Paper 3 The Aeneid

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Paper 3 – The Essential Aeneid
The Essential Aeneid by Stanley Lombardo is a translation of The Aeneid by Virgil. The Aeneid, an epic poem, tells the story of Aeneas one of the survivors of the siege of Troy. Aeneas is destined to follow a great path to the founding of Rome. The Aeneid uses Aeneas as a medium for conveying the message of “sunt lacrimae rerum” and qualities of pietas, severitas, and gravitas. The traits that make Aeneas a national symbol and an epic hero, and the qualities that define what every Roman should be.
Discuss Aeneas as a national symbol and an epic hero, what are his main personal qualities?
Aeneas is a national symbol and epic hero for his main qualities of pietas, severitas, gravitas, and selflessness. Pietas and selflessness go hand in hand, because Aeneas many times hurts himself just to fulfill his devotion to the gods.
“I am Aeneas, devoted to my city’s gods” (Virgil 1, 13, 460).
This is exactly what pietas is, the quality of being religious and devoted to one’s religion. Aeneas with no doubt displays this characteristic, and many times causes himself great harm just to follow the will of the gods.
Aeneas also shows severitas, the quality of rigor and sternness. Aeneas, when faced with intense emotion or a seemingly unconquerable task, always stood strong and unmoved. Regardless of how the incident would affect most people, Aeneas remained firm and untouched.
Lastly, Aeneas displays the characteristic of gravitas, the quality of dignity. Aeneas displays his honor in combat, a common way to display this character trait in Roman culture.
“In great Sila, or high on Taburnus, two bulls have locked horns in mortal combat. The keepers fall back in fear, and the cattle stand in silent dread, the heifers ...

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... Aeneid, Aeneas is characterized very well, and his characterization is Virgil’s depiction of what every Roman should be. Every Roman should have a sense of duty, “sunt lacrimae rerum”, which means “suffering for ones duties”. This characterization also implies that every Roman should have an unquestionable devotion to the gods, and The Aeneid does a great job of showing this. Aeneas, regardless of the personal consequences, consistently obeys the gods every will in continuing on his journey. Finally, every Roman should be dignified, and have a strong image. In Virgilian Rome it was equal to a crime to disgrace the Roman culture, or even dishonor ones self. If a man was not dignified, he might as well not be a Roman. Every Roman should embody these three admirable traits, and he should follow The Aeneid in displaying himself as an honorable and devoted individual.

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