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Auctoritas In The Aeneid

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Short Essay #1 Thesis Statement: The Roman concepts of auctoritas and pietas as portrayed in The Aeneid by Virgil exemplify their view of death as something that should be handled with dignity, since it was an inevitability. These concepts also highlight the idea that, because death was unavoidable, it should be for a higher cause (e.g. for the gods, for the state, etc.). Evidence for Paragraph I: Dido served as a non-example of auctoritas because she neglected her state and let it fall to ruin when she fell in love with Aeneas. Camilla’s death exemplified auctoritas because she died an honorable death in battle, and showed the benefits associated with loyalty to the gods; because Camilla was a favorite of Diana, her death was avenged. …show more content…

This was another example of auctoritas. Creusa killed herself out of fear that she would be caught by the Greeks and become a slave to them. The character of Lausus, who was a solider for the Latiums, exemplified auctoritas through his allegiance to his father, even though he was an awful man. This showed, more specifically, the faithfulness of a son to his father, or fealty, another Roman value. Though he was an enemy of the Trojans, he was still respected by Aeneas, which showed the true extent to which the Trojans valued auctoritas. Evidence for Paragraph II: Dido was also a non-example of pietas because she killed herself after Aeneas left her, even though he had to leave her in order to fulfill the fate assigned to him by the gods. This showed that she didn't respect the will of the gods above her personal will. In contrast, Creusa exemplified pietas because she told Aeneas that he would find a new wife in the new Troy, which would help him fulfill his fate. This showed that she valued the will of the gods above her own self-interest. Evidence for Paragraph

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The continual decrease in birth rates was an alarming indicator of a decreasing elite class and of the depravity and adultery that plagued the Roman upper classes. Augustus believed that Rome’s long- term survival required adult citizens to produce more children but he did not want to deem this task up to individual conscience (wiki). These new laws which played a central role in the roman family unit for the next three centuries, absorbed and elevated the traditional power of the father figure in a Roman household. Created by Virgil the ancestral Roman hero Aeneas became an icon of Roman pietas or respect. He is often depicted escaping Troy with his father on his back and his son close at hand; The family man who looks back respectfully to the past generation and fights to secure the honor of the next (WoR).

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