#classics
If there’s one thing I’ve noticed that’s common to tumblr and non-tumblr classicists, it’s hatred for Aeneas, from benign condescension to flat out antagonism. Admittedly, for many years scholarship advertised Aeneas as nothing more than ‘the founder of the Roman race’, which doesn’t really sell these days. Scholars swept under the carpet the qualities that make Aeneas such a gift of a character - his compassion for others, his pain, his humanity - because it’s not fashionable for a manly hero to have those qualities, right?!
I cannot take it any longer. I must tell you how we have all been cheated, and why Aeneas is one of the literary figures I most admire.
Nowadays most people study Latin first, and then Greek, and the Aeneidis one of the first things everyone studies. But Vergil’s Roman readers will have already read the Iliadfirst. So Vergil’s Aeneas is Vergil’s take on a familiar character, and Vergil takes it for granted that we know all about him. What is Aeneas like in the Iliad?
- Aeneas is honoured by the Trojans as much as Hector is (5.467).
- Aeneas and Hector are rebuked for letting the allies fight in their place, and it is Aeneas who is addressed first (5.77).
- Priam does not appear to share his people’s favour for Aeneas (13.461). While Aeneas is brooding over this, he is sought out by Deiphobus: ‘Aeneas, counsellor of the Teucrians, you need to help the army’ (13.463-4).
- Glaucus appeals to Hector andAeneas to save the body of Sarpedon, unaware that Zeus has already done this (16.536-47).
- Hectorlistens to Aeneas’ advice. Are we going to argue with Hector? Everyone loves Hector, and Hector loves Aeneas. When Apollo rebukes Aeneas because he, Hector and others aren’t fighting (17.327-32), Aeneas recognises the god and tells Hector that it is shameful to retreat into Troy (17.335-41). Hector listens to him, although he doesn’t usually listen to the good advice of Polydamas, but threatens him instead (12.230-50, 18.296).
- Aeneas is a renowned warrior (8.108). But that doesn’t make him arrogant – Aeneas is sensibly reluctant to try to fight Achilles when he knows that Achilles is stronger (20.89-99), but he is goaded into it by Apollo, who protests that Aeneas too is the son of a goddess (20.104-9).
- The gods (20.115-31) and the poet (20.158-60) suggest that Aeneas is at least nearly equal to Achilles in valour.
- Aeneas’ reply to Achilles’ taunts is measured (20.200-58).
- Even though Achilles is the best warrior, it is by no means easyfor him to defeat Aeneas (20.288-90).
- Aeneas is rescued from his battle with Achilles by Poseidon, who is a pro-Greek god. Poseidon saves Aeneas on the grounds that: he’s unaware of his fate to survive (20.296), has done nothing wrong (20.297), always gives gifts to the gods (20.299), and most importantly is fated to survive (20.300-8). Poseidon’s only rebuke is that Aeneas shouldn’t have listened to Apollo and fought with Achilles; rather, he should stick to the otherwarriors, since none of the others will be able to kill him (20.331-9). Achilles muses in bewildered disgust: ‘Well then, Aeneas truly was beloved of the immortal gods’ (20.347-8).
In other words, Aeneas is one of the few characters in the Iliadwho is rewarded by the gods for being a good person. He is also not allowed to show valour in the way he wants to, like the other heroes, because the gods have plans for him.
In the Aeneid, we learn that Aeneas does not want these plans, but he has to follow them anyway. He does not regain his agency, but the gods’ protection is removed from him by the anger of Juno. How can anyone hate a character who is introduced like this:
This is a song of war, and of the hero who was the first to come,
by fate a refugee, from the shores of Troy to Italy and Lavinian
shores, and who was furthermore tossed all over land and sea
by the violence of the gods, because of cruel Juno’s unforgiving anger;
he suffered much in war, too, so that he might found a city
and bring his gods to Latium, whence come the Latin race,
the Alban fathers, and the walls of lofty Rome.
Muse, tell me the reasons – what slight to her divinity,
what grief made the queen of the gods drive to endure
so many misfortunes, to encounter so many trials, a man famed
for his goodness? Can there be such anger in the minds of the gods?
Vergil has a lot of feelings about Aeneas. You should, too.
‘But Vergil goes out of his way to make Aeneas a drip!’ NO.Vergil writes a realistic character. Vergil’s Aeneas behaves EXACTLY LIKE anyone should expect a war-torn refugee to behave. He is miserableand scared. But he accepts the responsibility put upon him, and he puts this responsibility before his own fears and his own desires.
Vergil could have written a poem about ‘the founder of the Roman race’ just marching into Italy and lording it over everyone because that was his destiny and that was his right. But Vergil stopped to think, and he thought, ‘Wait, this figure is a refugee. This is a good man who loved his home and his people and would value that quality in others. This is a man who suffered and would not want others to suffer like he did. This is a man who would forget how to want his own happiness.’
