How Did Aeneas Influence Roman Culture

Rome was not built in a day, but it could have been with all that they borrowed from other cultures. The Romans borrowed from other peoples in order to create their prosperous empire. In the Aeneid, Aeneas is leading the Trojans to Latium in order to establish a new home. On his way, he interacts with different peoples. Throughout, the Roman culture of Vergil shows through, communicating the impact of other peoples on Rome in the real-world. Despite the unique nature of the Romans, ultimately positive interactions with other cultures allowed Rome to flourish, such as their interactions with the Carthaginians and the Greeks.

In the Aeneid, Aeneas and his men sail to Latium and stop at the shore of Carthage to find food. This is a positive

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There are many similarities between the Greeks and the Romans, who make up Classical Antiquity, but the religion of the Romans borrowed greatly from the Greek gods, which is shown through Vergil’s propaganda writing. Venus, who is the equivalent of Aphrodite in the Greek gods, is Aeneas’ mother and gives advice, assuring Aeneas he is doing the right thing, along with giving Aeneas divine birth. This gives legitimacy to the story and to Augustus, because Augustus is said to be a relative of Aeneas. Both Aeneas and Augustus are referred to as “nate dea” (son of the goddess, Aeneid II.289). The power of such gods comes from Greek culture, which created their own gods and gained legitimacy from the gods for their leaders. The Romans adopted Greek gods and changed them to fit the Roman people, while still maintaining the use and heart of the religion. This evidence proves that the importance of gods, as seen in the Aeneid, stems from interactions with Greek culture. Storylines involving the gods are also similar in Greek and Roman writing. Aeneas gets distracted by Dido and is stuck in Carthage. The gods do not approve of this, and Mercury goes to Aeneas, reminding him of his duty, “continuo invadit: ‘tu nunc Karthaginis altae fundamenta locas pulchramque uxorius urbem’”