The Aeneid Literary Analysis

The author and narrator of “The Aeneid” is Publius Vergilius Maro (known simply as “Vergil”), though the tale briefly transitions into Aeneas’s narrative at one point. Responding to audiences who are unfamiliar with his tale and motivated by the need to share it, Vergil recounts Aeneas’s story, from his actions during the fall of the city of Troy to his visit to the Underworld and beyond. Scholars have long studied this piece and debated its significance, either as a simple historical tale of fiction or as a medium across which Vergil expressed his thoughts and musings. (Topic) The best way to interpret "The Aeneid" (Argument) is as a study into the character of Aeneas, who exhibits signs of the Roman virtues virtus and disciplina (or the lack
(Point) Dido begins to pursue relations with Aeneas, and Aeneas exhibits a lack of self-control by engaging in such relations. (Evidence) On the day of a hunt, Juno wills it to rain so that the hunters would have to seek shelter and the circumstances would allow for the fated union, “Dido and the Trojan leader reach the very same cave… the heavens are party to their union…. That first day is the source of misfortune and death. / Dido’s no longer troubled by appearances or reputation, / she no longer thinks of a secret affair: she calls it marriage: / and with that name disguises her sin" (Vergil 4. 165-172). (Explanation 1) Through these words, Vergil states that Dido and Aeneas sheltered themselves in the same cave, and with the approval of the gods they became one (while noting that this day would cause death and misfortune, no doubt alluding to Dido’s imminent suicide), while Dido suppressed her inhibitions by considering the act as a sign of a marital relationship rather than as a sin. (ex2) Though Vergil describes how Dido overcame her reservations, he makes it apparent that Aeneas had none, and his lack of self-control in dealing with this sensitive matter would put the responsibility of the consequences to come upon himself. (ex3) His decision to allow himself to enter a relationship with Dido proves his lack of the Roman virtue disciplina, and this time, his error would carry the eventual tragic consequence of driving Dido to suicide, which would be a major blow against the Phoenicians. (Transition) He would later make a disciplined decision for once, though it would be too late to undo the wrong that he had done and would serve only to accelerate the consequences of his