Human Rationality In Virgil's The Aeneid

The Highest Good: Human Rationality in Virgil’s The Aenied Human identity has often been separated into two components that can be at times conflicting, the rational and the emotional components. The rational and the emotional parts are affected, indirectly or directly, by different factors like education, family, religion, community, and culture. Even though these similar factors affect the two components, the importance of the two parts are contingent on the values that a particular culture or era holds. This is the case in both ancient Roman and ancient Greek culture. However, Virgil’s book four of The Aeneid and excerpts from book one and two of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, both portray the rational portion of human identity as not

The inferiority of the emotional part of human identity to the rational component, an idea similar to that of Aristotelian philosophy, is depicted through the main character Aeneas and solidifies Virgil’s portrayal of the highest good in individuals. Aristotle considers the highest good of humanity as happiness. However, Aristotle does not define happiness as an emotion but instead defines it as “an activity of the soul in conformity with a rational principle” such as virtues, which are characteristics that allow an individual to perform his or her function well (Insert Citation). This can be seen in The Aeneid, where the hero Aeneas acts in a way that allows him to be able to carry out his purpose efficiently. Aeneas is the man chosen by the gods to be master of Italy and to father a great empire. For Aeneas to be able to carry out this

Tragedy in that an emotion such as love can lead to death as shown in the case of Dido. Triumph in that obstacles can be overcome which is shown in the case of Aeneas. Virgil and Aristotle’s view on the highest good of humanity are very similar. Even though Virgil does not explicitly state it, the incorporation of certain characteristic in Aeneas supports the Aristotelian philosophy of the highest good because Aeneas, as the hero of the story, is a representation of what Virgil believes a good individual is. Aristotle and Virgil perception of the human identity still applies in today’s modern society. Although many people generally perceive the emotional component as important, they also perceive the rational component of human identity as