Did you know that the "Aeneid" was actually unfinished when
Virgil died but Augustus had it published anyway?
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The "Aeneid" was written by the Roman poet Virgil who lived between 70 and 19 BCE,
during the Augustine Period; named for Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. The 12-book-long epic
poem tells the journey of the Trojan Aeneas and the mythological founding of Rome. Aeneas,
a Trojan prince and the son of the goddess Venus survived the Trojan War and the subsequent sacking
of the city and took the scenic route, with a few stops, from the ravaged Troy in modern-day Turkey,
looking for a new home that he finds in Italy. The "Aeneid" was written during
the last 10 years of Virgil's life but it was left unfinished when he died in 19 BCE.
Virgil requested that the unfinished epic poem be destroyed but lucky for us some two thousand
years later, his friend and fellow poet Lucius Varius Rufus not only refused this request but
Augustus had the epic tale published soon after the death of the author. It makes sense that
Augustus would want to have the poem published due to it being a part of Augustus' political program.
The "Aeneid" is a mythological tale that details how Rome began and eventually connects to Augustus
in the present and encourages those reading it to relate to the protagonist Aeneas with Augustus,
who believed that Rome was suffering from moral decay and wanted a return to the values of
old. So, who was Virgil? With his full name being Publius Vergilius Maro, Virgil was one
of the greatest poets of the early Roman Empire. According to the 5th century CE author Macrobius,
Virgil was born to two country parents and had a passion for the rural life that never left him.
He was described as a tall and bulky man with a dark complexion. His father was a citizen but
Virgil didn't attain citizenship until 51 BCE. He was educated in Cremona and Milan and through his
early education, he developed an appreciation for Greek and Roman authors. By the time he was 30,
the Roman Republic was in a shambles after the assassination of Julius Caesar and the civil
war Octavian was embroiled in with Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. Virgil ended up finding a patron in
a wealthy Roman named Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, who was both a friend and an advisor to the emperor.
Eventually, Augustus became both a friend and a sponsor of Virgil and Virgil would
spend the last 10 years of his life writing his epic work that never got completed.
The "Aeneid" includes themes like conflict and renewal which reflect the war and strife
the Roman Republic had been enduring before the establishment of the Roman Empire and the peace
known as Pax Romana that accompanied the rule of Augustus. The epic is like a continuation
of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," which were composed much earlier as part of the ancient
Greek oral traditions and then committed to writing in the 8th or early 7th century BCE,
and the "Aeneid" shows many similarities to its epic predecessors. The first six books of the
"Aeneid" follows Aeneas as he leaves Troy with other Trojan survivors and travels around the
Mediterranean at the mercy of the gods, much like Odysseus and his adventure-packed journey home.
In the latter half, the "Aeneid" focuses on warfare and battle and once again is reminiscent
of the works of Homer, in particular, the funeral games held for Anchises in Book 5 can be easily
compared to the funeral games put on for Patroclus in Book 23 of the "Iliad." Just as Odysseus makes
a journey to the underworld before departing Circe in Aeaea, Aeneas also descends to the underworld
where he sees his father and Dido, the former queen of Carthage. Similar to that of the "Iliad"
and "Odyssey," is the theme of divine intervention and the mortals being stuck at the mercy of the
gods; as Aeneas searches for a new place to call home, he is aided by his mother Venus and Jupiter,
the king of the gods, but Juno on the other hand, actively plots to stop him from arriving in Italy
and setting up the foundations of Rome. This tale of the "Aeneid" blends the mythological origins
and the historical beginnings for the Romans which help to explain the world around them.
"Arms and the man I sing, who first from the coasts of Troy, exiled by fate,
came to Italy and Lavine shores; much buffeted on sea and land by violence from above, through
cruel Juno's unforgiving wrath, and much enduring in war also, till he should build a city and bring
his gods to Latium; whence came the Latin race, the Lords of Alba, and the lofty walls of Rome."
This is how Book I of the "Aeneid" begins, closely followed by an invocation of the muse
and in medias res, which is the Latin for in the 'midst of things' and is a common technique used
in epic poetry. The goddess Juno has sent a storm to destroy the ships of the Trojans and so they
end up on the shore of an unknown land which just so happens to be the coast of Libya near the city
of Carthage. The Trojans are met by the queen of Carthage, Dido, who welcomes them to her city.
At this point, Aeneas and his men are many years into their journey to Italy, all the while Venus,
who was worried for her son, begs Jupiter to help Aeneas and both Juno and Venus scheme to have Dido
and Aeneas fall in love, despite Aeneas being fated to found a great empire in Italy. Venus
sends Cupid to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas, and during a banquet given in honour of the Trojan
guests, on the request of the queen, Aeneas tells the story of the fall and sack of his old city.
While he's with Dido in Carthage, he recounts how the Greeks pretended to leave the shores of Troy;
leaving a great wooden horse, apparently as a gift to the gods in exchange for safe passage home,
but actually Greek men were hidden in the horse and the Greeks stayed in their ships
close to Troy but out of sight, despite warning from Laocoön, the son of Neptune, not to trust
gifts from the Greeks, the Trojans brought the horse within their walls. In the dead of night,
the Greeks pour out of the wooden horse, open the gates to the city and destroy Troy. Aeneas tells
of how he saw Achilles' son Pyrrhus, also known as Neoptolemus, kill Priam's son Polites at his
father's feet and then go on to kill Priam, the king of Troy. Aeneas flees Troy with a handful
of surviving Trojans. He goes home for his father Anchises, his son Ascanius, also known as Iulus,
and his wife Creusa, but Creusa never made it safely out of Troy. Aeneas hoists his father
onto his shoulders and with his son and a small group of Trojans, they make their way into the
mountains. The Trojans then travel for six years across the Mediterranean and endure many hardships
until they finally arrive at Epirus; here they are welcomed by another group of Trojan refugees led
by Helenus, the brother of Hector, prince of Troy and Andromache, Helenus' wife and Hector's widow.
