Examples Of Obstacles In The Aeneid

As we live throughout our everyday lives, most of us are constantly faced with obstacles, and in the epic The Aeneid, a similar notion takes place in which Aeneas is portrayed as a hero who also faces some problems. The interesting part of the poem is that Aeneas isn’t the only one who suffers from problems, but the characters that are causing Aeneas all these complications are also facing their own inner struggles. The Characters: Juno, Dido, and Turnus, are portrayed as characters who make bad decisions and try to tamper with the fate of Aeneas because of their own problems.

One of Aeneas’s biggest issues is a goddess named Juno, who is not happy with the destiny Aeneas is to fulfill. Due to Juno’s hatred toward the Trojans and her love

for her favorite city, Carthage, the goddess reveals emotions which seem to be overtaken by bad judgment.

Her negative emotions are caused by a loss she faced in a beauty contest, in the past, due to a trojan, named Paris, who had judged that beauty contest. As a result, Juno is unfair to all trojans and tends to clash with trojans despite any side they take. Not only does Juno, who is known as Hera to the Greeks, allow hatred towards the Trojans to control her mind, but she also allows the love for her beloved city to get in the way of a rational mindset. Thanks to the emotions of love to her city, and hatred toward the trojans, Aeneas suffers from the wrath of Juno. Throughout the epic, the goddess constantly tries to kill Aeneas or at least slow him down. In Book I, Juno starts causing a ruckus by convincing another god to help her cause problems for Aeneas. As Aeneas faces the struggles caused by Juno, Aeneas begins to fall deep into a web of emotions circulating depression and sadness. In these emotions,

Aeneas begins to have negative thoughts such as wishing he was dead instead of having to face the negative trail of events caused by Juno. Through causing Aeneas suffering, Juno struggles to fulfill her own wishes. Juno’s own struggle begins to cloud her judgment of making moral decisions. Overcame by her own emotions, Juno wastes her time trying to offset Aeneas’s fate. Although Juno knows that only Jupiter has the power to change the fate of Aeneas, she constantly tries to get her way, to soothe her emotions, and constantly fails in preventing Aeneas from fulfilling his destiny.
Not all of Aeneas’s struggles are because of divine figures; another problem Aeneas faces is due to a woman named Dido, who is heartbroken and faces her own struggles.

After Aeneas and his troops land near Libya, Aeneas meets Dido, who presents him with another challenge. Dido is a widow who was once married to a rich husband, Sychaeus, who was killed by Dido’s greedy brother, Pygmalion. After the tragic death of her husband, Dido escapes to Libya to build a new settlement, Carthage. Dido and Aeneas begin to show compassion for one another and begin a relationship once they learn about each others struggles. Despite Juno’s self-promise of not falling in love again, after the death of her husband, she finds herself in love with Aeneas. As a result, she forgets her responsibility towards her city, Carthage, as it is still being constructed. On the other hand, Aeneas himself forgets about his destiny to lead his people to Italy. As Aeneas and Dido’s love continues to blossom, Aeneas is sent a reminder through a messenger to bring him back on track to fulfill his destiny. As a result, Aeneas sets his aim back on his mission. As Aeneas’s focus shifts back to his people to fulfill his destiny, Dido is overcome by emotions and ends her life by committing suicide. The events that take place between Dido and Aeneas reveal how two characters completely forget about their duties when in love. Before the arrival of Aeneas, Dido was well on her way to establishing a great community, and

had an oath to live as a widow. But after Aeneas arrived, the bond created by the two characters goes on to destroy one and slow the other down from achieving his destiny.
Eventually, Aeneas’s leaves the love of Dido behind and reaches his final destination where he goes head to head with another character who is also faced with struggles because of love. The character, Turnus, dislikes the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. His dislike toward the Trojan hero is primarily caused by jealousy toward Aeneas, as King Latinus wishes of his daughter, Levinia, to fulfill an ancient prophecy and marry the Trojan. Unfortunately, Turnus is in love with Levinia and can’t face the shame of losing her to a Trojan man. Turnus’s pride is deeply hurt, and after being encouraged by a divine intervention, he builds up the courage to set out for war against Aeneas. Aeneas, who knows that fulfilling his destiny won't be easy, is ready to fight the warrior and eventually kills him. The emotions which lead Turnus to his own death, portray him as an Achilles-like character. Just like Achilles, Turnus makes a bad call because of a woman. Turnus knew that when the gods have decided fate, a mortal man can only do so much to tamper with it, but still the shameful warrior is conflicted by his love for Levinia and ends up dying because of his foolish mistake. If the character wasn’t so hyper about losing a girl, the character could of helped Aeneas build Rome but instead he’s another victim to love who decides to fight the destiny of Aeneas, and loses.
The poem depicts stories of struggles and how the different characters deal with them. Although the main character is Aeneas, and the epic primarily depicts his problems, it’s rather interesting to notice how the complications Aeneas faces are presented to him by other character’s whom are facing their own struggles as well.