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Fate in the Aeneid - Coggle Diagram
Fate in the Aeneid
Scholarship
R.D. Williams - 'Fate is all the time behind human action [...] in Homer, Fate indeed governs men's actions, but it is a short-term fate, something which determines the problems of the moment [...[ in Virgil, fate has its plan for hundreds of years.'
Philip Hardie - The Aeneid is the epic which defines and justifies the role of the Romans in history.
R.D. Williams - Essentially the Aeneid is a national poem [...] [Virgil] wrote this poem to explore what Romans were like and what they could teach the world.
Katherine Eisaman Maus - As is the standard doctrine of the Roman moralists, Aeneas must reject the satisfactions of Carthage to realise his destiny as founder of Rome. As per the beliefs of Cato and Cicero - the perfect Roman is born not for himself but for his country.
R.D. Williams - Our intellectual judgement must approve of Aeneas' decision to place his divine mission above his personal inclinations, but our memory lingers not on this triumph for Rome but upon the unhappy victim.
Gransden - 'Certain events are predetermined, though the precise moment and circumstances remin flexible, and this felxability allows for the continued operation of human free will and for the presistence of a pluralistic theocracy within the larger framework which had evolved as conceptual thought became more sophisticated after Homer.'
W.S. Anderson - A central theme of the Aeneid is the transformation of the Trojans from a defeated people to the Romans.
Fate & Destiny
Fate is connected to the Latin word for 'speak' and so fate has the meaning of that which has been said, or pronounced, by a god. In the Aeneid, the leading god of fate is Jupiter.
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Whenever Juno challenges the Trojans, she never doubts the ultimate fate of the foundation of Rome, rather she tries to delay the hero in his journey
The Fate of Rome
This is routinely referenced, discussed and foreshadowed through the Aeneid
Book 6 - Anchises shows Aeneas the future great men of Rome with particular emphasis on Augustus and Marcellus.
Book 1 - Jupiter foreshadows the future greatness if Rome to the worried Venus. In the first instance Jupiter foretells the greatness of the descendants of Aeneas, through Romulus and then to Trojan Caesar and the coming of Pax Romana.
In the second instance
Book 4 - Mercury visits Aeneas and remind him of his duty to his son's destiny and that he must leave Dido. 'You owe him the land of rome and the kingdom of Italy.'
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Book 10 - Juno and Venus make their cases to Jupiter, both of whom show little concern for Aeneas, their interest lies in Ascanius for he will found the city of Alba Longa which will lead to Romulus and Remus and the foundation of the city of Rome.
Book 4 - Dido, in her rage, prophecises a great division between the Carthaginians and the Romans which is clear reference to the Punic Wars.
Omens
Book 2 - A flame licks the head of Iulus though he is unharmed. Anchises asks Jupiter to confirm this omen which he does immediately and Anchises is convinced to leave, seeing the great future ahead for his grandson. Anchises in turn asks the gods to protect his grandson.
Omens are central to conveying the destiny to the Latins as well. Three omens show that Lavinia is destined to marry Aeneas and it is from this that King Latinus decides to not side with either the Rutulians or the Trojans in the conflict.
Book 1 - To reassure Aeneas that the twelve ships of the Trojan fleet arrived in Carthage safely, she shows him twelve white swans
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Book 9 - The ships turn in nymphs which the Trojans interpret in a positive light as their ships were neither destroyed, nor do they need them.
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Aeneas' Fate
Book 2 - Aeneas is twice told to leave Troy and found a new city. The first by Hector who absolves Aeneas of his duty to Troy, and the second by Creusa who absolves him of his duty to her and refocuses him on his fate. Creusa also foretells the foreign bride he will marry. In this way, Book 2's foreshadowing is much more Homeric as it is confined to the epic.
Book 8 - Aeneas is visited by the river god Tiber, who tells him that when he is in the right place and that he will see a white sow, and on that site he will found a city.
Book 10 - When Aeneas arrives on the battlefield, 'On the head of Aeneas there blazed a tongue of fire' showing both his military prowess and a omen of his destined victory.
Free will
There are several instances in which the characters of the Aeneid are able to exercise free will within the bounds of destiny.
Aeneas
Aeneas spends a considerably long time in Carthage, indulging in his lust for Dido rather than attending to his duties to his people and his son, though arguably he stayed in the first place to secure refuge for them.
When Aeneas says goodbye to Dido he says he goes to Italy not of his own free will. However, Aeneas is not forced by Fate to leave, rather he feels a sense of obligation to his son.
Aeneas might be compelled to follow his destiny for the sake of his son, but he is never commanded to do so. Mercury implores him and reminds him of Ascanius. Aeneas still chooses to fulfill this.
Book 12 - Aeneas kills Turnus, who is begging for his life, not because he was destined to do so but because he sees the baldric of Pallas which makes him burn mad with passion.
The entirety of Book 6 is not necessary to securing the fate but it is important for Aeneas, emphasises the importance of Father-Son relationships and celebrates the imperial family. Aeneas is also respecting the omen but this is also free will.
Book 2 - Aeneas ignores the warning of Hector and fights with the Trojans to defend the city against the Greeks. Even when the fate of Troy is revealed to Aeneas he does not leave the city for the fate of Rome but for the concern for his family.
Ascanius/Iulus
Though Ascanius is the figure of the Aeneid for whom the destiny of Rome is pinned to, Ascanius still exercises free will in his actions. His hunting in Book 7, his actions to defend the Trojan fortification in Book 9, and the free for his father in Book 12 all show his free will within his fate.
Juno
Juno regularly reminds the reader that the Trojans are fated to found the beginnings of Rome but not how . Book 1 - 'So the Fates do not approve!' in sarcastic retort to the audience's concern for the permanence of Aeneas' Fate. In Book 4 Juno makes the plan with Venus to keep Aeneas in Carthage only for it to be broken by Mercury. in Book 10 Juno negotiates the future fate of the Trojans.
Even when Juno recognises the Fate of the Trojans is sealed, she moves to delay the Fate as much as possible.
Juturna & Turnus
In the final book, Juturna uses all her might to distract Turnus and keep him from Aeneas in the hope of preserving his life. Likewise when Turnus notices what is going on he chooses to face Aeneas of his own free will.