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Suffering In The Aeneid

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A Wanderer’s Sufferings In Virgil’s epic The Aeneid, a duty-bound fellow by the name Aeneas comes across many tragedies to get to where he wishes to be. Aeneas becomes an exile the instant he loses the war, later he forcefully leaves his city; Troy, because the Greeks invade it. During Aeneas’ path to founding a new city, he experiences many losses and all of which end up affecting him in the long run. All of the city’s sufferings affect Aeneas as well. In this novel the gods go against the Trojan men, but Aeneas and his Trojan’s are driven by fate. Aeneas becomes a man who single-handedly carries the burden of founding the Roman race. Aeneas reveals the fact that he wishes for death. “If only I’d gone down under your right hand-Diomedes, strongest …show more content…

All this shows Trojan victimhood. The Greeks force Aeneas and the remaining Trojans to leave their homeland, as fights break out between the rivals. In the chaos, Aeneas leaves his wife behind, “I never looked back, she never crossed my mind (II.920).” War threatens the balance of a soul, it destroys Trojan virtue. Aeneas becomes an exile, ripped from his land. Aeneas set upon a long, stressful journey, highlighting his independence and pietas. While sailing the Trojans encounter frequent storms, and they feel lost as they arrive on unknown shores. They are confused and bewildered, “I myself am a stranger, utterly at a loss, trekking over this wild Libyan wasteland, forced from Europe, Asia too, an exile (I.465-467).” They arrive on the Libyan shores completely disoriented as to their next plan. So the men continue traveling from land to land, and each time something goes wrong. The little hope they have continues to decrease as time progresses. “To Italy you will go. Permitted to enter your …show more content…

Therefore Calaeno says they will reach Italy but they will suffer hunger because of what they did to the livestock. The Trojans feel defeated because they thought they had found the place where they were suppose to be, or at least close to it. Once again they were outwitted by fate or the gods. The Trojan people are at the mercy of greater forces that control their doings. Their plans always go wrong because Juno hates the Trojan people so much that she cannot bare to see them being successful for even a second. She refuses to allow these people to be content with their current

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In the Bible and Virgil’s The Aeneid, the pursuit of honor and glory is complex, and it does not come without serious consequences and hardships. However, while Jesus and Aeneas both strive to achieve a certain goal due to divine intervention and both overcome certain adversities, their underlying motives and their ultimate outcomes are starkly different. Although it would appear that neither Jesus nor Aeneas would be motivated by personal fame or glory—as they were sent on godly missions, this is not the case in The Aeneid. Jesus acts completely selflessly as he teaches others about the Kingdom of God and how to live their lives, whereas Aeneas is working to win greatness for his ancestors as he was sent by the gods to settle and create an

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As Aeneas’ main antagonist, she is first introduced as embittered by a “sharp / and savage hurt, [that] had not yet left her spirit.” (Book I, 39-40). The goddess hates the Trojans because of the judgment of Paris and Jupiter’s ravishment of Ganymede, and she is determined to stop Aeneas from founding Rome. Virgil’s use of “savage” when presenting Juno reflects the unruliness of her emotions and how they have plagued her spirit and mind. Controlled by her passions, Juno’s first act in the Aeneid is the introduction of an element of disorder that serves as the contrast to politics: “Then- burning, pondering-

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Throughout the epic, violence is evident in the actions and the decision making of the characters in order to obtain peace. The battles and suicides throughout the story are prevalent and gruesome, while moments of peace are minor and fleeting. The characters, whether man or god, result to violence as a primary way to manage their problems. Aeneas is strong, heroic, and seems calm; however, he does not receive true peace and calmness until he has killed his enemy, Turnus, to end the battle and avenge his friend, Pallas. Nonetheless, Aeneas is a noble character who overcomes bad odds and embodies Roman ideals, including violence.

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