The Aeneid not only alludes to The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, many facets of the tale is reminiscent of it.
At the time it was written, Rome was in a bit of political instability with the ending of the Roman Republic after the assassination of Julius Caesar and the dawn of the Roman Empire, and so the Aeneid was something of a parallel between the events that Aeneas lived through and the unsteady beginnings of Rome, and the instability the early Roman Empire was facing at the time. Why did Virgil compose the poem? The main reasons were to honour Augustus and praise him by highlighting his ancestors, and to show parallels between the protagonist, Aeneas and Augustus. Virgil died without finishing the tale and asked his friend Lucius Varius Rufus to destroy it - and thankfully for us he didn’t! Although Virgil wasn’t too happy with the work before his death, Augustus was pleased and despite Virgil’s desire to have it destroyed, the emperor had it published instead. In the final lines of the poem, Turnus is killed and Aeneas’ descendants Romulus and Remus would eventually establish the city of Rome. Aeneas eventually makes it to Latium where war ensues led by Aeneas on the Trojan side and Turnus of the Rutuli - especially since the hand in marriage of the Princess Lavinia is at stake as well. Once again reminiscent of Odysseus, Aeneas takes a journey to the underworld where he sees the shade of Dido, many a deceased Trojan and his father. Her phantom sifting through my fingers, light as wind, quick as a dream in flight. After spending six years on Carthage, Mercury reminds Aeneas of his purpose and departs Carthage, leaving a grief-stricken Dido who ends up throwing herself on a burning pyre. After some time on the sea, not unlike Odysseus on his long journey home after the Trojan War, Aeneas finds himself in Carthage and falls in love with the Queen, Dido. Aeneas, a Trojan and son of the goddess Venus, escaped from the sack of Troy and was told his destiny was to found a grand city in Italy. As a sponsor of the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Augustus, The Aeneid tells the founding story of Rome with the Trojan hero Aeneas travelling through the Mediterranean to finally establish the lineage of Romulus and Remus and the Roman Empire. The Aeneid was written by the Roman poet Virgil who lived in the Early Roman Empire between 70-19BCE.
Before we get into my thoughts, lets introduce the text, it’s historical context and purpose in the ancient world.
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