Aeneas is the ideal image of a roman in my eyes. Throughout books I-IV he has earned the title "father Aeneas" and this shows that he has some values. There are four roman values which are Gravitas, Constantia, Magnitudo Animi, and Pietas. From my views, he displays gravitas, Constantia, and pietas, these are the three out of the four that I feel Aeneas showed the most. We all live our lives based on some type of human values and these roman values are the closest to right way of living. These are values that I feel he has some strong and weak points in.
Gravitas means moral seriousness, dignified self-control. I personally felt a connection to this one trait because of self-control. If you can’t first respect or honor yourself, why should others? Aeneas does not fulfill the virtue of Gravitas “Now to the self-same cave. Came Dido and the captain of the Trojans. Primal earth herself and Nuptial Juno. Opened the ritual, torches of lightning blazed, High heavens became witness to the marriage, and nymphs cried out wild hymns from a mountaintop. That day was
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Aeneas was very reverent towards the gods. "His hackles rise, his voice chokes in his throat. As the sharp admonition and command. From heaven had shaken him awake, he now Burned only to be gone, to leave that land of sweet life behind." (lines 381-385). He obeyed Mercury's command, even though he didn’t want to. In book III he consults with the leaders of the people to make sure he wasn’t abusing his powers. That shows he values man because a person who didn't would care if they were abusing their power or not. Aeneas was willing to sail to Italy for the gods. “I drank his message in! So please, no more of these appeals that set us both afire I sail for Italy, not of my own free will” (lines 496-499). To me he didn't question his value to the family, the people or the gods, so I feel as though Pietas is his strongest