Virgil and The Aeneid
| born in a village near Mantua |
| grew up on his father's farm |
| studied in Cremona, Milan and Rome |
| family farm confiscated for veterans? |
| dedicated to his patron Maecenas, a friend and advisor of Augustus |
| worked on the Aeneid from 30 to 19 BCE |
| planned three more years of work |
| instructed that the Aeneid be burnt |
| Augustus countermanded this instruction and had poem published |
The Aeneid, Rome, and Greece |
| an example of the cultural debt of Rome to Greece |
| The Aeneid's debt to Homer |
| Protagonist narrates his own story at a feast |
| a truce broken by the promptings of a goddess |
| an enemy warrior killed to avenge the death of a friend |
| Vulcan (Hephaestus) forges a shield for the hero |
| Odyssey: the trials, adventures and return of one man |
| Iliad: the rage of Achilles; pursuit of time by individuals |
| Aeneid: founding of a new home for a people |
| the trials of a man who acts for others |
| Achilles' shield: picture of the world that surrounds the Iliad |
| Aeneas' shield: pictures from the history of Rome |
| Two visits to the underworld |
| Odysseus: goes to obtain information for his return home |
| sent by Circe to consult the prophet Tiresias |
| travels to the western limit of the world |
| offers blood at an entrance to the underworld in a trench |
| drinking it, the dead shades can speak |
| learns that one of his men is dead and unburied |
| learns his course home and dangers on the way |
| converses with the shades |
| returns to Circe's island |
| Aeneas: goes to view the destiny of Rome |
| summoned by his father in a vision |
| visits the cave of the Sibyl, a prophetess, before he enters |
| brings the golden bough for Proserpina |
| enters into underworld in Italy, with the Sibyl as his guide |
| area around Lake Avernus a volcanic region |
| learns that Palinurus is unburied |
| one of three deaths that surround this episode |
| learns the course of Roman history |
| and dangers ahead: Punic wars, civil war |
| Concept of the underworld is far more complex than that in the Odyssey |
| divided into realms of punishment and reward |
| Elysium: a paradisial realm for those who were: |
| wounded in battle for their country |
| discoverers of new truths and skills that improved life |
| remembered by those to whom they gave benefactions |
| souls are reborn: reincarnation |
| note that all future Romans come from Elysium! |
| Aeneas' duties and goals: |
| transport the Trojan nation to a new home |
| raise the wall of Lavinium, forerunner of Rome |
| Mercury finds Aeneas working on walls in Bk. IV |
| most vivid and convincing description in ancient literature of the impact of war on civilized life |
| the destruction of all that gives life meaning and value |
| words of Poseidon (Iliad 20.355-6) |
| "and now Aeneas will rule the men of Troy in power-- |
| his sons' sons and the sons born in future years." |
| 58 statuettes of Aeneas in Etruria (c 500 BCE) |
| carrying his father and the Penates |
| Aeneas worshipped in Lavinium (4th c BCE) |
| stone altars dedicated to Venus, Ceres, and the Penates |
| Advantages of Trojan ancestry |
| Medieval survival of legend |
| Geoffrey of Monmouth. History of the Kings of Britain. |
| Gawain and the Green Knight |
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