Book IX

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

While reading Book IX, I couldn't help but be reminded of the reality of war and pride in warfare so prevalent in the heritage of Rome, but also the impression of entertainment in the telling of battle that comes through in Vergil.  He certainly does not spare one gory detail, including the emotional pain that those afflicted by conflict and violence must endure. The color of the language used to describe wartime episodes seems to suggest that the audience enjoyed reading the play-by-play, especially when the stand-offs are between epic heroes and peoples, with a sprinkling of the divine, as they are in the Aeneid.

Need to Know

• Aeneas is away when the Latins attack the walls of the makeshift Trojan camp. He has left his men with orders in the event that a conflict arises and they are put to the test by Turnus' besiegement of their walls and turrets.
• Yes. You read that right. The ships turned into sea nymphs because of an old blessing Jupiter provided at Cybele's request. The mother goddess, Cybele, had requested that the ships built from the wood of her sacred grove be spared. Jupiter could not grant this at points in Aeneas' journey that had been predetermined by the Fates, but he was able to promise that once the ships landed in Latium, they would be preserved according to Cybele's request.
• Euryalus and Nisus are praised for their courage when they strategize to pick their way through the sleeping/drunk camp of Latins in order to reach Aeneas. At which point does their confidence move into cockiness? What is the moment at which these two seal their own doom? The episode of Euryalus and Nisus seems to teach a lesson about valor stretched into over-confience and the consequence of behaving this way.
• Nevertheless, the virtue of their friendship and brotherhood is praised by the author himself when he promises to do his best to make their story immortal. Though both lost their lives, the glory of their friendship will last as long as his telling does:
• "How fortunate, both at once!/If my songs have any power, the day will never dawn/ that wipes you from the memory of the ages, not while/the house of Aeneas stands by the Capitol's rock unshaken/not while the Roman Father rules the world" (Book IX, ll.511-515)
• Ascanius/Iulus is the game-changer with his clean shot at the Latin, Remulus. Apollo loves it, but comes down to remind Ascanius that he may want to count this as beginner's luck and not get ahead of himself.
• Turnus is a pretty impressive warrior. He changes the course of the battle twice, single-handedly slaughtering a number of Trojans, forcing back the surge, and even breeching the walls. Eventually, he makes his escape by jumping into the river Tiber and swimming back to his fellow soldiers. Quite impressive.

Poetry
The imagery of an army on the march is commonly described from the perspective of a sentry posted on the lookout tower. A disturbance appears on the horizon, a large cloud of dust grows in size as the troops move closer until the rumbling sound of soldiers on the march can be heard at a distance. Judging the timing of an attack by this means must have been terrifying! The description of Turnus' army coming together on the march is imagined like tributaries flowing into a rising river (simile) - a really cool piece of language & imagery (Book IX, ll.29-43).

Old but True
War brings out the best in some and the worst in others. It's interesting how clearly Vergil connects individual success to the mindset, character, discipline, and spirit of the warrior.

Roman
Did you find Book IX to be as violent as I did? There was quite a lot of spewing guts, brains, and blood in my opinion. This makes me wonder what threshold the Roman audience would have had for this kind of description. Was this a PG, PG-13, or R rated telling in relationship to their reality?

Book VIII

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

Aeneas has made a necessary alliance with some Greek ex-patriots in preparation for battle with the Latins (Turnus & the Rutulians). This book is most famous for the description of the shield that Venus makes for her son, Aeneas. This shield, the work of the god Vulcan, depicts the future glory of Rome through the reign of the Caesars.

Need to Know

• Aeneas received his inspiration to enter into a pact with Evander (former native of mainland Greece, Arcadia), based on the trusted advice that he received in a dream from the River Tiber. The River gives Aeneas the prophecy of the white sow (big old pig) with thirty piglets, a sign that Ascanius (Aeneas' son), will see when he sets about founding the city of Alba Longa. Alba means white…
• When Aeneas and his men find Evander up shore, he happens to be performing a rite for the demigod Hercules. Hercules saved the earliest settlers of the citadel of Rome from the monster Cacus. Hercules was worshipped in the earliest religious rituals in the city of Rome on the are maxima. This altar is located beneath the church where Audrey Hepburn puts her hand inside the mouth of truth in Roman Holiday.
  
