Virgil's Aeneid: Beyond Augustan Propaganda

Introduction: The Aeneid and Its Purpose

Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid is often described as the poet's response to Homer's epics The Iliad and The Odyssey, in that it details the Trojan War and its aftermath from the Roman perspective. It is a Roman claim to great and far-reaching origins, and because of this apparently patriotic purpose, many classical scholars have attributed the poem's inspiration to Virgil's attempt to praise the emperor Augustus. However, to ascribe this simple purpose to such a complex text is somewhat problematic, as this paper will make clear.

Comparing the Aeneid to Homer's Epics

In ascribing reasons for its author's motivation, a literary analysis of The Aeneid presents problems not present in a similar analysis of Homer's inspiring works. Although the actual status of Homer as either a single poet or a collective name for several poets is uncertain, Homer's works formed the basis of virtually all of Greek classical literature. The Iliad and The Odyssey became the cornerstones of Greek culture — a common source of moral values, rhetoric, and mythological history that all Greeks could draw upon. However, as the work of a single individual at a fixed and relatively later point in time and culture, The Aeneid does not share that quality of assembled stories; rather, it reflects a more deliberate design than its Greek predecessors.

Destiny, Augustus, and the Question of Propaganda

This sense of linear clarity lends a certain credibility to the thesis that The Aeneid was written in praise of the emperor. Unlike the heroes of either The Odyssey or The Iliad, the hero of the Roman epic seems destined for success. He will not be separated from his family for twenty years like Odysseus, nor will he die in battle as Achilles surely will after The Iliad draws to a close. Aeneas is destined to found Rome, and even when he appears most reluctant to do so — pausing at various places he attempts to call home along his journey — events always propel him forward.

This sense of manifest destiny seems in keeping with a poem designed to praise a leader. Aeneas was said to be the ancestor of Augustus, and the fact that he was destined to found Rome lends the Emperor's reign a religious and historical validity that many supporters of the republic believed it lacked in actual fact.

The Complexity of Foreign Characters: Dido and Turnus

However, there is a subversive quality in the attractiveness of some of the alternate homes offered to Aeneas over the course of the narrative. In comparison to Homer's works, individuals from foreign lands have a humanity and depth of character not present in, for instance, the queen of the Amazons, who figures only briefly in The Iliad. In contrast, the Queen of Carthage, Dido, is one of the most complex female characters in ancient literature. Although she goes mad after Aeneas is compelled to abandon her, her existence and her willingness to listen frame the story from its very inception. She both subverts Aeneas and calls upon him to speak. The poet takes on her voice as well as the voice of his hero.

In fact, some of the most interesting and clearly characterized individuals in the Aeneid are those who fail — including Dido and Turnus — and who are foreign-born. For a poem that celebrates a success story, namely the founding of Rome, it contains many tales of failure. Dido and Turnus, for the brief times they dominate the stage, command the reader's attention in a way that Aeneas does not. Their tales of failure are not used merely to make the protagonist look better. Rather, they develop Aeneas's character and sharpen his sense of purpose by acting as foils and by provoking moments of crisis that force the protagonist to draw upon inner reserves he was unaware he possessed.

For instance, when Turnus kills the young, brave warrior Pallas, Aeneas becomes a different person entirely: "Hot, he cuts a broad path through the Latins / with steel; for Turnus, he is seeking you — / you, insolent with your fresh killing. Pallas... / Evander... all are now before his eyes..." (X.708–711). Similarly, in the earlier episode with Dido, Aeneas must learn that he cannot always satisfy his own personal desires. He must leave this remarkable woman he loves. He also discovers the cruelty of the gods, as Venus has caused Dido to fall madly in love with Aeneas — even though the goddess knows that Dido's passion is doomed from the start.

Conclusion: A Complicated History of Origins

Rather than a straightforward ode to empire, the Aeneid, like its protagonist, tells a complicated history of origins. Although the Emperor Augustus may trace his own lineage to the fate of Aeneas, the victory of the central character does not come without great costs to others. Virgil obliquely demonstrates, by allowing other voices to speak and to perish over the course of the poem, that the founding of any regime of power — like its destruction — is never seamless, and never without bloodshed and heartache on both sides.

Works Cited

Lyne, R.O.A.M. Further Voices in Virgil's Aeneid. Oxford University Press, 1992.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. Vintage Books, 1990.