What do you think Roman of Virgil's day would have found to admire or criticise in Aeneas's behaviour/actions on the last nigh

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What do you think Roman of Virgil’s day would have found to admire or criticise in Aeneas’s behaviour/actions on the last night of Troy

In Book two of the Aeneid we are told the story of how Troy was destroyed by the Greek army, this story is told in the words of Aeneas.

Before the destruction of troy had even begun we are able to find a major fault in the actions of Aeneas. When the Trojans first found the supposed gift to Athena on the beach they were confused. Looking at the horse some believed it was a sacred gift left by the Greeks in honour of Athena. But some doubted this and said it was a trap and it should be destroyed. One of the people who thought this was Laocoon, the priest of Neptune. Practically telling the Trojans the fate of the horse and throwing a spear into the horse’s side where it quivered. The Romans wound criticise Aeneas for turning a blind eye to this information and not bothering to check the horse out for himself.

When reeling the great horse into the walls of troy the Trojans did not take account of the other signs that something was wrong. Four times the horse stopped, making the armour inside clang against its sides. Aeneas would again be criticized for his behaviour, as he is not paying full attention to what is happening right in front of his eyes.

We are told of how Hector the Prince of Troy and great warrior, came to Aeneas in a dream. Through this dream Hector warns Aeneas that the Great War has started and that Troy is crumbling. Hector informs Aeneas that it is his duty to keep the sacred treasures of Troy and her Gods. He also tells him fate that he should take these treasures and build a great home for them after sailing far over the seas. Although after hearing all, of this when he does awake to find troy under attack he is over come with temptation and snatches up his sword and joins in the fighting, with out stopping to think. The glory of death in battle was all that he was thinking of. The Roman readers would have frowned on this behaviour of Aeneas as his has ignored his instructions told to him in his dream, as dreams were taken very seriously then and thought to have been special messages sent from the gods. Also in going out to fight he has forgotten about his family and left them alone, vulnerable and unaware.

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Even when Panthus, one of Apollo’s priest approaches Aeneas and tells him that Troy is lost and that Jupiter has handed everything over to the Greeks, Aeneas does not listen and still plunges into the fighting. Some Romans may look at Aeneas as a great fighter as he never gives up, even when told that Jupiter is against him. Also it is an honour to die in battle fighting for your country. However Aeneas has still left behind his family and is not doing his duty as a husband and father in looking after his most loved ones. The rush ...

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