Virgil (70 - 19 B.C.)

• Like all Latin poets, Virgil built on the Greek tradition (Norton [earlier edition] 997).
• Relationship of Virgil to Emperor: akin to griot? "Augustus  hoped that Virgil would provide him with a great national epic, to justify, glorify, and immortalize Augustan Roman power" (574).
  

• The Roman Empire began to develop following the death of Alexander in 323 B.C.
• By end of 1st century B.C., the empire stretched from the Strait of Gibraltar to Palestine.
• Latin writers "borrowed wholesale" from the Greek originals, "as a tribute to the source" (Norton 20).
• By end of 1st century B.C., Rome mired in civil wars due to the instability of the city-states system.
• 44 B.C.: Julius Caesar died.
• By 31 B.C., his nephew, Octavius,  controlled the western half of the empire, Marc Antony controlled eastern half of the empire.
• In 31 B.C., Octavius defeats Marc Antony, along with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, at Actium, thus uniting the empire under one authority.

• 84-54 B.C.: Catullus
• 70-19 B.C.: Virgil
• 43 B.C.- ca. A.D. 17: Ovid
• 31 B.C.:  Battle of Actium
• 476 A. D.:  Fall of Rome

• Who is Aeneas? Who are his parents?
• What is his mission?
  

• With which Egyptian queen can Dido be compared?
• Which themes from the Iliad and Odyssey can be combined in the Aeneid?
• How, according to the editors, is Virgil's approach to storytelling different from Homer's?

• Describe the importance of pietas.

• Why does Dido attempt to deny her attraction to Aeneas?  What/Who changes her mind? How?
  

• Are Dido and Aeneas actually married?  Explain.  (See 630 also).

• Describe Rumor.  How does she function here?

• Explain Aeneas's statement: "I set sail for Italy--/all against my will" (4.451-52).

• Explain: "The poem is  . . . a profound meditation on the rights and wrongs of empire and colonialism that prompts us to ask whether civilizations, even the best of them, are ever founded without enormous personal and military cost" (573).
• What common concern do the editors identify in Virgil's works?
• Why might the Roman defeat of Carthage in 146 B.C.E. be significant to the consideration of the Aeneid?
• In what ways was the Rome of Virgil's time still a Republic?

• In what ways, according to the editors, was Augustus Caesar different from Julius Caesar?
• Why, according to the editors, did Augustus want Virgil to create a "great national epic" (574)?
• Where does Virgil identify the origins of Rome?

• Who is Sychaeus? Who is Pygmalion?

• Why is it ironic for Dido to pray to Juno, overseer of marriage bonds?

• Does seeking a match with Aeneas constitute an abandonment of her responsibilities as the founder of Carthage?  Explain.
• What does Venus not like about the idea of a union between Dido and Aeneas?

• How do Aeneas and Dido "warm/the winter . . . with obscene desire" (4.243-44)?

• Who is Mercury?  What task does Jove give him?

• Explain Dido's statement: "Thanks to you, my sense of honor is gone,/my one and only pathway to the stars,/the renown I once held dear" (4.400-2).
  

• How does Dido respond to Aeneas's explanation for his departure?

• Why doesn't Aeneas at least grant Dido's wish for him to wait a little before leaving?

• Why doesn't Dido go with the Trojans?

• Explain:  "A woman's a thing/that's always changing, shifting like the wind" (4.710-11).

• Explain Dido's prophetic prayers.

• Why is Dido's suicide "unexpected" by the gods?

1.  Compare the following pairs of people in terms of their function in their respective works.  

	The Aeneid	The Iliad
	Aeneas	Achilles
	Venus	Thetis
	Juno	Juno
	Venus	Venus
	Dido	Jocasta (actually in Oedipus Rex)

2.  Describe Aeneas's treatment of Dido. Does he mistreat or mislead her or are his actions justifiable?  Explain.

3.  Describe the role of  Fate in the lives of Dido and Aeneas.

Back to Top