• Evander's son, Pallas, greets them with arms but Aeneas extends "the olive branch of peace" - use this example as a first century reference to the symbol of the olive branch.
• There are many connections between Aeneas/Trojans and Evander/Arcadians, but the most important and winning connection is the fact that Evander recalls a visit from Priam and Anchises in Arcadia (Greece) when he was just a boy. 
• Venus, according to myth, had an arranged marriage of sorts with Vulcan. The story is pretty entertaining and if you have the time, I suggest you read it (Homer's Odyssey Book VIII ll. 266-369). Regardless, she uses her charms to convince him to build Aeneas' famed shield with the best of his materials and craftsmanship. He orders his employed cyclopes to do so on Venus' behalf and the shield is forged.
• With Evander's encouragement, Aeneas allies with the Etruscans. The Etruscans had revolted against their king, Mezentius, ally of Turnus, but were stopped by a warning from the gods that they must wait for a foreigner to lead them to victory. Could that be Aeneas?
• The shield depicts scenes of Rome's great glory. If you're interested, look up one of the following episodes of the great heroes of Rome depicted on the shield:
• The Sabine Women
• Lars Porsenna
• Horatius Cocles
• Cloelia
• The Capitoline Geese
• A special shoutout to Catiline & Cato in ll.780-785 - these two historical figures from the 1st c. BC make it onto the shield!
• Likewise, more recent people and events for Romans of Vergil's time, Caesar Augustus, Mark Antony, Cleopatra & Agrippa, are referenced in the scene from the Battle of Actium.

Poem
"He fills with wonder/he knows nothing of these events but takes delight in their likeness/lifting onto his shoulders now/the fame and fates of all his children's children." (Book VIII, ll.855-859)

Old but True
Evander sets his son up as an intern in Aeneas' campaign against the Rutulians. This arrangement is a generous offer on Evander's behalf (giving up his son to battle), but Aeneas' acceptance is equally generous. He is willing to train Pallas in the act of battle by allowing him to apprentice or "intern" under him. Apprenticeship was crucial for success in many Roman professions, similar to the way in which many recent college graduates today must observe and participate in the occupation of their choice before beginning a full-time position. Most connections between apprentice/master were forged in the way that we all know intern/employer connections tend to be made: friends of friends and friends of family. Evander's ancestral partnership with Priam and Anchises is the perfect background for this arrangement with Aeneas.

Roman
Evander gives Aeneas a brief history of the earliest Italians & takes him on a tour of places in this region that will someday hold even more significance for Romans (for example, the Lupercal, the cave where Remus and Romulus, founder of Rome, were raised by the she-wolf).

Later, in the description of the shield designed by Venus and Vulcan, events & heroes of Early Rome are reviewed. Remember, Aeneas does not know this prophecy, even though he has already received some of it during his trip to the underworld. When he passed through the gate out of the underworld, he was forced to forget all that he had learned there.

Book VII

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

Aeneas has reached Latium and our story has hit the halfway point.  You may have noticed that Vergil changes briefly over to the first person again in the beginning of Book VII.  He invokes the muse of poetry, Erato, just as he had at the beginning of the text, asking for the inspiration to tell the second half of Aeneas' tale. The journey is over but the resolution of the resettlement of the Trojans is not quite as simple as just showing up.

