Another example of this is that Juno was keen to make Carthage, his beloved city, into a ‘supreme power in the world, if only Fate would allow it.’ She was already aware that ‘a new race, rising from Trojan blood (referring to Aeneas) would… come to destroy all Her African kingdom.’ This phrase is concluded with the words ‘for so fate had decided’. This reinforces my argument.
A good example of the Fates is that Aneas’ wife Crusea dies whilst fleeing Troy as Aneas connot take her on the rest of his journey, as he will find a new ‘wife’ in Dido on his arrival in Carthage.
The Gods’ abilities to intervene, but not to interfere is further shown whilst Aeneas is delaying in Carthage with his love Queen Dido. Jupiter addresses Mercury ordering him to deliver a message to the Trojan Prince. ‘Are you now playing the attentive husband, laying foundations for Carthage to rise on, building a beautiful city? You have forgotten your own Kingdom and your own future. The King of the Gods himself, who has absolute power over heaven and earth, sent me down…with this express message for you: “What are you up to? What do you hope to gain from idly wasting our time on Libian soil? If the glory of great achievements no longer stirs you then have some thought for the growing Ascanius and his hopes of claiming his rightful inheritance, a Kingdom in Italy on Roman soil.”’ Once Aeneas has received Jupiter’s message he almost immediately leaves his love Dido and Carthage behind him and sails for Italy. He is terrified. This message however brings an interesting tilt to the situation. Paradoxically it appears that for fate to be fulfilled it requires the cooperation of mortals. For example if Aeneas remained with his wife Dido and never continued his journey then he would not found the city of Lavinium and would therefore eliminate the presence of Rome in the future and the empirical hopes of Ascanius.
Jupiter, the arbiter of Fate, cannot interfere in Fate’s design, yet he does have the greatest power to intervene in the lives of mortals. It is clear that there is a hierarchy of the Gods and Goddess. For example when Venus agrees with Juno upon a marriage of Dido and Aeneas they have to consult Jupiter and seek his permission before they can intervene and allow it to happen. Juno says, ‘wouldn’t it be better to arrange a marriage between them, then settle for peace everlasting? You’ve got what you wanted; Dido is burning with love, mad passion fills the very core of her being! .’ Venus replies, ‘May fortune favour the scheme you propose. But Fate makes me full of misgivings, whether Jupiter wants there to be one city for Tyrians and Trojan exiles, and approves of this fusion of peoples and a treaty between them. You’re his wife; you’re entitled to tamper with his feelings. Go on.’ (Book 4, page 64) This passage makes a number of important points about Jupiter. Firstly Jupiter is at the top of the hierarchy of the Gods and Goddess and he must therefore be consulted before any of the Gods intervene with Fates design. Secondly Jupiter is allowed to tamper with Fate’s design in-between the checkpoints where no particular events have been ordained and has a power also to postpone, but not delete these checkpoints. Thirdly only Juno, Jupiter’s wife, and Venus, his daughter have the right to try sway the thoughts of The King Of The Gods. This is shown in Book 1 when Venus begs Jupiter to allow Aeneas’s boats to reach the shore. ‘Lord, men and gods alike are ruled forever by your command and awed by your lightning…When will you grant them an end to their trials?’ (Book 1, page 17) The use of the word ‘will’ here is very important as it is almost a command. However Venus does not say, ‘Grant them an end to their trials!’ as she is clearly aware that she does not have the right to do this.
A Portrait Of The King Of The Gods, Jupiter
Juno is the agent of obstruction. Juno personifies the senseless mishaps and disasters that happen to mortals as they strive for worthy ends. She has an undying love Carthage and because Aeneas has been chosen to found the city of Alba Longa in Italy in which Romulus and Remus will be born and Romulus shall go on to found Rome and the start of the Roman Empire which will one day bring about the fall of Troy is not very palatable to her. As Aeneas is Trojan she hates Troy. However the hatred for Troy extends to a lost beauty contest through the judging of the Trojan Paris who favoured Aphrodite to her. Juno is against the fates plan for the Roman Empire and therefore does everything within her and her allies’ power to stop or deviate Aeneas from his mission. Juno fights with Venus the Goddess mother of Aeneas, using the Greeks as puppets against Aeneas and Troy. For Juno the mortals are chess pieces and she has to move them to win the safety of Carthage. However Juno’s mentality is strange, as fate has decried that Carthage shall fall to Rome and yet she persists in attempting to stop or delay this fate. So then is fate unalterable? I think that Fates design is permanent although Juno knows this she is uneasy to accept it and also want to punish the Trojans and in particular Aeneas fro what their city will eventually cause. Juno’s hatred and the extents that she will go to in order to kill Aeneas are exposed when she goes to talk to Aeolus. ‘Aeolus, the father and king of the Gods and men appointed you to quieten the waves or arouse them with gales. A race I loathe is sailing to the Etruscan Sea, bringing Troy and its defeated gods to Italy. So give me your winds violence – sink all their ships without trace and, drive the Trojans in every direction, scatter their corpses all over the sea! I have fourteen gorgeous Nymphs to serve me: in return for your kindness I’ll give you in lasting marriage the one with the greatest beauty, and pronounce her yours, to spend the rest of her years by your side and make you father of beautiful children.’ (Book 1, page 12) In Book 7 (page 112) Juno says, ‘Ugh! Those loathsome Trojans! Their destiny is at odds with the destiny of me and mine.’
