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Vergil's Aeneid: The Glory Of Rome

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The Glory of Rome Vergil’s Aeneid is a harrowing tale of how Aeneas, one of the survivors from Troy, led an expedition to build a new city in Italy. It is an action-filled adventure, full of aggressive gods and goddesses, love, death, and rebirth. Based on what we know about the Romans, a Roman was expected to; uphold the will of the gods, defend the honor and fight for the glory of Rome; even if that means sacrificing your own life, and rebirth. The Romans were very in tune with the will of the gods. No one was supposed to deter from the will of the gods and if they did, the consequences would be severe. Vergil’s Aeneid offers insight into the mind of a Roman, what they stood for, and how they valued the gods’ insight. Following the will of the gods was a crucial aspect to every Roman citizen. If someone were to stray from the will of the gods, then there was often catastrophic consequences. Similarly, Phlegyas gave a warning to Aeneas while he was in the Underworld. Vergil words it in a way that warning to other Romans, and that was, “do not slight the gods” . Along with not straying from the gods, a Roman citizen was expected to never withhold devotion from them. In Roman history, this was often seen through losses that the …show more content…

Throughout The Aeneid the fact that Aeneas and his men were expected to follow the will of the gods was constantly mentioned. When they strayed from the path the gods wanted for them; like Aeneas marrying foreign queen Dido; they were “brought back to the task” . To a Roman, they felt that the gods had given them the task of “ruling the world, and establishing peace as well as sparing the humble, and lastly, to conquer the proud” . Queen Dido was a Carthaginian, and therefore the gods didn’t want Aeneas to get distracted from fulfilling his destiny. Enemies, like the Carthaginians, were seen as an obstacle that needed to be

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