Virgil College Essays Samples For Students

Saving Grace is a novel written by Lee Smith and first published in 1995. It is a fictional journal of a middle aged woman named Grace Shepherd who embarks on a meandering pilgrimage with her father. Florida Grace is the daughter of Rev. Virgil Shepherd, a travelling preacher who handles snakes and performs signs and wonders. His family is forced to follow Reverend Virgil around in his travels in order to support his preaching ministry. Grace believed in Jesus, but hated Him because she was forced to travel all over in many hardships in support of His ministry. The novel talks about the life ...

Discuss the conflict between pietas and furor in the relationship of Aeneas and Dido. How does the concept of Stoicism in Rome help you, as a modern reader, to understand the conflict of duty and love as a conflict of pietas and furor?
Pietas and Furor are quite complicated philosophical phenomena. Pietas symbolises peace, calmness and a strong devotion to doing one’s duty. In Rome it was believed that an ideal citizen should first of all think about how to carry out the duties and not about the fulfilment of his own needs. Those duties concerned the devotion ...

Freud was a human psychologist who studied behaviours of human beings in relation to the environment. He developed a psychoanalytic theory of personality where he argues personality composes of three elements that work to develop human behaviours, the id, the ego, and the superego. The following paper focuses on two of these elements and their application in the book Civilization and its Discontents. The ego element deals with reality while the superego maintains a person’s moral standards and ideals acquired from the family and the society. The Freud investigated the spiritual phenomenon that connects the ego with the outside world through ...

Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy (Divina Comedia) in the thirteenth century. The work was divided into three stages namely, Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise). It was a well-renowned religious epic during Dante’s time which tells about his journey from Hell to the Paradise. Virgil, who was also a great Roman poet and Beatrice, Dante’s beloved lady guided him through the different circles of hell. The poem which was written in the Tuscany dialect also establishes the modern Italian language. The poem was divided into nine circles. Each circle represents the deadly sins of the mortal world ...

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The Aeneid
The image of Dido is one of the most tragic representations in Roman literature. Virgil reminds us all - even in the most severe situations of our lives, we all stay human beings. It requires sharing the experiences and knowledge. And this is the humanitas of the poet. The tragic love of Dido begins with the libido. When the persecuted by the will of the gods, the Trojans surpassed Italy, and arrived at the coast of Libya to Carthage, which was founded and ruled by Dido, at a Banquet hosted in honor of the guests, ...

1.
In questioning the ways that the Romans can be considered to have been heirs to Greek and Hellenistic civilization it becomes evident that there were various cultural influences that the Greek's idea of civilization provided to the Roman identity. In looking at the various aesthetic, cultural, and religious values that were derived from Greek culture, it is evident that there was a profound influence that occurred between the Greek and Roman's point of view. Furthermore, in comparing the answers to this question given by Professor Weber and by Professors Matthews, Platt, and Noble further insight into this relationship ...

Introduction

Virgil was an important poet in the Roman Empire. He was born in Italy, but finally got settled in Rome. Virgil was a favorite amongst the patrons in his time and gained a lot of wealth, fame and emperor’s favors simply because of his writing. Virgil lived through several tumultuous wars and regime changes (one of Octavian’s regimes as well, who was also called as Augustus later). Always being in the good books of the emperor Augustus, Virgil started working on his most famous book the Aeneid, which also immortalized the reign of Augustus. The Aeneid is the story ...

Virgil perceives an entrance to the underworld as a cave by the shores of Italy consisting of a lake and wood close to the mouth, with a lake inside the cave (Torjussen 73). One can only get through by offering a golden tree branch to the Cocytus ferryman (Solmsen 13). According to the philosopher, there are different kinds of souls in the water that humbly requests assistance in their crossover to the boat. According to Virgil, the only access to the ship is by having the body buried with the alternative being swimming in the smelly waters (Bremmer 185). ...

Epic poem Aeneid composed by Virgil presents reader with legendary adventures of ancestor of the Romans – Aeneas. It reveals all the hardships and tricks of fortune that Aeneas had to overcome in order to get to Italy. Gods` intricacies along with glorious battles illuminate not only Aeneas`s thorny path to fulfill his duty but also shows characters` diversity and complexity. It should be mentioned that almost all characters in this poem are controversial and cannot be fully considered as positive or negative. Therefore, their actions may be considered to bear dichotomy which complicates their interpretation as well as ...

The apparent modeling of Virgil’s Aeneid around Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey is evident in the sixth book as the protagonist in the former’s work visits the Land of the Dead. In particular, the eleventh book of the Odyssey gives a similar account as Odysseus visits Hades in his efforts to return home and reclaim his rights as King of Ithaca. Naturally, Virgil does not adopt a blind imitation of the Homeric account and instead, approaches the adaptation process while making sure it serves his purposes. For that reason, while the visit to ...