Venus is the conflicting Goddess. As Aeneas’ mother she has his best interests and happiness at heart. She therefore has to fight of the evil influences of Juno within his life in order to allow him this happiness. For example when Juno asks Aeolus to create the storm and wreck Aeneas’ fleet it is Venus who begs Jupiter to release them from this so as he may not be hurt. Then again when Aeneas is on the point of killing Helen Venus appears and shows him what has really happened so that he does not commit this murder. When Aeneas is sick of his life after the shipwreck Venus is there to provide him with guidance. She says, ‘whoever you are, you cannot, I’m sure be hated by heaven; you’re alive and breathing, and you’ve come to a Tryian cuty. Just carry straight on, go right to the palace.’ Venus is solely concerned with the happiness of her son and does not place the mission to Lavinium as a priority. This way of thinking is uncovered when Venus agrees with Juno upon marriage of Dido to Aeneas, which she was aware would delay if not stop his mission. However she also aware that he has had an exceptionally rough time prior to this and is merely mothering her child. Venus love is shown when she tells Juno to ‘tamper with Jupiter’s feelings’ in order to allow a union between Aeneas and Dido.
A Portrait Of The Goddess Venus
Aeneas has not been presented by Virgil as the stereotypical hero figure, on many occasions he is seen to act in a manor that is not suited to a hero; he is seen to operate with human emotions and reactions. He shows fervent passion, ‘depth of his love’, outbursts of panic, ‘shake with a spasm of fear’ and dangerous anger, ‘a flame of anger blazed’ and ‘a fury to avenge’. He also presents us with moments of unhappiness in the depths of despair and on points of suicidal tendencies.
Unlike most hero images Aeneas is very bull headed and obstinate and will follow what his instincts dictate to him. For example he says, ‘Madly I seized my weapons; nor did I think about it once I had done so but my heart was aflame to gather a force for fighting and rush to the citadel with my companions; frenzy and anger drove on my thoughts, and I decided that death in battle would be a glorious end.’ (Book 2, lines 314-317) This is where we see the warrior of the heroic age, impulsive, courageous, ready to sell his life dearly, ready with the splendid gesture, the heroic desire. This almost stupid courageousness is shown when Aeneas says, ‘Let us rush into the thick of fighting and die’. (Book 2, page 43)
Aeneas however is not always this brave. On occasions he is terrified and shows his fear, subsequently breaking the mould with most of the heroes in epics. Most striking is the way in which Aeneas reacts to the visit of Mercury. He is depicted as a normal man, certainly not the demi-God nor hero that his is. ‘Aeneas was struck dumb by this vision, and witless: his hair stood on end in horror; his voice struck fast in his throat.’ This is fear. Aeneas was terrified by his vision. Surely if Aeneas was the puppet he is made out to be then the God’s would never have let him come this far off track or neither show such ‘weak’ emotions. This is not the hero we have come to expect of Aeneas up to this point within the epic and neither does demonstrate absolute control by the Gods upon his actions and thoughts.
The Terrified Aeneas
Aeneas also displays his emotions, particularly his love for Dido, on a regular basis. For example he ‘conceals the love in his heart’ (Book 4, lines 331-332) and is described as being ‘shaken to the heart by his deep love’ (Book 4, lines 393-396). Earlier he reveals and when he catches sight of Helen, ‘A flame of anger blazed through my[Aeneas’] heart, a fury to avenge the downfall of my country, to punish her wicked crimes… I shall enjoy the pleasure of glutting my hatred’ (Book 2, page 48). Whilst Aeneas is gazing at Juno’s temple and the pictures of war depicted upon its walls he revisits the memory of his recent loss and says, ‘here too there are tears…and mortal suffering touches the heart’. (Book 1, lines 461-462) This shows that Aeneas has the ability to feel suffering and hurt, like an ordinary mortal. However is he was just the puppet that the question suggests the fates would not allow him to feel any negative motion and he would merely be a robotic character moving through the checkpoints decreed by the Fates.
