Virgil's "The Aeneid"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, in his epic "The Aeneid", Virgil considered fate to be so unyielding that not even the gods themselves could intervene to prevent an event from coming to fruition. The author points out that Juno, queen of the gods and the main antagonist in Virgil's foundational fiction, is not affected by the same fate that rules over humans; nevertheless, she actively attempts to obstruct the Roman hero Aeneas in his journey to fulfill his own destiny, which Juno suspects will be responsible both for the downfall of her favorite city, Carthage, and the death of her most cherished mortal, Turnus. The paper indicates that, while it is recognized that Juno is not solely responsible for destiny's success, her actions are frequently responsible for eliciting other gods' reactions, which are more closely linked to fulfilling fate.

From the Paper:

"At this point, Juno recognizes that she can no longer keep Aeneas away from Italy, but decides that she might still have a chance to defeat him by stirring war between the Trojans and the otherwise welcoming Latins. To do this, Juno sends down Allecto to enrage the Latin queen, Amata, and Turnus, her favorite Latin, to oppose a wedding between the Latin Princess Lavinia and Aeneas. Allecto then ignites war as instructed by causing Ascanius, Aeneas' son, to kill a Latin stag. Amata and Turnus cry for war and the neutral Latin king relinquishes his power over the kingdom. Though Juno succeeds in inciting conflict and initially preventing Trojan occupation, her arousal of Latin furies proves to be the first in a series of events which lead to the fall of the Latin empire, clearing the way for fate to establish itself."

More papers on Virgil's "The Aeneid":

• Analytical Essay # 22957 : "The Aeneid"
• Comparison Essay # 120688 : "The Iliad" and "The Aeneid": A Comparison"
• Book Review # 119387 : "Dido and "The Aeneid"
• Book Review # 122396 : "Women in 'The Aeneid' and 'Orlando Furioso'"

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