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The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans.
Influence
The Aeneid is one of a small group of writings from Latin Literature that was required for students of Latin. Traditionally students, after reading the works of Julius Caesar, Cicero, Ovid and Catullus would then read the Aeneid. As a result, many phrases from this poem entered the Latin language much as passages from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope have entered the English language. One example is from Aeneas' reaction to the painting of the Sack of Troy, sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt—"the actions of mankind move us to tears and touch our heart" (Aeneid I, 462).
Story
Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of
Rome and a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous piety, and fashioned this into an
epic poem of twelve books, in conscious imitation of
Homer's
Iliad and
Odyssey.
Virgil's poem tells the adventures of
Aeneas from his escape from
Troy after its sack, (
illustration, left) his wanderings through the
Mediterranean region, and his final arrival in
Italy where he becomes the ancestor of the Roman people. The most famous episode of this work is when he is driven by a storm to the coast of
Africa, where he meets
Dido, queen of
Carthage, a city which has only recently been founded and which will later become Rome's greatest enemy. However that lies in the far future; the Trojans are welcomed hospitably and at a banquet given in their honour, Aeneas recounts the tale of the sack of Troy and of their escape from it. During the Trojan visit, Dido and Aeneas fall in love, but the Roman gods insist he fulfil his destiny and he has to depart. Her heart broken, Dido commits suicide by burning herself on a pyre. Looking back from the deck of his ship, Aeneas sees its smoke and knows its meaning only too clearly. However Destiny calls and the Trojan fleet sails on to Italy. They eventually land and further adventures ensue. Aeneas descends to the
underworld through an opening at
Cumae, where he speaks with his father
Anchises and has a prophetic vision of the destiny of
Rome. He marries
Lavinia, the daughter of the king of the
Latini, and her rejected suitor
Turnus, king of the
Rutuli, challenges Aeneas to a duel in which Turnus is slain.
Context
Virgil's portrait of Aeneas emphasizes the Roman quality of pietas, or devotion to his parents, to the gods in general and to the destiny of Rome. This is borne out in the famous scene where he leaves the shattered city of Troy carrying his father on his back, with his son and his household gods in hand.
The work was written at a time of major change in Rome, both political and social. In reaction the emperor Augustus was trying to re-introduce traditional Roman moral values, and the Aeneid is thought to be reflecting that aim.
On his death, Virgil left instructions for the Aeneid to be destroyed if he died with his work unfinished. On his death in 19 BC, Augustus ordered his literary executor Varius Rufus to disregard the poet's wishes, and after minor modifications the Aeneid was published.
There were two attempts at producing an addition to the work made in the 15th century, one by Pier Candido Decembrio which was never completed and one by Maffeo Vegio which was often included in 15th and 16th century printings as the Supplementum.
See also
External links
For external links to the text of the Aeneid see Virgil.
Commentary
Further reading
de:Aeneis
es:Eneida
fr:L'Énéide
ko:아이네이스
it:Eneide (Virgilio)
la:Aeneis
nl:Aeneis
ja:アエネイス
pl:Eneida
sv:Aeneiden
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