Introduction

Saving Grace is novel set in the desperately poor town of Scrabble Creek in North Carolina and is told by a girl as she recounts her experiences living with her family who are desperately trying to scrounge a living out of the soil. It examines the relationship between Florida Grace Shepherd who is the main character and narrator of the book with her father, a snake controlling evangelist preacher and her mother who is a rather submissive personality. It is interesting to note how both coped with their lives particularly Florida Grace who was also abused by her father and this can said ...

Introduction

Death is the cessation of life or the termination of biological functions sustaining a living organism. Causes of death include: malnutrition, accidents and predation. Death has for a very long period of time been a central concern of the world’s traditions both religious and philosophical. Belief in some kind of afterlife or rebirth has a central aspect of religious belief.

Themes of Death and How They Compare to a Modern Epic of Gilgamesh, the Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest books which are still in use today. The influences of this book are still being seen in many modern works today. ...

The story of Orpheus and Eurydice remains one of the most famed myths of ancient Greece. It is not only a tale that pulses with the timeless themes of beauty, love and loss, but it also reveals deeper aspects of the human experience regarding what it means to be god and man. As a man endowed with god-like powers in the form of musical ability, Orpheus carried within himself the unique and precious capacity to bend even the most rigid hearts into understanding and supporting his deepest desires, including the rare chance to bring someone back to life. This ...

Introduction

The Annals is a collection of sixteen books that survive, written by Cornelius Tacitus who was an historian of the Roman Empire as well as a Roman senator. In what remains of his final writings, Tacitus describes the Roman Empire beginning with Tiberius’ reign in 14 AD 14 up to and including Nero’s reign in 68 AD. The estimated date of the Annals is around 166 AD. The personages and events described in the Annals include Caligula, Claudius, Tiberius Nero, and Messalina. While Tacitus was writing from the perspective of an elitist and a scholar, it is evident ...

The works Odyssey and Inferno are both recognized as revealing the beliefs and practices of life with reference to the era which these epics date, particularly the struggle of good versus evil. The poem Odyssey deals with the struggles of Odysseus against various impediments he faces on his journey back home from the Trojan War after a gap of twenty years. In Dante’s Inferno, the protagonist Dante is conflicted while choosing good from evil. Referring to the Biblical Heaven and Hell, this struggle is the primary essence of the story. In both these works, the angels and the gods ...

Divine Comedy of Dante is the greatest monument of Italian literature, real medieval scientific encyclopedia of political, philosophical, moral and theological knowledge. This is allegorical description of the human soul with its vices, passions, joys and virtues. This is live human characters and vivid psychological situations. According to Virgil, Dante will have to learn in “Hell” not in words but in reality all human evil, fallen away from God, and to see the futility of earthly grandeur and ambition (Heather et al., 2005). For this poet shows in the Divine Comedy underground kingdom, where he connects everything he knows ...

Better Luck Tomorrow, is a 2002 film that explores the lives of four Asian-American youth who decided to venture into the excesses of life and ended up getting involved in mischief, petty crime and eventually murder. It was an MTV success that sparked outrage and mixed emotions from the movie goers.
The plot begins with a flash-forward of events in the future when the character Ben Manibag (played by Pary Shen) and Virgil Hu (Jason Tobin), his socially unschooled best friend, are involved in a dialogue when they hear a phone ringing. Their curiosity leads them to dig up ...

1. Aeneas is admired for his heroic qualities and nobility of his race because of his deeds, words, lineage and appearance (Ross, 2007). He came from a powerful lineage because he was the son of Anchises, a mortal father and Aphrodite, a divine mother (Powell, 2008). His deeds, manners and conduct are superior over the others because he is considered a demi-god, who is born partly human and partly god. He had the same qualities as Achilles. He can be considered as a very brave and ambitious warrior of his time because he had hopes of succeeding Priam as king (Powell, 2008). Aeneas was ...

Young Minority Delinquency as Explained through the Lenses of Strain and Social Learning Theory: Insights from “Crips and Bloods: Made in America”, “Grand Torino” and “A Better Life”
Young Minority Delinquency as Explained through the Lenses of Strain and Social Learning Theory: Insights from “Crips and Bloods: Made in America”, “Grand Torino” and “A Better Life”

Introduction

Young minority males from poor families are more likely to turn to delinquency than any other group in the United States of America. In an attempt to explain this tendency by means of well-established criminal law theories, this paper will look at three ...

Analysing The Aeneid

The link between love and violence’:
Analysing The Aeneid

Introduction

The Aeneid is a one of the most renowned Latin poems which was written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC depicting a legendary tale of a Trojan named Aeneas who left his city with many Trojans after a war and found the Roman Empire (Fagles, 2006). When one reads the poem and understands the story, there are several themes which come alive with its well-written lines. And extreme violence is definitely one of those central themes. But as claimed by most, the violence being talked in The Aeneid is borne out ...