Need to Know

• Latinus is the king of the region of Latium where Aeneas and his men are destined to establish their new kingdom. He has a daughter, Lavinia, but no male heir.  This means that whomever Lavinia marries will take control of Latinus' kingdom.  Latinus has had two prophecies (bees on laurel & burning hair), as well as an oracle from his father that this future heir will not be a local guy, but rather a foreigner. This foreigner will have traveled far for his kingdom and will make it even greater than it already is.
• While waiting for this foreign son-in-la, Latinus has turned down many local suitors, including Turnus, of the Rutulian tribe. Turnus is the so-called "new Achilles" that the Sibyl referenced in Book VI.
• Juno's at it again. Though she knows she can't mess with Fate (Fate is beyond the power of the gods), she plans to delay the marriage of Aeneas and Lavinia for as long as possible by starting a war among the Italic tribes and the alliance of Latins and Trojans. She employs Allecto, one of the Furies from the underworld, who operates with evil intentions. The Furies are the representation of revenge in the ancient world - a nasty trio!
• Allecto inspires the Queen of Latium, Amata, to rile up in support of Turnus. Her rage/craze is described like a Bacchic frenzy. Bacchant revelers performed religious ceremony in honor of Bacchus (Dionysus) in Greek culture and were known for their crazed & near animalistic antics.
• Allecto also gets to Turnus and convinces him to take action in support of his own candidature as a suitor of Lavinia. She comes disguised as a priestess, but when Turnus rejects her encouragement, reveals herself as a Fury and frightens him to action.
• Last but not least, Allecto is the one responsible for Iulus' hunting error. The Latins are enraged over the wounding of the sacred stag and fighting breaks out between Trojans and Latins after this somewhat unusual act of war.

Poem
The imagery of Amata's crazed rampage like that of a spinning top is particularly fun to read and imagine. The resolution of the riddle spelled out by the Harpies in Book III about the Trojans eating their own tables links journey (Books I-VI) to the founding (Books VII-XII) in a successful way, but of particular poetic excellence is the repetition of the invocation of the muse at the start of Book I and Book VII.

Old but True
Revenge in the personified form of the fury Allecto being the source of trouble in the court of Latium. The kind of "justified" chaos that revenge brings to Amata and Turnus inspires a deep-seeded rage that will surely end up regrettable.

Roman
That long list of warriors. Woah, that's totally Roman. A first century Roman audience would have had much more attachment to that list than any of us probably did because the warriors mentioned are for the most part tied to other myths associated with the founding of Rome. Perhaps a like comparison would be reading a list of characters from American tall tales (Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed) or maybe Marvel Comics superheroes (Batman, Superman).

Book VI

Book VI

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

Welcome to the Underworld! Vergil goes into great detail to describe the traditional Roman understanding of the underworld by visiting it through Aeneas' eyes. You may remember, if you've read the Odyssey, that Homer describes the underworld as Odysseus experiences it.  Vergil's description is much more detailed, as are the visits that he makes with various shades and the information that they provide about life after death. Here's a visual comparison of the two heroes voyage to the underworld.

