《THE AENEID 埃涅伊得》书评

“Romanness” Defined in The Aeneid

Virgil’s Aeneid is a city’s foundation story, but more importantly it documents the formation of Roman identity. Virgil’s tale is filled with implicit allusions to political and social circumstances of his present time. Through Aeneas’ journey, Virgil has also created a hero that possesses all the important Roman virtues. Essentially, the Aeneid is not a historical account of the past; but rather it has defined first century B.C. “Romanness”—the desires and ideals of Virgil’s contemporary readers.Even though Virgil’s Aeneid starts with the traditional account of the fall of Troy, Virgil’s hero is forced by fate to abandon the traditional Greek ideal of heroism and to seek for a new identity. In Book 1, Aeneas laments for his unfulfilled desire to die along the side of many great Trojan heroes. He cries: “Why could not I by that strong Arm be slain, And lie by noble Hector on the Plain” (Aeneid 1.140-141). However, fate has prepared another destiny for this untraditional hero. Aeneas is not a Greek hero of arête, the display of personal glory and prowess; rather he is destined to be an example of the Roman virtue pietas, obedient to his responsibility to his ancestors and community. With his father on his back and his young son at his side, Aeneas embarks on his arduous journey, searching for a physical place and community to embody Roman virtues and to realize the Roman potential.In order to successfully illustrate this new definition of heroism, Virgil uses many contrasts throughout the poem to highlight the virtues that set the Romans apart as a unique people. For instance, in Book 2, Virgil vividly recounts a detailed history of the Trojan horse. By doing so, he successfully calls attention to the contrast between generous and kind-spirited Trojans and duplicitous and treacherous Greeks. Through this contrast, Virgil’s readers find the root of Fides, the traditional Roman virtue that emphasizes trustworthiness and reliability. By comparing the Trojans with other groups of people, the poem defines many more nascent qualities that would ultimately define “Romanness.” This is best demonstrated in a striking comparison between Aeneas’ Trojans and the Trojans who choose to stay in Sicily. After leaving Carthage, Aeneas’ company is welcomed by Acestes in Sicily. While the men busily engage in athletic competitions, the women are stirred up to endless lamentation. They have called their journey “this improsprous Voyage,” during which they have been “tossed from Shores to Shores, from Lands to Lands.” The women are tired of “inhospitable Rocks and barren Sands” (Aeneid 5.815-818). And they long for comport and rest. To them, the vision of a new city and destiny seems vague and aloof. They refuse to “search in vain for flying Italy” (Aeneid 5. 819). These women and some other Trojans choose to stay in Sicily. They are characterized as “feeble, old, [and] indulgent of their Ease” (Aeneid 5.936-938). Most importantly, they have placed their personal desires and comfort above their obligation to the community. In contrast, those who followed Aeneas further on his journey are capable to bear their fate with patience and to push their dreams with prudence (Aeneid 5.929). In the parting of Aeneas’ Trojans from their friends at Sicily, we find roots of many important ideals and virtues that would be important to the future Roman community. The Sicily separation has screened out all those who are incompetent to participate in the founding of Rome. The founders of Rome are “the chosen Youth, and those who nobly dare…to tempt the Dangers of the War…rough are their Manners, and their Minds are high;” because as declared by Anchises in Book 6, it is Rome’s glorious destiny to rule many other states (Aeneid 5.954-957).By using contrasts, Virgil has effectively created a hero who possesses essential virtues that are indigenous to first century B.C. Romans. These Roman ideals, such as loyalty to the state and devotion to one’s family, are important to Virgil’s contemporaries because of the chaotic political and military atmosphere of first century B.C. Rome. These are the years of the failing Republic. And these are the years filled with political violence, social instability, and military chaos. When Virgil prepares to write the Aeneid in honor of his patron Augustus, Rome has already endured almost a century long of conflicts—the Sabine rape, the banishment of Tarquin, the defeat of the Gauls, civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar, and Augustus’ victory over Antony and Cleopatra. The endless wars between power-hungry nobles have extensive influence on all Romans’ lives; whether they are humble farmers or wealthy nobles. Virgil’s contemporaries dread instability. They hunger for peace and long for leaders who could live according to Roman ideals better suited to a stable urban civilization. Virgil has used many implicit allusions to the political and military events of his day to connect with his follow first century B.C. Romans and to address their desire for peace and stability. In particular, Virgil has done so by portraying the wars between Aeneas’ Trojans and the Italians as civil wars. First, the poem repeatedly demonstrates many important affinities between the two people. Book 7 accounts that the Trojans trace their ancestry back to Italy. Latinus recalls a distant tradition about Troy’s founder Dardanus originally coming from Latium. Also in the description of Latimus’ palace, Virgil’s contemporaries will have recognized many practices central to their own social and political life, for instance, the practice of displaying ancestral images and military trophies. Also, by repeatedly using the motif of omen and prophecies, the poem suggests that this union between the two people is inevitable. Besides having primeval ties to each other and sharing common virtues and practices, Virgil further defines the war between Trojans and Italians as a civil war between relatives in Juno’s prayer: “Let the son- and father-in-law pay/ for peace with their own peoples’ death.” Of course these words first allude to the proposed marriage alliance between Aeneas and Latinus. Nevertheless, it will be difficult for Virgil’s contemporary readers to overlook the allusion to the marriage alliance between Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar, and the civil war between these two son- and father-in-law.Virgil’s contemporary readers could also easily recognize the similarities between the civil wars recorded in the Aeneid and the fifty-plus-years succession of civil wars ended by Octavian’ victory in 31 B.C. The civil war between Trojans and Italians is essential in the forging of a single people from these two adversaries. In very much the same way, Octavian ending the civil war has brought a true political integration between first century B.C. Romans and Italians. For decades, Romans have retained tight control over access to political office. Very few Italians are able to achieve high offices and they were referred to as novi hominess, or “new men,” such as the famous military leader Marius. And they have done so through patronage of Roman aristocrats. Once Octavian, now known as Augustus, gains complete control of the government, he admits Italians into the Roman Senate in order to replenish a ruling class decimated by the civil wars.These implicit allusions to contemporary events are indisputably evident to Virgil’s first century B.C. Roman readers. Virgil’s hero and his journey have presented a new definition of heroism, which emphasizes one’s service to his community and family rather than one’s pursuit for personal glory. By comparing Rome’s founders with other civilization groups, Virgil highlights the virtues and ideals that set the Romans apart as a unique people. More than a simple foundation story of the past, Virgil’s Aeneid is clearly a memorial of the desires, ideals, and achievement of first century B.C. Rome.