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The Gods In Virgil's The Aeneid

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Many people think that their own god controls them, and they believe that their god has the power to predetermine their future, and they are not in control of their own destiny. The presence of this strong belief is very prevalent in the past, especially in Greek mythology and in the present. The events in “Book IV: The Passion of the Queen,” of Virgil’s the Aeneid show that people put too much belief in their gods. Virgil uses the interference of gods to show that one should not place so much belief in their god that they would think that their god controls their every move. The gods interfere so much in mortal lives that the mortals discuss the gods casually in everyday talk. The book indicates that the omnipotent controls everything and everyone. Virgil says, I pray that Earth may open, gape for me Down to its depth, or the omnipotent With one stroke blast me to the shades, pale Shades.(32-35) The footnote for the omnipotent says that he is all powerful and controls everything in the world. This leads to people believing that the gods have complete control over them, and they …show more content…

Aeneas has to learn not to trust his gods when they order him around and instead do what he wants to do with his life. It is appalling how much trust Aeneas places his his gods. Many other phrases and words imply that the character trusts the gods completely, but this one blatantly states how much trust Aeneas puts into the gods. This quote shows that Aeneas is very trusting, ”Apollo tells me I must make for Italy, / named by his oracles” (453-454). This obviously says that Aeneas is placing so much trust in his gods that he comes out and says that he must go to Italy because a god told him to go. Virgil constantly shows throughout the book that the characters place a lot of trust in their

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