Aeneid Scholar Quotes

Question 1

Otis on Book 6 and Aeneas’ Journey

Answer 1

The primary importance of the journey is that it represents a spiritual illumination that fit him for his mighty task

Question 2

Jenkyns on Dido and the Gods

Answer 2

Dido doesn’t have a moral flaw she’s made to supernaturally fall in love with Aeneas

Question 3

Jenkyns on Dido’s death

Answer 3

It’s not right to blame anyone in particular because that’s the way it’s written

Question 4

Boyle on Aeneas in the underworld

Answer 4

Aeneas’ journey in the underworld did not have much of an impact on him at all

Question 5

Otis on Aeneid

Answer 5

Celebration of the Augustine hero and hope that Augustus brought to Rome

Question 6

Jenkyns on Book 8

Answer 6

It’s the holiday book

Question 7

Jenkyns on the first and second halves

Answer 7

In the first he is despairing, in the second he is moving irresistibly forwards to victory

Question 8

Harrison on Stoicism

Answer 8

Romans saw stoicism as an interest of the state

Question 9

Williams on Aeneas Suffering

Answer 9

He is a homeric hero because he suffers for others - “social man”

Question 10

Reilly on Women

Answer 10

Women who step out of traditional roles are doomed to fail

Question 11

Quinn on the characters of the Aeneid

Answer 11

Virgil creates complex characters worthy of sympathy

Question 12

Williams on the purpose of the Aeneid

Answer 12

Aeneid is to glorify Rome and Augustus

Question 13

Hardie on Aeneas’ personality

Answer 13

Aeneas has a boring personality because that is what is driven upon him by the fates

Question 14

Camps on Aeneas being a puppet

Answer 14

Aeneas is a puppet controlled by external forces

Question 15

Camps on Aeneas’ free will

Answer 15

Hiss free will is what distinguishes him from other characters

Question 16

Camps on Turnus in Book 10

Answer 16

The reader is meant to sympathise with him though he is misguided and bloodthirsty

Question 17

Edwards on the Aeneid and Augustus

Answer 17

The Aeneid endorses Augustus

Question 18

Hardie on modern audience of the Aeneid

Answer 18

Modern readers think it’s anti augustun

Question 19

Edwards on fate of Rome

Answer 19

Rome is fated to be settled there

Question 20

Edith Hall on why Aeneas kills Turnus

Answer 20

Aeneas killing Turnus is to avenge Pallas who is like an adopted son

Question 21

Edith Hall on Aeneid being Utopia

Answer 21

Utopian Poem

Question 22

Cowan on Furor

Answer 22

Furor is the most destructive and pervasive force in the Aeneid

Can also take form as sexual furor when Dido commits suicide

Question 23

Cowan on leaders calming furor

Answer 23

Leaders need to be able to calm their own furor, even in Aeneas in Book 12, otherwise they can’t calm others - Neptune comapred to calming a rioting mob

Question 24

Mackie on book 6

Answer 24

Book 6 Main theme is its direct personal relevance of Aeneas and his role in the story

Question 25

Hardie on Book 6

Answer 25

Book 6 demonstrates the virgilian pathos of the premature death of young men Shows a very male dominated view of roman society

Question 26

Becker on Camilla

Answer 26

Virgil takes the opportunity to decry the heroic code of behaviour which prides itself on glory and booty

Question 27

Becker on warfare

Answer 27

Whether the perpetrator is male or female, enemy or ally, the work of the battlefield is unilaterally inglorious

Question 28

Jenkyns on Camilla

Answer 28

One of Virgils' strangest and most original creations, both delicate and savage

Question 29

Feely on Killing of Turnus

Answer 29

Turnus' death is a relief, satisfies expectation

Question 30

Rutherford on Aeneas and Turnus as Kings

Answer 30

neither can be regarded as model figures of ideal kings

Question 31

Hardie on Dido

Answer 31

Noble heroine who makes a fateful mistake

Question 32

Sage on Aeneas being passive

Answer 32

Aeneas is an instrument of the Gods, passive and passionless

Question 33

Sage on Aeneas being unheroic

Answer 33

Falls short of the heroic in every respect

Question 34

Jenkyns on Aeneas' flaws

Answer 34

Aeneas' faults are not feeling too little but feeling too much

Question 35

Williams on Juno's role in plot - Positive

Answer 35

Major part of the story, formidable

Question 36

Williams on Turnus' fate

Answer 36

Must happen because it contrasts to destiny

Question 37

Williams on Dido's character

Answer 37

A tragic queen, admirable

Question 38

Williams on Death of Turnus

Answer 38

Turnus was barbaric, the antithesis to the civilisation Aeneas wanted to found

Question 39

Mackie on Aeneas and Fate

Answer 39

Aeneas' general concern is to facilitate fate

Question 40

Gransden on Book 4

Answer 40

Book 4 is structured like a greek tragedy

Question 41

Williams on Aeneas' positive character

Answer 41

Good leader because he doesn't hunt for personal satisfaction

Question 42

Gransden on War

Answer 42

War doesn't last very long, not a key part of the story

Question 43

Sewery on Anchises and Aeneas

Answer 43

The relationship between father and son is the closest bond in the poem

Question 44

Jenkyns on Creusa

Answer 44

Noble in her death of comforting those close to her

Question 45

Harrison on Juno

Answer 45

Juno is a soap opera bitch

Question 46

Gransden on Fate

Answer 46

Heavy supporter of fate in driving the story

Question 47

Kennedy on Jupiter

Answer 47

Jupiter role is to be a narrator in causing things to happen

Question 48

Ross on Gods and Fate

Answer 48

Gods and Fate are everywhere throughout the poem, seeming to be always in control

Question 49

Cowan on Nisus and Euryalus

Answer 49

Their death show the needless and tragic destruction of a thing of beauty, by a mindless impersonal force

Question 50

Jenkyns on Creusa being a good wife

Answer 50

Creusa wants to comfort her husband in her death, upholding her role as a wife

Question 51

Sewery on Dido being a victim

Answer 51

Dido is a victim of Roman destiny

Question 52

Jenkyns on Different sides of Aeneas

Answer 52

We see someone experiencing ordinary human difficulties Primitive red-blooded warrior with strong emotions

Question 53

Williams on Gods being negative

Answer 53

Striking and Relentless Jupiter gives rule without end

Question 54

Williams on Aeneas as a mortal

Answer 54

"He is an ordinary mortal, no superhero"