Aeneid Scholarship

Servius- homeric influence

Virgil wanted to be a Roman Homer and praise Augustus through his poetry

Gransden- homeric influence

It is the memory of the Odyssey in which Virgil particularly wants to provoke

Toll- homeric influence

Virgil wanted to create for his nation a poetic prehistory as deep-rooted as Homer’s was to greece

Hall- Aeneas’ character

Aeneas is a pious hero

Cowan- Augustan propaganda, Aeneas’ character

Aeneas is a template for Augustus, a model for what a good roman should be

Williams- Aeneas’ character

Aeneas fights because he must

Marshall- Aeneas’ role

Aeneas plays a passive role in the poem

Gransden- Aeneas’ agency

merely a puppet without a character of his own

Camps- Aeneas’ agency

He has no personal motive

Semple- war

Virgil in truth hated war

Camps- immortals

The gods are only concerned with their own private agendas

Morgan- gods+ fate

they cannot alter fate

Morgan- role of immortals

the gods in the aeneid are entertaining

Sowerby- Turnus

Turnus is a kind of foil to Aeneas

Burke-Turnus

Turnus is both the selfish lover (Paris) and the noble man (Hector)

Williams- Turnus

a sense of sympathy and feeling of injustice

Jenkyns- Camilla

Camilla is both delicate and savage

Markus- fate vs free will

destiny is dependent on human will

Gransden-fate

the concept of fate dominates the Aeneid

O’Gorman- Dido

Dido reminds us of the cost of war

Williams- Dido and Turnus, fate

Dido and Turnus are trampled on by the fate or Aeneas and Rome

Jenkyns- Dido

the gods cause Didos love. She then chooses to act on it

Du Quenesay- Dido

Dido is a victim to fate and the gods

Jenkyns- furor

If Aeneas goes wrong it is through excess of emotions

Burke- Amata

Amata fulfills none of her roles and queen mother or wife

Morgan- women

Women help generate the plot

Henderson- Camilla

Camilla destabilises the role of men and women in military political rituals

Anderson- Aeneas, pietas

Aeneas’ piety can lead to both creative and destructive acts

Williams- Aeneas

Aeneas is very much an ordinary mortal

Williams- heroism

Virgil had to create his own hero as a prototype for the roman character

Eisaman-Maus- pietas

the perfect roman is not born for himself but for his country

Gransden- Augustan propaganda

Aeneas can be seen as a prefiguration for Augustus himself

Gransden- promotion of roman empire

the real theme of the Aeneid was the founding of Rome and its subsequent rise under Augustus to its greatest glory

Cowan- relationship between children and parents

father-son relationships and suffering and central to the plot

Sowerby- relationship between children and parents

the relationship between fathers and sons is the closest bond in the poem

Gransden- furor

furor dominates the last 4 books

Macgorain- homeric influence

Homer is not political in the same way as Virgil

Williams- heroism

The Roman hero is a social man who cares for their people

Armstrong- Ascanius

Ascanius has to survive or the future of Rome will be in jeopardy but he still wants to be a part of things

Armstrong- suffering

in the Aeneid suffering is shown to bring wisdom and even virtue to many

Buckley- furor

amorous madness ultimately leads to disaster

Morgan- Aeneas in b10

an absolutely terrifying thing for the roman reader, to see their founding father commit human sacrifices

Cowan- Mezentius

Mezentius is a man you hate to love