Need to Know

• The Trojans have now made landfall in Italy. They arrive at Cumae where the sanctuary of Apollo and the Sibyl (prophetess) reside.  Cumae is near modern day Naples. St. Marker's in the Classical Diploma program will stay in Cumae next year when we travel to Italy.
• Aeneas receives a prophecy of Apollo through the Sibyl. You may have noticed that she enters a kind of trance-like state in order to communicate the prophecy. Scholarly theories about sibylline prophecy have gone as far as to suggest that these priestesses used sulphur fumes to induce this trance-like state. In the prophecy, Aeneas' concerns about reaching Latium (a little bit further north in Italy), are quelled. Unfortunately, the Sibyl also predicts that things are about to get much worse for Aeneas and his men once they arrive. To add to his fear and frustration, she comments that he will meet a new Achilles (Turnus), and start a war over a new Helen (Lavinia).
• Aeneas requests a visit to the underworld from the Sibyl.  She has him retrieve the Golden Bough (literally a golden branch), in order to appease Proserpina (Persephone), the queen of the underworld. You can probably get a sense for the fact that mortals rarely visit the underworld and come out alive. The Sibyl warns Aeneas of this.
• There's so much to say about the Underworld. Read this section carefully and let me know if you have any questions. The shades are organized by the moral quality of the lives that they lived - somewhat similar to a Christian concept of Heaven and Hell. The shades that occupy the Plain of Judgement are experiencing something similar to the Christian idea of Purgatory. They are waiting to be received into another more permanent resting place once things are sorted concerning their earthly "stains". Tartarus is a place of torture for those who have severely offended the gods and humankind in their lifetimes. The Elysian Fields are something like the Christian idea of Heaven. 
• Aeneas has encounters with a number of lost friends, comrades, and family members. He even faces the official snub from Dido who has returned to her deceased husband Sychaeus in the Underworld. Deiphobus, just to keep things straight, is not Paris, the famous lover of Helen who brought her Troy and supposedly started the conflict between Greece and Troy. Deiphobus received Helen after Paris was killed in battle. Unfortunately, he also received the rage of Menelaus when he showed up to collect Helen and bring her home to Greece. 
• Anchises provides the majority of the explanation of how the Underworld works when he speaks with Aeneas. Within his explanation, he shows Aeneas the souls that will be recycled or reincarnated as future Italians, the offspring of his own line. Rome gets a shoot out here as Anchises celebrates with Aeneas the vision of Romulus, the founder of Rome, "under his auspices, watch, my son, our brilliant Rome will extend her empire far and wide as the earth, her spirit high as Olympus…"(ll.900). Furthermore, Caesar Augustus, Vergil's emperor and the recipient of this national epic is pointed out by Anchises as a prophecy and promise of the great Empire to come. Lofty praise of the emperor, who would be reading Vergil's text, Anchises proclaims, "Son of a god, he will bring back the Age of Gold to the Latian fields where Saturn once held sway…"(ll.915).
• The Gate of Horn and the Gate of Ivory - very confusing. One plot-based theory on why Aeneas is led out of the Gate of Ivory, thereby forgetting all that he has learned in the underworld about the fate of his family line, is that his vision provides no advantage to him in the struggles in Italy (Books VII - XII). He's forgotten his own advantage!

Poem

The visual quality and imagery of this Book have always captured my imagination. There are a number of literary techniques that enhance this visual experience for the reader.

Old but True

Aeneas has a pressing need to visit the souls of those who have passed, not an unfamiliar human experience. Interesting that this voyage is reduced to a dream state by its conclusion at the end of Book VI. Communication with loved ones through dreams is a reported experience in modern dealings as well.

Roman

The triumph of Rome and the Empire! Civic pride expressed in family lineage, victory on the battlefield, and the extent of power is the fuel that runs the Roman empire. Vergil capitalizes on the opportunity to openly flatter Augustus and his rich heritage in Book VI. It was also probably not received as a cheesy sentiment to a Roman at the time as it may seem to you now. Can you think of a modern example of openly-expressed nationalism in the US?

Book V

Book V - Funeral Games for Anchises

Need to Know

• Just to refresh your memory, because it has been a while, Anchises is Aeneas father. Remember that Anchises put up a fight about staying in Troy because he didn't want to impede Aeneas' flight from the end of the siege of Troy. Anchises seems to have predict his own end, as Aeneas had to carry him from the house to the ships while fleeing Troy, probably resulting in the loss of Creusa, Aeneas' wife.
• Anchises read the Oracle offered in Book III, sending Aeneas and his fleet off to Crete where the supposed homeland of the Trojan race could be found. You probably remember how that ended, famine and plague and another trip out on the open sea. In many ways, he served as counsel to Aeneas throughout their journeys, interpreting omens, pouring libations, and building up the trust of Aeneas' men in the pre-destined success of their journey.
• Anchises passed away in Sicily, having endured the epic journey from Troy.  Remember that Aeneas concludes his telling of his travels in Dido's court by commemorating the death of his father, the last event in his journey before Juno's storm and his shipwreck on the shores of Carthage: Here, after all the blows of sea and storm I lost my father, my mainstay in every danger and defeat. Spent as I was, you left me here, Anchises, best of fathers, plucked from so many perils, all for nothing. Book III, ll.818-822.
• In Book V, Aeneas has the opportunity to commemorate his father once he makes landfall on Sicily once again, post-storm, post-Carthage, post-Dido. We get a sense for how long Aeneas has actually been stayed off his course while enjoying the married life in Carthage.  The games thrown in Anchises honor are held a year after his death, and are instated in as an annual tradition.
• Funerary games include events like boat racing, foot races, archery, javelin hurling, and boxing. Prizes are offered for the winners and feasting concludes the event.
• Yes. The Trojan women burned Aeneas' fleet. Juno made them do it. 
• It's Venus who goes to speak to Neptune as Aeneas' advocate.  She asks for Neptune's support in helping Aeneas survive the meddling ways of Juno.  Neptune agrees to work with Venus in support of Aeneas, but warns that this will cost Aeneas the loss of one life - we find out at the end of Book V, this is Palinurus, the helmsman, who falls off the mast of the ship while keeping watch.

