| In Book I of the Aeneid, Aeneas is presented as a new kind
of hero, who wills to do what he has to do. Compare/contrast Aeneas to Odysseus or
Gilgamesh, who do what they please and even get the gods to cooperate at times. Do you
have any ideas about why they are such different sorts of heroes? Use specific examples
from the Odyssey, Gilgamesh and/or the Aeneid to support your ideas. |
| Compare Kalypso and Kirke in the Odyssey (Books V and
X) to Dido in the Aeneid (Book IV). Concentrate on how they delay the
hero's journey. Do you see any similarities? Differences? Explain and support your ideas
using examples from both texts. |
| Being beloved by a deity has advantages, but can also create
problems. Compare the relationship of Odysseus with his patron goddess Athena to Aeneas'
relationship with his goddess mother Venus. Do you see any interesting similarities?
Differences? What do these relationships tell you about the nature of the Greek and Roman
gods? Explain your ideas using supporting examples from both texts. |
| Irrational, "anti-fate" behavior in the
Aeneid is
mostly concentrated in the females, human and divine. Select several of these females to
consider. List each one with a brief explanation of her irrational actions and attributes.
Do you think Virgil is saying something about women's behavior in general? What? Be
specific and support your ideas with examples from the text. You may want to explore
the website Diotima for background
information about women in the Aeneid. |
| Book VI of the Aeneid presents the Underworld as a place for
purification, punishment, prophetic information, rest and recreation between lifetimes.
The Odyssey presents Hades as a vague and boring place where everyone goes after death and
no one leaves. However, the dead have some kinds of knowledge that the living do no.
Compare/contrast these two visions of the underworld and try to make some interesting
point about their differences. Support your ideas with specific examples from Book VI of
the Aeneid and Books XI and XXIV of the Odyssey. |
| Virgil was cherished throughout the Christian Middle Ages as
a most virtuous poet, even though he died in 19 BCE., a few years before Jesus was born.
Virgil was concerned with issues of divine will and how a good man could align himself
with that divine will, and these were issues that medieval Christians also were interested
in, although their answers were quite different.
Read
the Sermon on the Mount (Volume 2, 1209-1213) and compare the ideas of how to be a
good human being presented there with the ideas about how to be a good human being that
you find in the Aeneid. Note that these ideas are VERY different from Virgil's, yet
both are deeply serious thoughts on how a good person ought to act. Support your ideas
with examples from both readings. |
| Compare Aeneas' journey to the underworld with that of
either Gilgamesh or Odysseus. In what ways are they similar? How are they different. So
what? Support your ideas with specific examples from the two stories you choose to write
about. |
| The Aeneid ends abruptly when Aeneas kills Turnus in Book
12. Why do you think Virgil ended his epic like this? What point was he making? Or do you
think he would have changed the ending if he had lived to complete his revisions of the
Aeneid? Develop your ideas using specific examples from the
Aeneid to support them. |
| What about poor Dido? Do you think she was to blame for what
happened to her? Was Juno? Venus? Aeneas? Explain your answer with examples from the
story. |
| Reread the scene of Dido's suicide carefully. Notice all the
witchcraft involved. Do you think that Virgil uses this to make us less sympathetic to
Dido? If so, why? Support your ideas using specific examples from the story. |
| Fate is a crucial concept in the Aeneid. Look for a few
places where it is mentioned and discuss them, explaining what you think Virgil meant by
"Fate." Do you think his concept of fate is like yours or different? How? Be
specific and support your ideas with examples from the Aeneid
and from your own concept of fate. You might want to search for the idea
of fate on the Internet to see if you can find out more about
Virgil's concepts. |
| Aeneas developed a bad reputation among some medieval
writers. Can you see any aspects of Aeneas in the Aeneid that might have led to such a
degrading of his character? Do you think Virgil meant to include any negative traits? If
so, what do you think they were? Be very specific, supporting your ideas with examples
from the Aeneid. |
| Go to Augustus: Images
of Power.
Augustus was, in a sense, the real world hero of the Aeneid, as well as the ultimate
patron for whom Virgil wrote. Look through the images and select a few that seem to you
especially relevant to the world of the Aeneid. Identify and describe them and explain in
specific detail how these images affect your understanding of the Aeneid. |
| Virgil's Aeneid and
Exodus from the Hebrew Bible both tell about a somewhat
reluctant, god-selected hero who leads his people out of disaster
through many dangers and difficulties to the ultimate goal of a promised
country (which must be fought for) and a great heritage. Compare the
characters and experiences of Moses and Aeneas to see what they have in
common and see if you can identify any profound ways in which they are
different. This is a complex topic and you must use specific examples
from both the Aeneid and Exodus to support your ideas. If
you do this thoroughly, it can be worth double credit. |