Auctoritas In The Aeneid

No matter the degree of sin each of us commits we are estranged from God to some capacity. It is common for the human person to fall prey to the approval of the world and forget or ignore God, who loves us despite the numerous times we reject Him. He even states how he remembers in his youth that he had wept for Dido for committing suicide because of love (The Confessions by St. Augustine, book 1), but he didn't weep for his own sins and transgressions for God. He could empathize with the tragic plight of a character in a book, but he didn't or couldn't recognize his own tragedy. I think it's all too common for a person to see the faults in someone else and feel sorrow for them, but at the same time, they are unable to acknowledge their own faults and get to the root of their sin. The Aeneid, as well as The Confessions both, have a spiritual journey that hero of the story undertakes, both Aeneas and Augustine have to look at their past to change their future. Aeneas journey is to found Rome and Augustine’s journey is to convert to Christianity. While one journey can be seen as told from the physical side and the other the spiritual side, both journeys involve constant battles and face a long journey that deals with both the physical world as well as the spiritual

In the play Antigone, there is some disagreement on who the tragic hero is. While some claim it to be Antigone, she is merely the title. The real answer is Creon, whose storyline almost perfectly emulates the definition of a tragedy. While he begins high and mighty, ruler of Thebes, his own personality and mistakes bring his downfall. Antigone continues irritating Creon, eventually leading to her death. Even though this is slightly unfortunate for her, it pales in comparison to Creon’s plot. After all, he is the reason that almost everyone in his family he knows and loves dies. Antigone may be Antigone’s story, but she does not encompass every character type.

The Aeneid, an epic written by Virgil, thousands of years old and yet still read today by many. It tells the story of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, and his efforts to establish order and defend his homeland. Throughout the 9,896 lines of the poem, he lives according to the Ancient Roman ideals of the Stoic. He is the paragon of a Trojan hero who places duty above pleasure, controls his passions and appetites through the power of reason, does not let the storms and stress of life disturb his self-possession and composure, and practices the virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Aeneas exemplifies the ideal of Stoicism by practicing the cardinal virtues in his daily life.

Sinon is one of the bigger examples of a human being rebuked in Aeneid: Book II. This started in line 260, “This fraud if Sinon, his accomplished lying, Won us over: a tale and fake tears Had captured us, whom neither Diomedes Nor Larisaean Achilles overpowered, Nor ten long years, Nor all their thousands ships” (Virgil Aeneid: Book II 260-264). This is putting the blame from the Trojans’ ignorance to Sinon’s stealth and trickery. Had Sinon not said that the horse wouldn’t have for, the Trojans would never had tried to bring the horse into the city. Therefore, the Trojans are in the wrong. In Book IV, Queen Dido blames Anna for her falling in love with Aeneas. She calls her out as Aeneas is preparing to leave, but doesn’t wish to see him herself. Virgil stated, “Since that deserter chose you for his friend And trusted you, even with private thoughts, Since you alone know when he may be reached” (Virgil, Aeneid: Book IV 559-561). Dido is moving the blame onto Anna by implying that Aeneas was Anna’s friend and it was her idea for them to get together. Of course, Aeneas did pull the well-technically-we-aren’t-married-card, but Dido seemed to ignore this as she accused Anna. This shows that Anna and Sinon are examples of people blaming other people for their

In Roman comedy, like in Greek comedy that came before it, Roman writers enjoyed to poke fun at social norms. Augustus sought to protect the Roman Empire’s longevity and in doing so elevated the power held by the paterfamilias. In a Roman family absolute authority is held by the father or the head of the household. The power of the paterfamilias was unrestricted and enabled him as the head of the house to control every aspect in the lives of his family. Most dramatically the form of this power was exercised in vitae necisque potestas or his ability to sentence his family members to death. This power extended over all the of father’s legitimate children, and included any slaves he owned. Frequently his wife was included if the arrangement of

In Sophocles's Antigone he makes it seem like the characters are defying the rules of the gods. Characters in the story seem to be branching out, and choosing their own fate. Creon defied the rules of the gods, and refused to allow Polyneices to be buried. Antigone defied the kind, and buried Polyneices. Antigone also chose her own fate by hanging herself in the tomb. Showing that the characters are defying the gods, and choosing their own fates.

Greek tragedies are known for their predictable endings and characters, whose character traits almost always stereotypically reflect those of the archetype they have been assigned. Sophocles’ play, Antigone, is no exception to this. Despite having been written around 441 B.C., his play does present newer controversial topics such as feminism in his play, along with more common themes such as integrity and loyalty. By establishing and associating Antigone’s character with heroic archetypes as the martyr and the tragic heroine, Sophocles could utilize her actions and characteristics as such roles to better demonstrate and convey his messages throughout his work.