Poem
How about the storytelling quality of the boxing scene?  It's our first play-by-play in the realm of action in the text, a vivid description.

Old but True
The loss of Aeneas' father kicks Aeneas into gear as leader and commander.  Gone are the days where Anchises can interpret the omens and help to conduct the expedition. Aeneas puts on the games, he makes the sacrifice, pours the libation, and presents the prizes. Watching a son step up into the role of his father, Iulus takes on new responsibilities in the family as well. He leads the cavalry display and accompanies his father in the rituals.

Roman
Funeral games - what a concept! All Greek and Roman games, including the Olympics, were dedicatory games, though typically offered in supplication to a deity, rather than an individual.

 

Book IV

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

I'm back in the US now, back with my computer (no more iPad keyboard!), which means these posts can come like rapid-fire now.  Apologies for the lag between posts, varying wifi signals proved to be more of an obstacle than I had expected.  On to the soap-opera style drama of Book IV!

Need to Know

• Anna and Dido have their heart-to-heart, not unlike sisters or close friends of any era might have, regarding what Dido should do about her feelings for Aeneas.  It is important to remember, however, that those this conversation has some familiar & universal-like qualities to it, that there is an awful lot of pressure on Dido, being Queen and all, to make the right choice both politically and strategically for the people of Carthage. Entering into a marriage with Aeneas would simultaneously marry the Phoenician and Trojan people, blending the two societies in the new city of Carthage.  Secondly, Dido needs to do some soul-searching about what is morally right in respect to her husband Sychaeus. Remember that we found out he had been murdered back in Phoenicia in a family feud, essentially forcing Dido to set out for a new land where she could make a new beginning. Her fear in falling for Aeneas is the disrespect that this would do to Sychaeus.  
• Dido goes for it.  She has a lot of pressure pushing her to follow her heart: Anna's encouragement, the powerful arrow of Cupid, and the conniving/dueling force of Juno and Venus who decide to team up in this instance in order to make this work.  The storm results in a night in the cave, which is as good as a marriage (if you know what I mean). 
• Remember Sychaeus, her deceased husband?  Turns out that she had been using his murder as an excuse to not get back into the game for some time, long enough, in fact, to push off other suitors in the surrounding area that were looking at North Africa's most eligible bachelorette.  Following through on her relationship with Aeneas REALLY rubs local king and suitor, Iarbas, who has been pursuing Dido for quite some time, the wrong way. Iarbas calls Aeneas "a second Paris" - the kind of guy who would just unlawfully snatch up someone's wife for his own interest and start the Trojan War over it. It just so happens that Iarbas is the son of Jupiter. Iarbas whines and Jupiter delivers.  Aeneas gets the kick in the pants he needs to get up and get back to his mission.
• This is all just too much for Dido.  Let's keep in mind though that this woman has been through a lot.  First there was the murder of Sychaeus, then there was her self-imposed refugee status, then the pushing off of numerous suitors in North Africa (despite her loneliness).  She finally gives into Aeneas, she opens herself up, and look what happened. She builds a pyre out of all of his belongings (classic), and eventually impales herself atop the pyre (serious dramatic effect).  Here's the aria from an opera that Henry Purcell wrote about the affair of Aeneas and Dido. If the tune sounds familiar, it was renamed and used as the theme to Band of Brothers on HBO. 
• There are parts of Book IV that are just plain heart-wrenching, and if there was ever any question that this poem captures human emotion that is old but true, well this would be the book that puts it all out there. Though dramatic, it's a well-known story in so many ways and poignant because of this familiarity.

