Aeneid
The Aeneid (/ɪˈniːɪd/ ih-NEE-id; Latin: Aenē̆is [ae̯ˈneːɪs] or [ˈae̯neɪs]) is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, the Aeneid comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter.[1] The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed.
Not to be confused with Enneads or Eneida.
The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and his description as a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous pietas, and fashioned the Aeneid into a compelling founding myth or national epic that tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimised the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy.
The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgil's masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature.[2][3][4]
Reception[edit]
Critics of the Aeneid focus on a variety of issues.[15] The tone of the poem as a whole is a particular matter of debate; some see the poem as ultimately pessimistic and politically subversive to the Augustan regime, while others view it as a celebration of the new imperial dynasty. Virgil makes use of the symbolism of the Augustan regime, and some scholars see strong associations between Augustus and Aeneas, the one as founder and the other as re-founder of Rome. A strong teleology, or drive towards a climax, has been detected in the poem. The Aeneid is full of prophecies about the future of Rome, the deeds of Augustus, his ancestors, and famous Romans, and the Carthaginian Wars; the shield of Aeneas even depicts Augustus' victory at Actium in 31 BC. A further focus of study is the character of Aeneas. As the protagonist of the poem, Aeneas seems to constantly waver between his emotions and commitment to his prophetic duty to found Rome; critics note the breakdown of Aeneas' emotional control in the last sections of the poem where the "pious" and "righteous" Aeneas mercilessly slaughters the Latin warrior Turnus.
The Aeneid appears to have been a great success. Virgil is said to have recited Books 2, 4 and 6 to Augustus;[16] the mention of her son, Marcellus, in book 6 apparently caused Augustus' sister Octavia to faint. The poem was unfinished when Virgil died in 19 BC.
Themes[edit]
Pietas[edit]
The Roman ideal of pietas ("piety, dutiful respect"), which can be loosely translated from the Latin as a selfless sense of duty toward one's
filial, religious, and societal obligations, was a crux of ancient Roman morality. Throughout the Aeneid, Aeneas serves as the embodiment of
pietas, with the phrase "pious Aeneas" occurring 20 times throughout the poem,[20] thereby fulfilling his capacity as the father of the Roman people.[21]
For instance, in Book 2 Aeneas describes how he carried his father Anchises from the burning city of Troy: "No help/ Or hope of help existed./
So I resigned myself, picked up my father,/ And turned my face toward the mountain range."[22] Furthermore, Aeneas ventures into the underworld, thereby fulfilling Anchises' wishes. His father's gratitude is presented in the text by the following lines: "Have you at last come, has that loyalty/ Your father counted on conquered the journey?"[23]
However, Aeneas' pietas extends beyond his devotion to his father: we also see several examples of his religious fervour. Aeneas is consistently subservient to the gods, even in actions opposed to his own desires, as he responds to one such divine command, "I sail to Italy not of my own free will."[24][25]
In addition to his religious and familial pietas, Aeneas also displays fervent patriotism and devotion to his people, particularly in a military capacity. For instance, as he and his followers leave Troy, Aeneas swears that he will "take up/ The combat once again. We shall not all/ Die this day unavenged."[26]
Aeneas is a symbol of pietas in all of its forms, serving as a moral paragon to whom a Roman should aspire.
Divine intervention[edit]
One of the most recurring themes in the Aeneid is that of divine intervention.[27] Throughout the poem, the gods are constantly influencing the main characters and trying to change and impact the outcome, regardless of the fate that they all know will occur.[28] For example, Juno comes down and acts as a phantom Aeneas to drive Turnus away from the real Aeneas and all of his rage from the death of Pallas.[29] Even though Juno knows in the end that Aeneas will triumph over Turnus, she does all she can to delay and avoid this outcome.
Divine intervention occurs multiple times, in Book 4 especially. Aeneas falls in love with Dido, delaying his ultimate fate of travelling to Italy. However, it is actually the gods who inspired the love, as Juno plots:
English translations[edit]
The first full and faithful rendering of the poem in an Anglic language is the Scots translation by Gavin Douglas—his Eneados, completed in 1513, which also included Maffeo Vegio's supplement. Even in the 20th century, Ezra Pound considered this still to be the best Aeneid translation, praising the "richness and fervour" of its language and its hallmark fidelity to the original.[60][61] The English translation by the 17th-century poet John Dryden is another important version. Most classic translations, including both Douglas and Dryden, employ a rhyme scheme; most more modern attempts do not.
Recent English verse translations include those by Patric Dickinson (1961); British Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis (1963), who strove to render Virgil's original hexameter line; Allen Mandelbaum (honoured by a 1973 National Book Award); Library of Congress Poet Laureate Robert Fitzgerald (1981); David West (1990); Stanley Lombardo (2005); Robert Fagles (2006); Frederick Ahl (2007); Sarah Ruden (2008); Barry B. Powell (2015); David Ferry (2017); Len Krisak (2020); and Shadi Bartsch (2021).[62]
There have also been partial translations, such as those by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (Book 2 and Book 4), and Seamus Heaney (Book 6).
