The Aeneid Character Analysis of Aeneas Essay Example

worse trials that they have survived. His obedience to the gods is rewarded with affliction. Even if fatigue and discouragement and the loss of the father who shared his troubles with him have left him vulnerable, the God of Carthage had warned and encouraged Aeneas a dream of his father in Sicily, and because of that, he persisted with his task” (Camp). Camp’s commentary further dignifies that Aeneas was going to stand his ground through trial and was not going to let anything get in his way apart from divine intervention of the Gods.

Secondly, Aeneas was a noble man. He was of great lineage, the son of Anchises and Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty. Aeneas was given great expectations considering his high class and did very well. However, Aeneas was charismatic. He held onto certain emotion that sometimes got the best of him. That side of Aeneas wasn’t easy to overcome considering the many challenges he had to face. Through G.B. Cobbold’s synopsis, Hero, War, and Humanity, Book IV of The Aeneid is most notably mentioned. This summary depicts the story of the Queen of Carthage, Dido. The queen was a fascinating character as she was married to Sychaeus. But, according to the prophecy of Aeneas that was to change. Oddly so, her husband was killed by a relative and Dido was never to love again. Until however, Venus’s son Cupid, the God of love and erotic desire decided to put a curse on Dido so she would fall in love with Aeneas. With that being said, Juno, the Goddess of marriage was the chief female god and despised all Trojans. She was

to keep Aeneas from reaching his destiny in Italy. Aeneas stood his ground with the various Gods, Goddesses, and Dido. The example used in the Cobbold’s synopsis enlightens the statement regarding Dido: “I will never regret my memories of you. If I had had any choice in the matter, and if I could have arranged my situation as I wanted, I would still be in Troy today. But now Apollo has determined though his oracle that I should find a new love and a new land in Italy” (Cobbold). With that being said, it is fair to infer that Aeneas was a different ruler in some aspects but still managed to keep his roman ideals intact. The prophecy that was laid out for him was to be fulfilled, his eyes were on the price, Apollo by his side. Aeneas had desires to be great, the willingness to achieve his destiny regardless of his past and shortcomings was one of his best heroic qualities. Aeneas certainly had a sensitive side, but was bold in nature and he used it to his advantage as an ideal Roman ruler.

To expand on Aeneas prominence as a ruler, he had to be strategic. Having a tactical advantage over his opponent was essentially one of his best features. Aeneas was negotiable at times, but an individual could not deny his warrior like instincts. He was to do whatever he needed to do at any cost nonetheless. A prime example of this scenario would be the duel of Aeneas and Turnus. Aeneas and his men would sail to Latinum according to the prophecy. They would find Latimus, the king, and the daughter

of the king, Lavinia. According to the prophecy, Lavinia would marry Aeneas and he would rule. Turnus didn’t like this idea because he was promised Lavinia’s hand in marriage, as he was a prince from nearby. Being named the King of Latinum would’ve been a great title for Turnus but he would not have what he longed for. Turnus wanted to wage war but he would rather die in honor than live in Aeneas’s shadow. Aeneas knew that a war between his men and Turnus’ men would not solve the problem after the first day of battle. Because of this Aeneas proposed a duel with Turnus that would be ugly and bloody but not warlike. Aeneas’ tactical ability is further demonstrated by William S. Anderson’s “Art of the Aeneid” illustrating Book XII: “The duel is the ordered way of fighting and appropriate to Aeneas; random fighting and killing is the disorderly method of Turnus. Turnus intends to encounter Aeneas with few of the angry, murderous, almost suicidal passions, brandishes his spear and wildly apostrophizes it, under the impetus of fury which makes him seem to emit sparks from mouth and eyes. Aeneas, though indeed savagely eager for the duel, spends his time analyzing the political problems of the truce and consoling Ascanius” (Anderson).” Aeneas clearly is strategic about the situation and will not let anger get to him because it is Turnus’ anger that will ultimately lead to his own death in the end.