#aeneas

Camilla in bk 11 of the Aeneid is just every woman ever who has had to take orders from a man with the iq of a salmon and it is actually excellent

the more I think about the Aeneid, the more I realise that when we look at it through modern eyes, it becomes a novel about so much more than the founding of a city. We follow characters who are truly traumatised by all that they have suffered, and a reluctant hero who craves his mother’s comfort - with the weight of his ancestors and his descendants on his shoulders. Despite his own personal trauma, Aeneas must carry on through all the suffering and loss, in order to fulfill his purpose. Despite loosing the most important person in her life, Dido must flee her own country and start up a new kingdom entirely alone, and of course be doomed to meet a tragic end, as all she has worked for falls apart. Despite having his future set out before him, Turnus must fight for all that he had previously deemed so certain, and eventually have it all taken from him, including his life. Surely as modern readers, these tales resonate with us in an entirely new and powerful manner - we can all relate to having to plough through trauma and tragedy despite our own emotions, to feeling alone, craving comfort, being thrown into uncertainty, loosing battles we thought we would win. And the beauty of the Aeneid is the sheer complexity of each one of the characters: hero through one eye, villain through another. It is more than a study of what it means to be roman, it is a study of what it means to be human.

Both the mortal and immortal women in the Aeneid are presented as fatally flawed in some regard. What with Dido’s furor, Juno’s pettiness and Camilla’s arrogance, all of Virgil’s women come across as tainted by the constrains and seemingly universal flaws of their sex. Based on this, it follows that Virgil himself was actually a mysoginist intent on ensuring that his audience understood that all women, even and especially those in positions of power, were inferior and incapable of fulfilling their duties and roles successfully. In this essay I will…

✨ virgil *looks at aeneas* he really do be pious tho

thoodleoo:

thoodleoo:

contemplating a reverse aeneid where aeneas gets to unfound rome. i think he’s earned it at this point

thinking of the day when he gets to tear down the forum stone by stone and pull the brick back out of the marble. rome collapsing under its own founder, aeneas breaking through the underworld’s back door, wakefulness torn from the gates of dreams as he drags carthage back from the fields of mourning, and unlike orpheus he doesn’t look back

well, that’s a new one.

fledgling-witch:

romansocialjustice:

I can’t even DEAL right now with these Dido/Aeneas shippers!!!

Don’t you know that by shipping a Carthaginian queen with the literal father of the Roman people is erasing the violence and oppression against the Carthaginians and the genocide committed by the Romans???? By squeeing over Dido and Aeneas you are EXACTLY like Scipio Aemilianus who burnt Carthage for seventeen days.

Every time some Roman fangirl makes a Dido/Aeneas fanwork, Carthage BURNS AGAIN.

Not to mention how abusive the ship is? Aeneas canonically betrays Dido and abandons her!!

The only shipping that should be taking place is shipping these Romans out of Africa

I know right??? SO glad to find someone who agrees with me in a sea of Carthage erasure and genocide apologism. The Dido/Aeneas shippers already feel smug because they were validated by that bastion of Roman imperialism, Vergil.

I can’t even DEAL right now with these Dido/Aeneas shippers!!!

Don’t you know that by shipping a Carthaginian queen with the literal father of the Roman people is erasing the violence and oppression against the Carthaginians and the genocide committed by the Romans???? By squeeing over Dido and Aeneas you are EXACTLY like Scipio Aemilianus who burnt Carthage for seventeen days.

Every time some Roman fangirl makes a Dido/Aeneas fanwork, Carthage BURNS AGAIN.

Αἰνείας (Aeneas)
αἰνός, a tale or story
αἰνός, grim, dire, awful
αἰνή, praise or fame

Ὀδυσσεύς (Odysseus)
ὀδύσσομαι, to feel wrath, to hate

Ἀχιλλεύς (Achilles)
ἄχος, pain + λαός, the people
ἄχος, pain + κύδος, immortal glory + κάλλος, beautiful

“In spite of Jove’s commands, I’ll stay,

Offend the Gods, and love obey.”