This group of Trojans had built a smaller scale version of Troy but Aeneas knew his destiny was
to found a brand new city so his group travelled on to Sicily and then south of the island to
avoid the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Anchises dies at the tip of the island of Sicily,
where they had come ashore and this is where Aeneas finishes his tale of the fall of Troy.
Dido is now fully in love with Aeneas, thanks to Cupid. Juno plans a marriage
between Aeneas and Dido so he won't ever want to leave Carthage and found his city,
but Jupiter reminds Aeneas that his destiny is not here at Carthage. Aeneas puts his duty to found a
new city above his love for Dido and leaves her. Dido in heartbreak, builds a great pyre to burn
objects left by Aeneas but ends up throwing herself on the burning pyre. Upon her death,
Dido curses Aeneas and calls for eternal war against him and his people which is somewhat of an
explanation for the Punic Wars and for the Romans complete destruction of Carthage in 146 BCE.
The Trojans are sailing for Italy but gets swept up in another raging storm, all the
way back to Sicily and the place where Aeneas' father Anchises had died one year previously.
Aeneas honours his father with funeral games and performs, for the very first time,
the Parentalia - which is the Roman Festival of the Dead. Aeneas leaves the women, the elderly
and the children in Sicily with Acestes who hosted them the first time they visited in his city and
Aeneas and his men get back on the ships to Italy, losing his steerman Palinurus on the way. Finally,
In Book VI of the tale, Aeneas makes it to Italy; he lands in Cumae, near modern-day
Naples and consults the Priestess of Apollo - the humane Sibyl who guides Aeneas to the underworld.
Here he encounters his father who foreshadows the greatness of Rome with mentions of Romulus,
descendants of Aeneas' son Ascanius, and the Golden Age that will begin under the reign of
a Caesar;an obvious allusion to Augustus, as well as Dido who is silent and heartbroken.
Aeneas and his Trojans sail into the mouth of the Tiber River and there they settle in Latium.
The king of Latium, Latinus, welcomes the Trojans and offers his daughter Lavinia's hand in marriage
to Aeneas. King Turnus of the neighbouring tribe of Rutuli was vying for Lavinia's hand in marriage
before Aeneas turned up and Lavinia's mother Amata supports him. Juno decides to stir up some trouble
and sends Allecto down to not only persuade Amata to oppose Lavinia's marriage to Aeneas but whips
Turnus into a frenzy and pushes him to go to war against the Trojans. Aeneas then travels to the
village of Pallantium, which will one day be known as Palatine and is one of the Seven Hills of Rome,
and there he meets Evander who recounts the tale of Hercules who saved them all from the
monster Cacus; the fire-breathing giant and son of Vulcan. Evander sends his son Pallas and some of
their cavalry with Aeneas to claim leadership of all the other armies that are against the Latins,
whilst Venus, who is concerned for her son, asks Vulcan to make him some new armour,
including a shield that tells of the future wars of Rome.
Whilst Aeneas and Pallas are gathering up the armies, the Trojans are attacked by Turnus and
the Rutulians, and as Aeneas told his men, they closed the gates and did not engage in battle. The
Rutulians sieged the Trojan camp and eventually Turnus breaches the walls, but instead of letting
his men in, he goes on a rampage. He kills Trojans as long as he can before he is forced to withdraw,
because of his short-sightedness, he then has to swim across the River Tiber fully armoured to get
back to his men. Now in Book X, Aeneas returns to the Trojans at the head of the Etruscan army
and Pallas, the son of Evander is killed by Turnus, who makes off with the boy's belt. Aeneas
slaughters many men in revenge but Turnus is saved by Juno who spirits him from the battlefield.
The proper funeral rites are conducted for Pallas and the Latins send men to Aeneas
asking for a truce so they can safely gather up their dead. As Aeneas approaches the Latins,
rather than fight in single combat, Turnus calls for his forces. The brave Camilla
volunteers to confront Aeneas and his cavalry, while Turnus waits to ambush the enemy forces,
but Camilla is killed and Turnus abandons his plan of ambush. Both armies move towards
Latinus city and Turnus decides that now he's ready to meet Aeneas in one-on-one combat,
with the winner getting to marry Lavinia and if Aeneas loses, he has to retreat and settle with
Evander in Pallantium instead. Aeneas is shot by an arrow, by whom we aren't told, but is healed by
his mother and returns to battle. Turnus is saved from the wrath of Aeneas by his sister Juturna,
but realises what he needs to do and returns to battle. The King and Queen of the gods
finally reconcile and Juno puts an end to her tirade against Aeneas and the Trojans.
The unfinished epic ends with Aeneas killing Turnus as he begs for mercy:
"Blazing with rage, he plunged the steel full into his enemy's breast. The limbs of Turnus
were dissolved in cold and his life left him with a groan, fleeing in anger down to the shades."
How do you think the "Aeneid" compares with the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey?" Let us know what you
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