The Aeneid (75-133)

I have just finished reading the second book of the Aeneid in which Aeneas begins his tale. He tells that it would be hard for a warrior from either side of the battle to tell the story without crying. He begins when the Greeks were pushed back by the tide of the war after the death of Achilles. He says that Minerva inspired them to build a great wooden horse and fill it with armed men. They then left it in front of the gates of Troy and sailed to the island Tendos. The Trojans flooded out of the city rejoicing and raided the empty camps. Some of them wanted to lead the wooden horse into the city; others wanted to destroy it. Laocoon a priest, addressed the assembled men and women, warning them not to lead the horse into the city:

Do you

believe the enemy have sailed away?
Or think that any Grecian gifts are free
of craft? Is this the way Ulysses acts?
Either Achaeans hide, shut in this wood,
or else this is an engine built against
our walls...
I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts. (Book 2 lines 60-70)

He then throws a spear at the horse saying that they should not accept this gift, as something bad will come from it. No one pays attention to him, which then becomes to the death of the Trojans. Then after that 2 serpents come up from the depths and eat him. I find it very interesting as to how Virgil says the very famous words "I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts." This single quote is an excellent use of foreshadowing as we can tell that something bad is going to happen later. (the Trojan horse has Greeks inside of it which were let out to ransack the city). I find when Laocoon says "shut in this wood" you get a clear discription of what may be inside of this Trojan horse. Once again prompting us of what may happen in the future. Still I find the language of Virgil to be difficult as I read through this book, having to reread certain sections multiple times to understand what is happening, but however is a very interesting read.

Virgil, Robert Fagles, and Bernard MacGregor Walker. Knox. The Aeneid. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.

The Aeneid (1-74)

I have just started the Aeneid, a very interesting epic poem, written by the incredible author Virgil. The book that I have is a red covered book translated by Robert Fagles. One interesting thing about the physical appearance of the book is the "ruffled" edges, giving the book a sort of olden look.

The opening lines of the Aeneid (shown below), Virgil enters the epic showing Homer, author of the Iliad (a Trojan war epic), and the Odyssey, (an epic of the Greek hero Ulysses), by naming his subjects as “warfare and a man,” Virgil says that he is the author to both of the Homeric epics. The main charactor, Aeneas, spends the first half of the book wandering in search of a new home and the second half at war fighting to set up this homeland. Aeneas's first mission is summarized in lines 2-4 (to move from Troy to Italy). Virgil uses the past tense when he presents his side of the book, showing to us that that there for certain is an end to the book.

Wars and man I sing - an exile driven on by Fate,
he was the first to flee the coast of Troy,
destined to reach Lavinian shores and Italian soil,
yet many blows he took on land and the sea from the gods above-
thanks to cruel Juno's relentless rage - and many losses
he bore in battle too, before he could found a city,
bring his gods to Latium, source of the Latin race,
the Alban lords and the high walls of Rome.
Tell me,
Muse, how it all began. Why was Juno outraged?
What could wound the Queen of the Gods with all her power?
Why did she force a man, so famous for his devotion,
to brave such rounds of hardship, bear such trials?
Can such rage inflame the immortals' hearts?

This book seems to have many allusions to other references in literature from that time period (the Iliad and the Odyssey). Virgil also seems to love to connect to his audience of readers. One such example is in the phrase “our Lavinian . . . shore,” Virgil connects right to his audience, the Roman contemporaries, to Aeneas, the hero of “early days.”

Virgil, Robert Fagles, and Bernard MacGregor Walker. Knox. The Aeneid. New York: Penguin, 2008. Print.