Virgil often refers to Aeneas as ‘pius Aeneas’, and this is also the way in which Aeneas describes himself, for example he says ‘sum pius Aeneas’ (Book 1, line 220). The word ‘pius’ is an adjective derived from the Latin word ‘pietas’. ‘Sum pius Aeneas’ translates as ‘I Aeneas am a man of duty’ (i.e. a man with a mission). ‘Pietas’ is a way of life indefinable in English due to its multifaceted meaning. However a brief explanation of the word is ‘duty to the Gods, family and native land.’ This word in itself questions the validity of the statement in the question. Surely every Roman was bound by their, ‘Duty to the Gods’ and was therefore governed by the Gods’ whims? Yet this implies that there is the choice of disobedience, to ignore the will of the Gods and of Fate. Pietas is personified in Aeneas. Virgil designed Aeneas as a character to which every Roman ought to aspire. This duty was given to the Gods, his family and his native land, but from time to time Aeneas strays from this perfect piety and suggests free will is at play in Aeneas. For example upon the loss of his wife Crusea, Aeneas ‘cursed every God and every man’. Cursing the Gods goes directly against the concept of pietas.
However often Aeneas shows the quality for which he is personified. For example, he is told ‘Go and find out how your weary old father Anchises is, who you left behind and whether your wife Crusea and son Ascanius are alive’ (Book 2, page 49) Once Venus has told him this he acknowledges it and in book six he does indeed fulfil this duty to the Gods and his family. Also whilst Aeneas is staying with Dido he is told to leave and despite his desire to remain in Carthage he places his duty first and forgets his Queen. ‘With a great struggle repressed his feelings…If the Fates allowed me to live my life as I wished and to settle my own affairs…my first thoughts would be for Troy and to the remains of my people…Though it is not what I would choose myself, I am going to Italy’. (Book 4, page 71) ‘Aeneas aware of his duty…shaken by the depth of his love…still obeyed the commands of the Gods.’ Aeneas’ pietas provides him with the strength of mind to leave his love Dido behind in order to fulfil the mission granted to him by the Fates. Also Aeneas reveals his awareness of his pietas in the duty to his country (first thoughts would be for Troy) and to the Gods in his obedience of Jupiter’s command. Then he also shows the devotion to ward his family ‘the thought of Ascanius, and the wrong I am doing to my son’. In book six Aeneas again calls upon his pietas in order to allow him to brave entry into the Underworld in order to once again see Anchises, his father. Aeneas pietas is clearly shown when he carries his father Anchises out of Troy on his back, dragging his son Ascanius by his hand with his wife following behind him. This is the duty to his family.Pietas and fate are clearly interlinked with one another and it would appear that the stronger the devotion to the concept of pitas the bound Aeneas to the design of Fate and the various difficulties that obeying the Fates entail. It is almost a punishment to Aeneas for being pius.
The ‘Pius’ Aeneas
There is a sub-plot behind Aeneas journey to found his destined civilization. This sub-plot exposes the inner conflicts and feuding in the heavens between the Gods. It is apparent that humans are to some extent puppets to the arrogant and omnipotent Gods. Aeneas is the victim of a struggle between the Goddesses Venus and Juno. It is their battles that have brought to my attention how the mortals are used as mere chess pieces to resolve their dispute.
I think that as a character had Virgil not granted Aeneas a degree of free will he would have created a superficial zombie who could waltz through the middle of a battle without receiving a scratch because the Gods had controlled his actions.
However I do not feel that Aeneas is sufficiently under the control or whims of the Gods in order to justify the appraisal of Aeneas as a puppet. He does have free will. Fate is eventually dependant on his pietas and obedience to the various controlling forces like the Gods and his experiences. Aeneas reacts to each situation as any other mortal would. It is entirely possible that if Venus had not intervened Aeneas would have committed suicide in book one. This essentially is the role of the Gods; to try to keep the character on ‘the straight and narrow’. Aeneas’ demonstration of emotions also reveals his free will and his existence as human being rather than just a puppet. However in my opinion it is the moments where Aeneas disobeys the will of the Fates and Gods, for example when he delays in Carthage, that allow me to conclude that Aeneas has free will as Jupiter is forced to urgently correct Aeneas’ actions. Virgil has created a mortal with a destiny affecting a lot of the future and therefore the Gods had to take on the role of the referees ensuring that Aeneas never strayed too far from his fate’s goal, however Aeneas exercises his free will when he wants and therefore does not deserve the title of puppet. Eventually Aeneas’ cooperation with Fate and the Gods is required tom complete his destiny.
Total Word Count: 3,645 words
Word Count (Excluding Quotes): 2,808 words
Bibliography
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Virgil: Selections form the Aeneid, Translated by Graham Tingay
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Aeneas And The Roman Hero, by Deryck Williams
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Virgil Selections For Aeneid VI, by Anne Haward
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An Introduction To Virgil’s Aeneid, by W.A.Campus