Poem
Pick any dialogue in Book IV and run with it.  There are so many to choose from, whether it's Dido's honest confession to Anna and her honest response, or Aeneas' break-up with Dido, and the degree of disbelief and then anger with which she works through in her response. It would be great to perform Book IV in a dramatic reading - so much to go on and so accurately composed!

Old but True
I mentioned this earlier, but Book IV just happens to be chock-full of situations from a plot line in the majority of romances throughout the ages.  Part of me is left wondering who used Vergil's writing as inspiration for later romantic dramas (certainly Ovid, maybe Shakespeare, what about modern movies and novels?). The success comes from the elements of Book IV that are familiar and relatable, regardless of the surrounding circumstance of queen and kingdom, and the over-dramatic pyre suicide.  Isn't this what makes celebrity romances and break-ups so appealing to the masses, even in 2014? You've got the hype of the "power couple" and the consequence of the public eye, mixed with the entirely relatable & human experience of two people in love who then break things off. Captivating.

Roman
One thing that may be less relatable and more Roman to the modern reader is the role that the gods play in this human romance. Venus sent Cupid in with a love drug to break down her mental resolve in the first encounter between the two. Juno and Venus hatch the plan to marry Aeneas and Dido in the cave because it serves their mutual interest/investment in the two (Venus in Aeneas and Juno in Dido). Jupiter sends Mercury to launch Aeneas' ships and break things off once Iarbas whines. Mercury returns to Aeneas in a dream to remind him to get a move on when he begins to delay. All of this outside influence on a personal matter is exhausting! Certainly, Romans of Vergil's 1st century Rome did not expect that the gods were as concerned or involved with their own romantic relationships, but considering that there were deities and rituals and sanctuaries for lovers in the Roman religious tradition, certainly gods were involved on some level. What's different, perhaps, is the level of entertainment that gods seem to get out of Aeneas and Dido, as though they are watching a good drama unfold, but have the right to step in at anytime.

One more thing - here's a cool little bit of Latin that's often discussed in Book IV (there's actually a note in your text about it). In Mercury's warning to Aeneas, he says varium et mutabile semper, femina (ll.710-11) "variable and changeable always: a woman".  This detached commentary on feminine characteristics and emotions employs two neuter adjectives (varium and mutabile) to describe a feminine noun (femina).  In Latin, nouns and adjectives agree in gender, just like in Spanish or French.  Why the disagreement? Some believe that this choice is as good as a statement on Vergil's behalf that femina is equivalent to animal or a neuter "thing" - an object or a species so different from man that it is almost inhuman. Others see the choice of the neuter as a way to classify a type and avoid agreement that might be mis-read as adjectives describing this specific woman, Dido. Whatever the reason, it is intentional, and it's pretty cool that by reading the Latin text, you can see a nuance to the language like this that in the English text one probably passes over.  It's also interesting to think about how a translator might represent the intentional disagreement in translation, if he chooses to include it at all.

Book III

Book III

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

"Hoist our sails to fate!" In Book III, Aeneas details the many ports of call in his journey from Troy. Here's a map to help you get a sense for the dimension of his travels. It's quite an exhausting list of landfall and start-up civilizations gone wrong!

Need to Know

• Aeneas truly has no idea where he is intended to found this new settlement for displaced Trojans. Clearly. Creusa, in ghost form, mentioned Hesperian, but what's a name without any context. Book III is a record of his failed attempts to find his new home. The "epic" wandering is reminiscent of another epic odyssey, The Odyssey, or the story of Odysseus' homecoming. The two journeys even parallel at some of the same rest stops along the way, encountering the Harpies and Polyphemus the Cyclops right after one another. I wonder if Aeneas spotted any Odysseus was here graffiti.
• You probably noticed that prophecy plays a large role in Aeneas' quest. What are some of the omens, oracles, and rites undertaken in a Book III and what impression does this give you of traditional Roman beliefs?
• Anchises gets Apollo's prophecy wrong when he guesses Crete, the home of ancestor Teucer, rather than Italy, the land of the second Trojan parent, Dardanus. The Trojans are sometimes referred to as Dardans and it's partially Juno's longstanding grudge against Dardanus that inspires the storm in Book I. Dardanus is the love child of Jupiter and Electra - good reason to be despised by the queen of the gods, Juno.
• Aeneas has the chance to catch up with Andromache, the former wife of great Trojan Hero, Hector, who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan War. After the war, Andromache was taken as part of Pyrrhus' bounty. Pyrrhus, remember, was the ruthless son of Achilles who slaughtered King Priam in Book II. The good news, Pyrrhus had it coming and was offed by Orestes, Agamemnon's son. That's another story. Andromache is now married to Helenus, a prince of Troy, who inspires Aeneas with his "little Troy" built on the Greek mainland. 

