Virgil\'s the Aeneid Virgil\'s Epic,

¶ … Virgil's the Aeneid

Virgil's epic, the Aeneid, explores mankind's sense of duty and family through the journey of Aeneas, the story's hero. Aeneas demonstrates the significance of this Roman ideal, which evolves over a lifetime. In the beginning of the poem, Aeneas' character is weak and lackadaisical and part of why we come to appreciate him so much is the fact that he transforms right before our eyes. He is a man that must make painful choices but he [proves that it can be done. His transformation and his ability to rise to the occasion is what Virgil wants us to see in this character - a man that makes the right decision when faced with putting others before himself.

While in the first part of the poem we see a lethargic Aeneas, he slowly comes around. The underworld serves as the perfect shift for Virgil to capture the importance of duty that is displayed through Aeneas. Aeneas arrives in Italy, "duty bound" (Virgil 159) and ends up facing an important duty, which is to visit to the underground. During this visit, Aeneas encounters his father, Anchises. Anchises helps Aeneas see the future of Rome and his place in it and, as a result, "fired his love/of glory in the years to come" (191). The knowledge of things to pass causes Aeneas to undergo a significant change.

When Aeneas takes up the new armor, Virgil is symbolizing his sense of duty to Rome. We are told that the images on the shield alone are "wonders" (256) to Aeneas and:

Knowing of nothing of the events themselves,

He felt joy in their pictures, taking up

Upon his shoulder all the destined acts

And fame of his descendents. (256)

Here we can visualize, as Aeneas does, the importance of everything that is about to occur and has occurred in his life. By putting on the armor, he is asserting himself and accepting his duty as a Roman warrior. This is also a symbol of Aeneas taking charge of his destiny. He does not back down from this challenge, which makes us admire him.

One example of Aeneas' sense of family is seen when he turns away from Dido. He clearly falls in love with her but Mercury reminds him of his sense of duty and his responsibility to his family and his duty as a warrior. We read that Aeneas is "duty-bound" (110) and that he struggled with desire and "though he sighed his heart out, shaken still/With love of her, yet took the course heaven gave him/and went back to the fleet" (110). Here we see how duty trumps love and Aeneas realizes that he is a part of something bigger that is about much more than he is.