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is someone “between two extremes... not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is not brought about by some error or frailty” (Poetics). Tragedy is intended to create catharsis by making the audience sympathize with the protagonist. Therefore, the point of a tragic character is to make these emotions. An effective tragedy causes the audience’s emotions to mirror this rise and fall. Antigone has a few tragic flaws going for her, or rather against her. Her loyalty to the gods and her brother 's memory means that she will have to be disloyal to King Creon. Antigone is also pretty stubborn. That is kind of a good trait in a heroic sort of way but unfortunately her stubbornness gets herself in trouble but also risks other characters as well like Ismene and

Just a simple interaction with Jupiter causes Aeneas the want to flee the city. In book four Virgil writes, “As the sharp admonition and command from heaven have shaken him awake, he now burned only to be gone, to leave that land of the sweet life behind” (line 364-366). Aeneas taking the order to leave, shows how the Romans believed the relationship between mankind and the gods being significant. The romans could not even let love get in between what god wants them to do. Later in book four Virgil writes, “With love of her, yet took the course heaven gave him and went back to the fleet” (line 524-526). Having a deep love for Dido and leaving shows the impact the gods had on the Romans who were willing to do what the gods wanted them to. Not only did Romans leave their loved ones they believed in prayer. After Aeneas leaves regarding what his feelings for Dido are Dido says, “ I hope and pray that on some grinding reef midway at sea you’ll drink your punishment(Virgil 506-507).” The remark that Dido makes proves that the Romans believed in prayer to get what they wished. The gods in book four of the epic play an important role in helping Virgil prove how influenced the Romans are by

The virtue of piety was a defining characteristic in Roman life, Romans carried out their everyday lives in accordance of the ideas of pietas which is one’s duty to their family, God, and people; these Roman values are displayed in Virgil’s The Aeneid through the actions of the character Aeneas, and challenged further in the Gospel of Matthew by Jesus Christ. The word “pietas” is a Latin word that means dutifulness, and refers to the balanced duty to a person’s family, gods, and people in Roman culture. The Romans believed that for these duties to be upheld then it must be implemented in one’s everyday life, and this belief of the Romans separated them from other ancient societies. In The Aeneid, Aeneas engages in all aspects of pietas throughout his journey to Italy to become the ancestor to the city of Rome.

The purpose of roman heroes, which can be seen through the Virgil’s Aeneid is to give means to the origin of Rome (Sinnigen, 1965:55). Aeneas is thus appropriate, because Aeneas was excelled from Troy after it has been invaded by the Greeks, due to the capture of Helen, by Paris, and it was thus his duty to take his companions to a western land to find a city which would, as the centuries rolled by, achieve world dominance and civilize mankind ( Camps, 1967:33)

It is Captain America’s duty to not just protect the American people, but to lead and guide them. He is the face of all that America stands for from his star spangled suit to his values and heroism. Captain America symbolizes freedom and protection. I feel like he 's often understood to symbolize America, but he stands for more than that. He had never run from a fight and always insisted on standing up for himself and his beliefs. His ability to keep fighting for what he believed in, no matter the consequences, is a strong characteristic of his. He proved that nobody should ever give up hope because giving up is never an option for something you truly believe in.

Because Christians faced daily persecution anyway, martyrdom was a way for them to take back their lives and their fates, allowing them to decide when they died and by whose hands. Martyrdom, unlike standard death or murder, gave Christians the power to decide their own destinies; they were given the choice to either follow the Roman government or to stand with God, instead. If they went against what their government told them to do, they knew the consequences would be harsh and painful; however, even though the punishments were severe, they also knew that they had decided their death. One of the most striking examples of an ancient Christian taking his or her life back and demanding control is Vibia Perpetua, who spent the vast majority of her life under the thumb of either her father or her husband. She never had the chance to make strong, independent decisions about her own life, regardless of the fact that she grew up educated and was constantly exposed to

The Aeneid is bursting with violent acts from the beginning to the end. The main character, Aeneas, constantly faces conflict from both humans and gods. Aeneas is a Trojan hero and prince who embodies pietas, driven by duty, honor, and devotion, which makes him an example of an ideal Roman citizen. Aeneas was called by the gods and determined to be a successful founder of Rome, but he faced complications along the journey. In each conflict along the way, Aeneas dealt with fighting and violence and could not find peace until the end. Honorable Aeneas fought until he could successfully carry out his destiny. Rome is known for their strength in war and fighting,

The Aeneid was commissioned by Augustus, the first citizen of Rome. Augustus desired to restore Rome after a brutal civil war and advocated for a conservative standpoint. (Williams). Within the Aeneid, the praise of Augustus’ values does not merely alter the plot, but rather it is the plot. Primarily, the Aeneid is a story about the fate of Rome, not Aeneas himself. It even could be argued that Aeneas could be replaced with essentially any other generic epic hero archetype to achieve the same effect. Aeneas as the individual is not of importance because he is solely a vehicle for the fate of