Literature:
Latin Class
The Aeneid (from Latin Aenēis) is an epic work, written in Latin, the author of which is Virgil. This work comes from time, between 29th and 19th year B.C. This work dedicated to the story of Aeneas, a legendary Trojan hero who moved to Italy with the remains of his nation; hero, who established the Lavinia, while his son established Alba Longa city.
Virgil wrote this poem in dactylic hexameter and it consists of twelve books, six of which are mimic to Odysseys and the other six to Iliad. The chronology of Aeneid is intentionally violated; besides the mention of Trojan’s crash, there is no any chronological hooks in text. There is also an opinion, which says that this poem is not historic, but a propagandist one – it glorifies Julius dynasty, as if it existed by the son of Aeneas, Jul. As a classical Latin work “Aeneid” became an academic manual of Latin studying, it also made a source of mimicries and parodies.
Virgil’s Aeneid borrows a row of artistic techniques. Virgil saves an Olympic plan in poem (gods of Aeneid are more “noble” then the primitive and too humanized gods of Iliad), and ushers in story, alike Homer, the story of Aeneas about his adventures. Virgil “forces” Aeneas to enter the underworld kingdom. The description of Aeneas shield strongly reminds the description of Achilles’s shield; the clash of Aeneas and Turn are similar to Achilles and Hector; the captivity of Aeneas in Dodona’s hands is like the same between Achilles and Calypso, etc.
Still, Aeneid of Virgil is the result of original creativity of the perfect artist, who thoroughly examined not only mythological, but also historical material. Poem of Virgil has an obvious connection between the myth and modernity, which Homer had not in his works. The brightest moment of this connection comes in the sixth book, when Anchises (Aeneas’ father) introduces his offspring to Aeneas, the offspring, which will rule in Roma. For readers of Aeneid and contemporaries of Virgil, the Aeneas’ descendants are the famous roman politicians of those days; and prophecies of Anchises are not prophecies, but the events of that time. By using Anchises, Virgil says his own thoughts about the Romanian mission, which is for the most expressiveness is opposite to the Greek historical mission.
Central characters of the second part of Aeneid are Aeneas and King of Rutuli, Turnus. Virgil makes both of these images positive, valiant and excellent. Turnus is handsome, brave and juvenile; poet compares Turnus to tiger, lion, steed, bull and descending stone; Virgil compares him to Boreas and Mars, he is possesses valor, which is inherent to Italians. Turnus says that those who deserve glory are only those, who would prefer death not to see the motherland seizure.
It is not the failure of Turnus that gods lead him to the fake purpose. He cannot make out in fake prescriptions of good and evil. Aeneas is nothing but the tool in gods’ hands: all “his” decisions were not actually done by him. He went to find new home because of gods putting him up to it. He left Dido because of his desire to serve for some high purposes. Gods help their tool every time they want to, he has no his own will at all.
In fact, Turnus is brash and hotheaded, cares about himself only while Aeneas after the fall of Troy is someone like a responsible leader. Turnus is brave enough to run into the Trojan fort and slaughtering out the entire garrison, then he is being brave enough to throw himself into the Tiber to avoid death or worse – capturing.
Turnus is being quite blind for the opportunities he had – he could accommodate with Trojans and there will not be any need in killing each other, but he went another way. Two heroes of Aeneid: Turnus and Aeneas are worthy of respect, but one of them is destined to victory, the other – to defeat. This is the will of gods; this is the doom and fate. Turnus was not a good fellow who cared about his people, but his death is not justified.
“At this, Turnus grew mad with fear. He said:
"Faunus, have pity, I entreat you! Gracious
Earth, hold fast the steel, if I have honored you
All my life, whereas Aeneas' men
Warred on you and profaned you."
So he prayed
And asked divine assistance, not in vain (12.1049-1055)” (Aeneid, 1983).
The final battle of Turnus and Aeneas is written well; Virgil gives a long and majestic description of fight between Aeneas and Turnus. However, the fight itself is not fair at all because it was fight of the main heroes, and it should have been a fight of two melee and skilled combat masters, while it actually was a it was something like slaughter of the innocents. Aeneas had magical armor, made by Volcano, while Turn had regular military armor. Jupiter sends Fury to weaken Turnus and he earns a critical hit. Turnus did not even stand a chance against Aeneas and his gods’ help. Moreover, it becomes a murder of unarmed and begging for sparing his life man in the end while Turnus was asking for mercy for the sake of his father.
Close to the end of the poem, Aeneas kills many people who are surrender and beg him for mercy (including Turnus). Turnus killed Pallas, but why did not Aeneas recollect his memory of father, who asked him to “spare the conquered”? Killing surrounded people is not a good example, which can be showed for his young son, and the next Romans’ generations.
The willingness of Turnus to fight against Aeneas is fascinating – he knows that he is fated to lose his life, but still he comes to the one-to-one battle. Turnus should not have died in this story, because it is the symbol of unlucky man, who tries to fight against the fate and gods’ will. Man, who was brave enough to take a fight against a suppressing enemy and gods; man, who never was someone’s tool. Moreover, as it was said before, he would still prefer to die, then to see his land occupied.
References
Virgil, and Robert Fitzgerald. The Aeneid. New York: Random House, 1983. Print.