Gilgamesh

As the world’s earliest known “hero tale,” the Epic of Gilgamesh established the literary tradition of the hero that today pervades our cultural perspective and self-image. This socio-cultural construct is present in folklore, books, movies and even in high-tech media, such as video games and computer programs. In recent years, the 9/11 attacks and the conflicts that followed in its wake have produced a modern hero image that we have come to idealize, a crusader who ignores grave danger to protect the vulnerable and innocent. Gilgamesh is the epitome of this brave protector who, through courage, persistence and physical strength ...

In What Ways Were the Romans Heirs to the Greek Civilization?

Introduction
There is a consensus among scholars that the major influences of the Roman culture were the Greeks. Among the major proponents for this theory are authors, Roy Matthews, Dewitt Platt and Thomas Noble; and the renowned historian, Eugen Weber. In their book, ‘The Western Humanities, Volume 1: Beginnings through the Renaissance,’ Matthews, Platt and Noble developed the idea that Western culture, which developed from the Romans, was actually a product of the Hellenistic culture that dominated the Mediterranean region in the past (Matthews, Platt, & Noble, 2010). Similarly, in his video instructional series, ‘The Western Tradition,’ Eugen Weber presented ...

The Divine Comedy is a Medieval Poem that represents a journey of hell, heaven, and paradise. Dante’s journey explores the specifications that he and other people may acquire when determining their outcome of heaven or hell. His words express the sinfulness that occurs on earth and the reflection it has as punishment. The souls’ punishment of Hell reflects the disadvantage of traveling to Heaven. In Inferno, the sinners symbolize the hatefulness that occurs and the price that their souls pay in Hell. “He talks about the wrath of God and the souls coming together from every country”. .
Dante ...

In this paper, I will look at the themes in The Odyssey and Inferno. The theme I will look at first is journeys. In the Odyssey, Odysseus struggles to return to his home and family. His journey takes ten years to complete. Unlike Odysseus, whose journey is physical in the Inferno, Dante’s journey encompasses the struggle between good and evil within himself. Dante see’s the afterlife as consisting of three level heaven, purgatory and hell. In the Odyssey as Odysseus is traveling back to Ithaca he encounters a number of mythological and supernatural creatures like Poseidon, Circe, ...

Mary Shelly’s novel, Frankenstein, is one of the greatest works of literature of all time. The author goes on to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the readers with the excellent aesthetic charm and emotional appeal of the novel in context. The literary artist shows her skills as a creative artist as she portrays her content via the use of effective literary elements. Now, this novel goes on to show inter-textual references that only work to enhance the charm and literary excellence of the work by Shelly. A close introspection of the novel in context enables ...

Introduction

The duty herein is to assess and evaluate the speech presentations given. The paper covers those speeches given at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research, for the year 2014. Professor Bill Cunliffe is the key speaker, representing the Music Department at California State University at Fullerton (CSUF) and has delivered the longest speech presentation (taking up approximately half of the video) brief comments on the other three speakers shall be included. As a key academic field, speech communications empowers people to prepare for careers in many areas. For example, ...

With Luca Signorelli (1445/1450 - 1523) was accomplished, with a clearer awareness, the transition from painting as a representation to painting as example of a more aware artistic poetic. The antithesis between the pictorial formal system of Piero della Francesca and the Florentine method was essentially the antithesis between being and becoming, between stasis and movement. The historical moment was of a great religious crisis: the Catholic Church needed a form of art that did not search the absolute, on the contrary the role of a work of art was to speak and persuade the shaken believers with clear arguments.
Luca Signorelli was born ...

Dante’s Confession – A Literary Analysis

In his “Inferno” Dante Alighieri, the author of The Divine Comedy, portrays himself as the 35 year old Dante the Pilgrim, who is “Midway along the journey of [his] life” (Alighieri & Musa, 2002). Alighieri’s Dante the Pilgrim is a man who has “wandered off from the straight path” (Alighieri & Musa, 2002) and has gone astray from “the path of truth” (Alighieri & Musa, 2002). Dante wrote the Inferno as a public confession of his sins, to make his readers comprehend the redemption of the soul. After all, confession is the first step toward redemption. In the Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim feels ...

Have anyone asked himself who is a hero? A hero is usually perceived as someone who achieved win fame due to his heroic deeds. As it is known from the Virgil’s poem Aeneid, Aeneus achieved his goals through divine intervention. Thus, his deeds must not be perceived as his own. Divine intervention can be observed throughout the poem: Gods command the life of his wife when they left Troy, Venus begged Jupiter to calm the storm so Aeneus and other people could save their lives, later they guided him to Italy.
On the other hand, Aeneus was a hero ...