Religion In Aeneid

In many societies, ancient and modern, religion has played an important role in shaping people to pursue their destiny. In books two and four of the Aeneid by Virgil, the Trojans and Aeneas do exactly the same. Through the epic of book II , Aeneas goes on to explaining the war between the Trojans and the Greeks. Book IV focuses on Queen Dido and her deep love for Aeneas and the importance of god 's word to Aeneas, which is problematic for for Dido. Virgil proves how in the Roman culture the Romans put god in front of themselves and what they believe.

In order to gain the Trojans trust, Virgil uses the Greeks to manipulate the Trojans into thinking the gift was from the gods. The Romans immediately accept the Trojan horse when they find out

Just a simple interaction with Jupiter causes Aeneas the want to flee the city. In book four Virgil writes, “As the sharp admonition and command from heaven have shaken him awake, he now burned only to be gone, to leave that land of the sweet life behind” (line 364-366). Aeneas taking the order to leave, shows how the Romans believed the relationship between mankind and the gods being significant. The romans could not even let love get in between what god wants them to do. Later in book four Virgil writes, “With love of her, yet took the course heaven gave him and went back to the fleet” (line 524-526). Having a deep love for Dido and leaving shows the impact the gods had on the Romans who were willing to do what the gods wanted them to. Not only did Romans leave their loved ones they believed in prayer. After Aeneas leaves regarding what his feelings for Dido are Dido says, “ I hope and pray that on some grinding reef midway at sea you’ll drink your punishment(Virgil 506-507).” The remark that Dido makes proves that the Romans believed in prayer to get what they wished. The gods in book four of the epic play an important role in helping Virgil prove how influenced the Romans are by

In ancient time Romans used to be strictly polytheists and later transitioned into being monotheists. In ancient times a Roman emperor Servius Tullius built a temple for goddess Diana according to an article on Roman-Empire. The emperor building a temple for a goddess in order to connect to her is not something people do on a day to day basis. Seeking the goddess was told to bring him wellbeing so he followed the orders he got in his dream and built her a temple. The gods and goddess of the Romans came from being , “A blend of several religious influences. Many of these were introduced via the Greek colonies of southern Italy and others had their roots in the Etruscan or Latin tribes of the region (UNRV).” Having been influenced by other religions the Romans were not against the idea of becoming Christians. “By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state (UNRV).” Present day the Roman religion does not exist. The Romans all converted their beliefs to Christianity soon after being hesitated to in the early fourth century