Throughout all of the ancient epics, the Aeneid has always been my favorite. I have always found Aeneas to be a virtuous warrior, and I was even reminded of this fact within the first three books. The main point that stands out to me is when Aeneas sees Helen hiding during the fall of Troy. He is overcome with anger and wants to kill her because she is one of the main reasons that the war started in the first place. However, he is patient and listens to his mother, Venus, and just decides to leave. I feel that if Achilles was placed in that same position, a goddess would not have even had the time to approach him before he had already killed her. Another thing that find impressive in Aeneas's character is the fact that is always slow to act whether it be in listening to the gods advice or even letting a Greek straggler on to his ship. Aeneas, to me, is the perfect example of a man who pursues virtue instead of glory.
This is just my opinion. What are your thoughts?
P.S. I commented on Kaitlyn Terry's and Jackson Riddle's posts.
I would have to agree that Aeneas is a much better representation of how an honorable warrior should both act and behave. However, the author was a bit biased when it came to character creation. After all, Virgil's goal was to tell the "historical" story of the Romans and he had to make it sound good. As we've said before in class, the Romans saw everybody else as a barbarian, so by creating this new, more controlled hero, Virgil was only adding to the Romans' innate pride of being a more refined and dignified people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about how Aeneas pursues virtue more than glory. You are definitely right about how Achilles would have just killed Hellen without giving one thought about it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite moments of Aeneas being a great man is when he goes to look for his wife. It is heartbreaking, but the amount of devotion that Aeneas shows towards the people he loves, including his son, his father, and his followers, truly points to the worthiness that this man has to lead.
ReplyDeleteI really loved how you contrasted Aeneas with Achilles. You could tell right off the bat that Achilles has a bad temper and would have likely struck her down versus Aeneas, despite his internal anger, who acts very graceful externally.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I really agree with you. Aeneas' qualities that make him different from Achilles are what makes him a likeable character. He is pretty much the opposite of Achilles and as a result, is the better character, considering Achilles was so deeply flawed.
ReplyDeleteI love the self control shown in Aeneus in this moment. It for me demonstrates mans possibility for good. I love how we get to see polar opposites in the characters and brashness of Aeneus and Achilles. I love seeing a man with self control as that is such a major flaw within mankind of today and almost encouraged to be without self control by music and popular media. the Bible continually reminds of the importance of self control.
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