Poetry

I love "scudding on buoyant hulls thorough wastes of ocean" around ll.230. I can hear the endless blue waves as the prow of the ship breaks them. Consider the many allusions to the Odyssey in Book III. What does it do for the work to condense the journey into one book?

Old but True

Andromache's gifts for Ascanius in memory of her son Astyanax - old but true. Having lost her own son, she cherishes the sight of Ascanius, who was almost the same age as Astyanax and has a similar look about him. Losing a child in the ancient world was just as painful of an experience, despite the detachment suggested by research on population-depleting plagues and infant & childhood mortality rates nearing 75%. Andromache's longing for her son left in Troy is a good reminder of this.

Roman
Lots of superstition in Book III. We've got burial rites, oracles, omens, libations, votive gifts, and honorary Trojan games. What do you think it would be like to live under this tradition? How do the characters act to the performance and outcome of these rites?

Book II

Book II

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

You may have noticed that Book I opened in the middle of an action scene - shipwrecked disaster for Aeneas and his men. This mid-action story telling technique is termed in media res, "in the middle of the matter". The technique is a great hook for a storyteller, it gets the reader involved in a conflict from the very beginning and builds interest in a resolution. In Book II, Dido convinces Aeneas to tell his story to her dinner crowd, a perfect opportunity for the storyline to catch the up to the point we've entered in media res.

Need to Know

• Aeneas is telling the story of the sack of Troy from his perspective, that of a Trojan noble man. The Iliad recounts events prior to the fall of Troy and The Odyssey references the Trojan horse that Odysseus devised, but this telling of the actual sack of the city from a Trojan perspective is unique to The Aeneid. It is possible that a third epic, a telling of these events, was extant at the time Vergil wrote The Aeneid, giving him a source to borrow from, but the text no longer survives.
• The Greeks are represented as cunning tricksters throughout the telling. If you've read The Odyssey, you know that Odysseus is famous for his ability to outsmart sad his wily nature. Sinon's deceit and the treachery of the Trojan Horse are less admirable and overall ruinous from the Trojan perspective. At one point, Aeneas is faced with the choice to adopt treachery as a strategy when he is presented with the opportunity to dress in agrees armor during the heat of the battle. His decision-making process further confirms His reluctance to "give in" to a Greek strategy, perhaps because he considers these actions outside of the rules of engagement.
• The twin snakes attacking Trojan priest Laocoon and his sons - woah. I'd be superstitious too. Remember that Laocoon is the one to speak the famous line, "Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, especially bearing gifts." He totally called it.
• Pyrrhus/Neoptolemus is Achilles' son. He ruthlessly kills Priam, the King of Troy, in his inner court. Priam's exchange with his wife and his feeble attempt to defend himself and the honor of Troy are indicative of the weary end of a ten year besiegement.
• Creusa, Aeneas' Trojan wife, is somehow lost and left behind in the family's escape. Iulus/Ascanius (same son, two names) and Anchises, Aeneas father come with Aeneas. The loss of Creusa, though terribly sad, in some way grants permission to Aeneas for a future life in a new land and the marriage alliance that will make this integration successful.

Poetry
How about foreshadowing in Book II? There is plenty of ground work laid for later events in the text. The prophecy of Iulus' head on fire and Creusa's ghost propel Aeneas forward. The retelling of a well-known story (to all first century and many twenty-first century readers), creates a nice dramatic irony where the audience knows what will happen before the events are told by the story teller, and perhaps before the story teller himself fully realizes their implications.

