrh”
o 1 – Descriptions of purple and gold rich fabrics – riches of the East. Carthage will be destroyed so
Virgil may be suggesting that the extreme luxury now flooding into Rome is also worth destroying.
o 11 – Camilla dies because she is attracted by the exotic gold and purple of the finery of Choreus, a
eunuch priest.
Virgil is perhaps making the point that such extravagant wealth has no place in the new Roman
civilisation.
She potentially represents the spirit of Rome’s rural past and the purity that war destroys.
o 12 – Juno is reassured by Jupiter than when the Trojans join with the native Italians, it will be the
“manly courage of Italy” that dominates and Trojan customs and language will give way to the Latins.
- Virgil noting Greek influence
o 214-146 BC – Macedonian Wars starting with Rome supporting Greece against Philip of Macedon
and end with Rome conquering Greece and destroying Corinth.
In this time tremendous wealth flows into Rome from the treasures seized in the wars and the
taxes imposed on the conquered countries and new customs, literature and philosophy spread to
Rome.
This led to claims that wealth and luxury were undermining traditional Roman values,
perhaps seen in the descriptions of rich possessions and decor of the Trojans and
Carthaginians compared to the simplicity of Evander.
o Augustus built himself a ‘modest’ house on the Palatine and encouraged simple living.
o 2 – The Greeks are perfidious and murderous and the references to their infiltration of Troy may
allude to the way Greek customs and culture have entered Rome.
o Later there is a shift – Arcadian Evander and Trojan Aeneas are able to bond through courage, oracles
of the gods, the kinship of their fathers, and their common enemy Mezentius.
o 6 – Anchises tells Aeneas that Romans will govern the peoples of the world but “others” will excel in
sculpture and rhetoric.
Perhaps Virgil is voicing here the reconciliation of the Augustan age with their former enemies.
Cities
- Richard Jenkyns considers the Aeneid as “the first epic to be seriously interested in cities” with the Odyssey
focusing on islands.
o From the beginning of the epic, cities are emphasised – Troy is in the first line, we are told Aeneas
will found a city, and Rome is the last word of the second sentence. The story itself also starts with an
introduction to an authentically noble Carthage.
Carthage is the setting of Books 1-4
For the Romans of Virgil’s time, Carthage holds memory of victory over Hannibal and
perhaps patriotic implications of Augustus’ founding of Nova Carthago.
o Virgil sends Aeneas to Evander’s city not for plot reasons but for the spiritual significance of Aeneas
walking on Rome.
8 – This visit provides familiar topographical and cultural references to the city: the Capitol,
Aventine, Carmental Gate, Asylum and Lupercal and House of Tarpeia.
- Stephen Harrison sees cities, heroism, dying young, gods and violence as the five key themes of the Aeneid.
- Exiles and the founding of cities is a key theme
o 1 – “fated to be an exile” – opening lines in proem about Aeneas
o The emphasis on building a new city will perhaps recall how Augustus is rebuilding Rome.
- Aeneas has been charged by Fate to find the site of Rome
o 1 – Aeneas tells his men: “the kingdom of Troy shall rise again”
o 2 – Hector instructs Aeneas to “look for a great city to establish”
o 4 – Aeneas tells Dido that he would rather return home and rebuild Troy but must go to Italy.