After the gods leave the field Diomedes continues his rampage through the Trojan ranks. The text lists the slaying of demigods at his hands. The action brings forward the kings of Greece including Menelaus. He almost takes a ransom prisoner until Agamemnon reminds him of his duty to slaughter and pushes his brother and ranks to kill and take no spoils until the Trojans are dead.

Opposing them, Hector and Aeneas bring their own ranks round to combat. But the Prince of Troy, Helenus the seer, tells Hector to return to the city to have the Queen and the ladies of Troy to attempt prayers and offerings to Athena to bring her wrath to an end. Troy has always given offerings but as the past passage attest, Athena brings much death and destruction when in her disfavor.

Once Hector leaves more Trojan heroes step forward to face Diomedes including the grandson of Bellerophon, Hippolochus. Their battle includes an exchange of their armor and sworn friendship. But it is the conversation that passes which includes Hippolochus review of his grandfather’s story that I find important and I wonder if it isn’t why this is in the epic. “But the day soon came when even Bellerophon was hated by all the gods.” The gods always have favorites. In Greece, in Troy, and they all have favorites and invariably in all the instances the gods turn on or turn their face from those they “love.” They are such fickle and hateful creatures.

Sarpedon and Diomedes fight is one of honor and grace in the middle of the war and shows that the Trojans have been part of the history of Greek life to a man. Diomedes’ father had come as had Hercules and others for the horses of Zeus and to show friendship. It is interesting to me that this exchange does show that on occasion Trojan kings had not been as meritous as Priam.

The full entrance of Athena in armor on the seen is a brilliant image which includes Panic, Hate, Defense, Assault and Medusa. In a male dominated society the woman is a better fighter then the man and is more then his equal according to Zeus. Ares dominates blind rage and other stupid acts of violence, but Athena wages war with knowledge and thought. Reason outweighs violence when each explode into war, “she’s the one–his match, a marvel at bringing Ares down in pain.” And it is to this she sets Diomedes to strike at Ares in opposition to what she had directed before. And forces the strike deep.

It is then I see a child of violence merely a child hurt. He whines to Zeus who feels no pity, stating clearly that he hates him (shit thing to say since its his son) refusing to punish Athena’s violations of the norms, but Zeus does see to his healing as the kind of immortal pain suffered by a god the father of gods does not wish to see continue.

Although it sounds like if he felt he could get rid of him he would. Hera plays a part here but this chapter is to me about the rise of Aeneas which leads to his later role and the fight between blind rage and righteous anger and it is in this role that Athena sends Ares home crying and returns home victorious.

The men of the Iliad are regularly warned against fighting gods for one reason or another but it always bothered me that Athena TOLD Diomedes to attack Aphrodite. Regardless of the sides the idea that a god would encourage assault on a god seems to be stupid for your own sake in the long run. Lack of respect of gods is a contagion that spreads… and as time has proven did spread to the abandonment of Athena herself.

A tiny but interesting thing struck me in the middle of these chapter. Diomedes wants the horses of Aeneas, one of the few men on the field born of a primary god, given by Zeus. Here the goddess of love’s son shows his power and courage and it is a joy to behold. While he may falter to Diomedes, who is driven by Athena’s word, he attempts and shows his courage wonderfully.

When he falls (thanks to Athena) the moment of assault by Diomedes occurs on Aphrodite and ensures that he will die, because as Dione states “the man who fights the gods does not live long?”

The gods interfere all the time and have been wounded many times but this brings out multiple gods to the defense of Aeneas (saving him legend says gives birth to the rise of Rome) and Aphrodite. And for a time Ares batters the Greeks back in vengeance. And as Athena pushes the fight Aeneas is set loose again.

After reviewing the actions of the Greeks Homer moves to the goddess Iris rushing to the Trojans and moving them to war. The allies ready for war and you get a full description of the allies of which Aeneas is the first, followed

Odds and ends: there is specific description of Troy. Aeneas is not Trojan, but Dardanian (an ally) and is a prince of that city.

Mortal Pains - sparklight - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore [Archive of Our Own]

Summary: Aphrodite gives birth to a mortal son, and mortals are ever so fragile.

Infants even more so, but there is nothing like war and the threat of injury that comes with it to remind those immortal and untouched by death how little difference there is, in the end, between an infant and a full-grown man.

*
(The full fic for the snippet I posted earlier!)