I can’t go through the whole Aeneidhere, because I could write reams about every scene, but I’ll talk a little about two of the things for which Aeneas is most criticised, which I haven’t already talked about in my previous Aeneid rants (all in my tag here, but especially this one).
Thanks for taking the time to put this together and include all the references!
“Aeneas constantly puts others first and all he gets in return is misery.“ Ouch. That is so true.
This is a fantastic post. I could write a thousand words here elaborating on it but I’d probably just be reiterating stuff from your post that I just don’t think can be emphasized enough, so I’ll keep it short. I don’t understand why Aeneas isn’t more popular either. The classics fandom is rightly wild about Hector and Patroclus because they remain good people amidst the annoying violent masculine hero culture, so why not Aeneas? He’s a devoted family man who goes through hell but remains incredibly resilient and selfless. He’s a fairly understated, easily overlooked character in the Iliad, yet, as you showed, he’s already got a lot of good qualities there, and he’s not as flashy as Achilles or Hector but that’s exactly why he’s the one who survives, why he’s the one who’s worthy of carrying the destiny of the Trojans. It is tough, seemingly endless work to be the kind of hero the Aeneid requires but he does it, and IMO he deserves ALL the respect and sympathy for it. What’s not to love? (Well, there was the time he tried to kill Helen, but it was just one time and he was very upset and under a lot of stress so I can forgive him.)
I’m gonna stop here before I spend all night ranting in praise of my small son Aeneas.
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
[Originally published on my Medium page: link here]
Siddhartha is introduced as a Brahmin, which speaks towards how his life is supposed to go; he’s a natural, and his position in life is already laid out for him. However, his thirst for knowledge and constant questioning pulls him into a journey of self-discovery. While I thought Siddhartha came out as arrogant, specifically when speaking to The Buddha, I think everything placed in the book (from events to characters) was entirely purposeful towards the point of enlightenment. His journey takes him far from his life as a Brahmin, turning him into a business partner, a lover, a father, and many other roles (some not as admirable). While I’ve read many stories that introduce an array of characters along the way, this novel is refreshing; turning the main character into a variety of persons throughout his lifetime.
A review cannot do this book justice, it goes down as a “must-read” to fully understand the work properly. Hermann Hesse has an amazing mind which can create a fluent storyline that not only entertains the reader but turns the gears of the brain.
Nearing the end of the novel, I cried at Siddhartha’s last words. I think the rush of emotions was partly due to how long it took to reach this point of enlightenment. It’s not a very long read, but it seems like an entire lifetime spent beside the character. Not only that, but every word was filled with the air of unreachable depth and peacefulness — the final bearing of this process. Maybe my emotions got the best of me, or this book truly sneaked up on me. Either way, it’s one of my favorites of Hesse.
Read this book if you want a tale worth contemplating over or maybe you’ve been into self-discovery lately.
- Rate: 4.5/5
- Time: Can be read in less than a day
- Book-Shelve Worthy: Buy it right now!
Quoteworthy
The opposite of every truth is just as true.
I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing from myself. I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahman, I was determined to dismember myself and tear away its layers of husk in order to find in its unknown innermost recess the kernel at the heart of those layers, the Atman, life, the divine principle, the ultimate. But in so doing, I was losing myself
Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.
They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.
He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value … he has given to me myself
I will no longer mutilate and destroy myself in order to find a secret behind the ruins.
We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps
HAPPY IDES FIND YOUR LOCAL CONGRESSMAN FOR A ROMAN STYLE FRIENDLY CHAT TODAY
Hey so I’ve compiled a list of surces I have used at some point or other and/or seen reccomended when it comes to the stuy of Women in Classical Antiquity. Feel free to add anything you have also found useful, though please try to keep it mainly to scholarly and balancrf sources.
Historical Studies
- New Directions in the Study of Women in the Greco-Roman World by Georgia Tsouvala, Ronnie Ancona
- Women in Antiquity: Real Women Across the Ancient World by Jean Macintosh Turfa, Stephanie Lynn Budin
- Women and Monarchy in Macedonia by Elizabeth Carney
- Roman Women by Eve D'Ambra
- Women in Antiquity: New Assessments by Richard Hawley, et al.
- A Companion to Women in the Ancient World by Sheila Dillon, Sharon L. James
- Pandora’s Daughters: The Role & Status of Women in Greek & Roman Antiquity by Mauren Fant, Mary Lefkowitz
- Women in the Classical World: Image and Text by Elaine Fantham, et al.
