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Wait... they can't cross yet? - Kaitlyn Terry

 On pages 170 and 171, Aeneas is questioning why some souls have not crossed over and the answer is simple. They have yet to be buried. evidently, they must either be buried or roam for a century before being permitted to cross. Imagine how torturous that would be. Imagine having to roam and wander for a hundred years because no one found you in order to bury you or no one cared. That would be such a sad way to spend the first hundred years of the afterlife. On that note, imagine how horrid it would be to be wandering and seeing people you knew crossing before you simply because they got a proper burial. I just can't imagine the pain that one would go through. Aeneas even sees two men that he recognizes who did not receive an honorable death or burial and he feels disheartened and he feels for them. He realizes how painful it must be to watch people pass on while you are stuck to roam aimlessly. I think he almost begins to feel bad because he will be crossing over, and they are stuck to wander aimlessly for years upon years.



I commented on Caroline and Isabelle's posts

Comments

  1. Abigale BellNovember 16, 2020 at 9:00 PM

    Interesting post! Reading these pages reminded me of how serious the Romans were when it came to proper burial. It makes sense that they would emphasize so much the burial of their fallen if this was the mindset they had regarding the afterlife.

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  2. Braylan StringfellowNovember 16, 2020 at 9:23 PM

    I am so glad that is no underworld like they believed. It would be absolutely terrible to have to wonder around forever just because someone didn't care enough. I like what we have and we decide where we want to go when die, either heaven or hell.

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  3. ClaboNovember 16, 2020 at 11:03 PM

    I agree with you. That whole situation was just very unfortunate. One of the most sad parts is that one of the men Aeneas saw was used as a sacrifice so that the he and his fellow Trojans would be able to safely cross the sea. You would think the gods would consider a sacrifice a proper burial enough and take car of that century of roaming.

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  4. Rachael GregsonNovember 16, 2020 at 11:38 PM

    Kaitlyn, thank you for highlighting this! I think being left behind is a particular fear all humans face one way or another. This scene made me think of one of my loved ones held back a grade. It really pained him to see all his friends passing ahead of him while he had to stay and repeat. If that hurts, I can't imagine what being left behind in the underworld feels like.

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