Rome: Virgil and Ovid - Essay Sample

Introduction

Virgil's work in the Aeneid certainly had underlying means that represented the goals behind writing his epic book as directed by Augustus. Lewis and Reinhold (1990) argue that Augustus commissioned Virgil by using Maecenas, who was the propagandist of Augustus ', in a bid to wage a literary campaign which was aimed at restoring the traditional values, veneration of religion and moral excellence in the Republic in the wake of civil war.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The character of Dido serves to enlighten us on how justice is presented by Virgil. She is the queen of Carthage which is described as a place where Aeneas sought refuge during his travels. We see Dido accepting the plea of Trojan and agrees to shelter them, give food to them and help them in rebuilding their fleet as well as assist them in locating their missing prince. (The Aeneid Book I, line 773-7). The Trojans see fairness in the way she equally assigns duties to her people as well as the Trojans as "Kingly" (The Aeneid Book I, line 690) with virtues such as " Justice, piety, and humanity."(The Aeneid Book I, line 690-2) Maro (2006) opines that Ilioneus, a Trojan representative, depicts her justice as consisting of casting "the curb of justice on haughty tribes" (The Aeneid Book I, line 694).

Virgil also depicts Aeneas emotional character as being loyal and to his country and the people he loves. Aeneas' emotional reaction at the site of the great city of Troy falling, the murder of his friends and the execution of his king, and the loss of his homeland were full of tremendous sorrow and intense longing (Mulveney, (2012). He vehemently decides to find a new Troy outside of Italy and fights great battles for his homeland when he meets hindrances in Latium. On realization that his wife is not in their company as they flee Troy, he looks for her without giving up or losing hope until her shade comes to him and convinces him otherwise.

As seen in the examples of character traits above, Virgil's explicit intention was that of directing moral, religious and political thought (Mulveney, 2012). Virgil makes it clear that not only is Justice a desirable feature which an individual should possess but it is also required if a city has any chance of becoming safe and defendable (Mulveney, 2012). Ceaser, therefore, wanted Romans to follow certain traits of loyalty and search for justice as Rome was facing civil strife through Virgil's "Aeneid as part of literary propaganda and campaign.

This Aeneid is similar to Metamorphosis in a couple of ways. Both Virgil and Ovid embedded underlying meanings in their epic works, The Aeneid and Metamorphoses respectively, as their jobs contain a broader message about the importance of the Romans for its past, present and future under the Augustus (" A Comparison of the Aeneid and Metamorphoses," n.d). They both emphasis on the theme of change. Pythagoras in the Metamorphosis gives several examples of how things seem to change. They also show how the gods play a role in determining the fate of the characters. Both of the authors use an emotional tone to depict how characters react to the situations they face.

References

Essay UK. (n.d). A Comparison of The Aeneid and Metamorphoses. Retrieved from: https://www.esaayuk.com/coursework/a-comparison-of-the-aneid-and-metarmophoses.php> [01-03-19]

Lewis, N., Reinhold, M. (1990). Roman Civilization. Vol. 1. Selected readings, 3rd ed. Chichester: Columbia University Press.

Maro, P.V., (2006). Virgil 1: Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid I-VI. Translated by Fairclough H. Rushton. London. Harvard University Press.

Mulveney, T.H. (2012). The Source of Morality for Virgil's "Aeneid." Electronic Thesis and Dissertations. 4831. Retrieved: from https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/4831

Virgil. (n.d). The Aeneid. Translated by Dryden J. Retrieved from https:// clasics.mit.edu/Virgil/Aeneid.html