- Women in Greek Myth by Mary Lefkowitz
- Women in Classical Antiquity: From Birth to Death by Laura K. McClure
- Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity by Sarah Pomeroy
- Spartan Women by Sarah Pomeroy
- Women’s History and Ancient History by Sarah Pomeroy
- Women in Hellenistic Egypt: From Alexander to Cleopatra by Sarah Pomeroy
- Arguments with Silence: Writing the History of Roman Women by Amy Richland
- The Women of Pliny’s Letters by Jo-Ann Shelton
Sourcebooks
- Clodia: A Sourcebook by Julia Dyson Hejduk
- Cleopatra: A Sourcebook by Prudence J. Jones
- Women’s Life in Greece and Rome: A Source Book in Translation
- by Mary Lefkowitz, Maureen B. Fant
- Women in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook by Bonnie MacLachlan
- Women in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook by Bonnie MacLachlan
- Women and Society in Greek and Roman Egypt: A Sourcebook by Jane Rowlandson
Biographies
- Zenobia: Shooting Star of Palmyra by Nathanael J. Andrade
- Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in the Early Empire by Anthony A. Barrett
- Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A. Barrett
- Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey by T. Corey Brennan
- Arsinoe of Egypt and Macedon: A Royal Life by Elizabeth Carney
- Eurydice and the Birth of Macedonian Power by Elizabeth Donnelly Carney
- Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great by Elizabeth Carney
- Berenice II and the Golden Age of Ptolemaic Egypt by Dee L. Clayman
- Cornelia: Mother of the Gracchi by Suzanne Dixon
- Hypatia of Alexandria by Maria Dzielska
- Julia Augusti: The Emperor’s Daughterby Elaine Fantham
- Clodia: A Sourcebook by Julia Dyson Hejduk
- Faustina I and II: Imperial Women of the Golden Age by Barbara M. Levick
- Julia Domna: Syrian Empress by Barbara Levick
- Turia: A Roman Woman’s Civil War by Josiah Osgood
- Cleopatra: A Biography by Duane W. Roller
- Cleopatra’s Daughter: and Other Royal Women of the Augustan Age by Duane W. Roller
- Clodia Metelli: The Tribune’s Sister by Marilyn Berglund Skinner
- Terentia, Tullia and Publilia: The Women of Cicero’s Family by Susan Treggiari
Lectures, Documentaries, & Online Sources
- Cleopatra: The Most Famous Woman of Classical Antiquity (Lecure by Dr. Duane Roller, 2021)
- Lucretia and the Politics of Violence (Lecture by Dr. Mary Beard, 2019)
- Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome (2013)
- Virgil: Aeneid: Women (lecture by Llewelyn Morgan, 2012)
- Women in Antiquity: An Online Resource for the Study of Women in the Ancient World
- Women Who Made History: Cleopatra (2015)
- Women’s Classical Caucus
Women in Ancient religions
- Bona Dea & the Cults of Roman Womenby Attilio Mastrocinque
- Engendering Aphrodite: Women & Society in Ancient Cyprus by Diane Bolger & Nancy Serwint
- Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion by Matthew Dillon
- The Sacred and the Feminine in Ancient Greece by Sue Blundell & Margaret Williamson
- The Myth of Sacred Prostitution in Antiquity by Stephanie Lynn Budin
- Women’s Religious Activity in the Roman Republic by Celia B. Schultz
- Unreliable Witnesses: Religion, Gender, and History in the Greco-Roman Mediterranean by Ross Shepard Kraemer
Women in the Roman World
- Great Women of Imperial Rome - Mothers and Wives of the Caesars by Jasper Burns
- Women and Politics in Ancient Rome by Richard A. Bauman
- Matrona Docta: Educated Women in the Roman Elite from Cornelia to Julia Domna by Emily A. Hemelrijk
- Women and the Roman City in the Latin Westby Emily Hemelrijk & Greg Woolf
- Engendering Rome: Women in Latin epic by A.M. Keith
- War, Women and Children in Ancient Rome by John K. Evans
Misc.
- The Athenian Woman by Sian Lewis
- A Companion to Women in the Ancient World by Sharon L. James, Sheila Dillon
- The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World by Thomas A.J McGinn
- Voices at Work: Women Performance and Labor in Ancient Greece by Andromache Karanika
me:my good friend pliny the elder, what is your wisdom for today
my good friend pliny the elder: did you know that asbestos is great protection against both fire and magicians
me:ok thank you pliny i will keep that in mind
always great advice from my favorite natural historian
Everybody who studied archaeology has that one object which they just Vibe™️ with, which touched their soul and will stay with them forever.
Mine is this Roman frog fountain centrepiece (Ashmolean)
REBLOG WITH YOURS
Iliad AU where everything’s the same except this is Hector’s helmet