Aeneid scholars

only 1, 2, 4

What does Morgan say about Women 3

Women are comfortable when they act like men but fall when they become feminine (Dido as head of state, dies when falls in love (feminine), Camilla as a warrior, dies when distracted by something shiny)

Women make the plot as they are the obstacles for Aeneid which drives the story

Lavinia is the most important woman but a non-existent character. Roman ideal of beautiful but silent.

What does Marshall say about the Shield

What is unsaid is just as important - Leave out R+R fratricide and Manlius being executed as a traitor. Rome always leads to inner conflict.

What does Hardie say about the Pageant of Heroes

Virgil gets close to saying Augustus is a God.

What does Jenkyns say about the whole poem

That it is not a poem about Augustus, but rather a poem about the distant past that references Augustus. He praises the bits he personally viewed as important.

What does Giusti say about Virgil’s depiction of Dido 3

It is ‘post-’truth’ and ‘no more than malevolent slander’. Facts should never get in the way of a good story.

To Roman eyes, Dido is everything “other” - a woman with no husband or children & a Phoenician settled in North Africa.

“[Dido] is not a pawn in the hands of cruel, treacherous Aeneas; she is a pawn in the hands of Roman history and poetry.”

What does Giusisti say about Fama

A metaphorical image of the whole Aeneid. Truth and falsehood, propoganda and anti-propoganda. Attempt to find a way out from the totalising nature of the Augustan discourse.

What does Giusisti say about Cleopatra and Dido

They are parallels.

What does Haarhoff say about Propoganda

Assuming that The Aeneid is merely propoganda undermines Virgil’s genius.

Virgil believed Augustus ‘was the one man who could… restore stability and peace.’ ‘Genuine relief and thankfulness’ for the Civil War.

What does Haarhoff say about religion

Virgil was ‘bound by tradition to use the Olympians but used them in such a way that he suggested his own doubts to the audience.;’

What does Haarhoff say about Homer and Virgil’s epics 2

‘General Homeric motif in outline’ but the ‘total aim of the epic is entirely new.’

The tragedy of Dido has no counterpart in Homer.

What does Morwood say about Augustus and the theme of the city 5 1/2

The rising/falling city is an important motif

Carthage will be destroyed by Aeneas’ descendants, creating Pathos

Virgil implies Augustus “recreated the idea of Rome embodied in the character of Aeneas” “Augustus the builder is one of the great heroes of the Aeneid” “Augustus is the third founder of Rome”

What does Williams say about Dido

Seeing her as a strong proud queen makes her downfall more tragic

What does Page say about Aeneas’ character

In book 4 Virgil can’t do anything to make Aeneas seem less ‘despicable’

What does McLeish say about Dido

She is there to emphasise Aeneas’ pietas

What does Pillinger say about women

that they are not just obstacles for Aeneas, and too often women are reduced to plot devices

Ancient Critics

Servius - ‘Virgil’s intention is to imitate Homer and to praise Augustus by means of his ancestors.’

What does Lezberg say about propoganda

It is secretly critical of the regime it pretends to praise. It is a ‘masterpiece’ to hide it as propoganda.

What does Haarhoff say about Aeneas

“It is a mistake to regard Aeneas as a poltroon.”

Furor represents civil war.