Old but True
Family relationships, father/son & husband/wife, play out in the emotionally charged moments recalled in Book II. Hecuba's feeble attempts to dissuade Priam from acting in pride, Anchises debate with Aeneas, and Creusa's hectic fear and parting message (in ghost form), present a relatebale pathos or emotional appeal that may have left you feeling sympathetic. What did you notice about these family dialogues? What seemed to transcend time and what did not?

Roman
How about all of this prophecy? You've got soothsayers, priests, rituals, ghosts, burning halos - you name it, Book II probably has it (more to come in Book III). What's the reason for all of this? Where does prophecy come from and how does it gain legitimacy? What are superstitions or prophecies that exist today? Why do people choose to believe in them, should they believe?

Book I

Dear SM Summer Reading Group,

Hopefully by this point you've had the opportunity to start reading and are well on your way. I wanted to point out a few things about Book I.

Need to Know

• Aeneas is Trojan. He fled the city if Troy once the Greeks took it after a ten year siege. Clever Greek Odysseus snuck Greeks within the walls of Troy with his Trojan Horse. Aeneas and his men barely got out in time (more about that in Book II).
• Juno brought on the storm that kicks off the action. She's miffed that she has been unable to prevent Aeneas from reestablishing the Trojan race in Italy. She is a supporter of the Greeks and the city of Carthage. Athena got to punish Ajax, why can't Juno punish Aeneas (ll.50)?
• The goddess Venus is Aeneas' mother. That's why she comes to help him when he lands in Carthage. She's in disguise and he does not know that the young huntress with whom he is speaking is actually his mother until she leaves. She's kind of helicopter momming in Book I especially with the quick total make-overs that she does for Aeneas and his son Iulus/Ascanius. She's just trying to be helpful.
• Dido is the Queen of Carthage. In fact, she's building Carthage right now (ll.520). Dido originally fled from Tyre in the Levant (Phoenicia) to found Carthage in North Africa. Does that fated quest sound familiar? What a good person for Aeneas to get to know at this point in his journey...

Poetry
What have you noticed about the style of the writing now that you have begun reading? Any favorite lines or passages? How about the similes? Did you catch those? What is being compared?

Old but True
What stuck out to you as relatable human experience? You probably have not been sent on an epic quest to found a new city yet (not sure about the incoming students in our group), but have you ever thought that something in your life was just "meant to be"? What role does fate, destiny, or design have in your life, if any? How about Aeneas as a leader? Is he human or is he epic? Does he have traits that we might hope for in a leader in the modern sense of the role? Does he have flaws?

Roman
Jupiter/Jove comforts Venus by reading her the fate that has been spun for Aeneas and the Trojan people. He tells her that their race, their family line, the Roman people, will be limitless in space and time (ll.233). It's hard not to think about the fact that this prophecy, written by Vergil in the 1st century AD, was either commemorating achievement or setting an expectation for the city and it's people. What are your initial impressions of the Roman tradition? What does it mean to be Roman and from where might this feeling come?

You've also had a great introduction to some of the major Roman gods in Book I (Juno, Neptune, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury). What do you think about them? How does an artifact of "mainstream" Roman culture represent divinity? How might a Roman reader think of these gods?

Welcome to the SM Summer Reading Group: Vergil's Aeneid!

Salvete Summer Reading Group,

First of all, I just wanted to applaud you on your decision to read the Aeneid this summer.  Epic choice! Hopefully you have your copy of Fagles translation by now, and if you don't, please try an pick up this specific translation.  It comes with a couple of different cover designs, but as long as it says "translated by Robert Fagles" on the cover page, you have the right one. I like this translation the best for the maps and notes in the back, but most of all for the way in which Robert Fagles translates the Latin text. He does a great job keeping things accurate to the way the text reads in Latin, without losing all of the beauty of the poetry. Speaking of which, I wanted to make sure that you are keeping a couple of things in mind as you start reading because I think it will improve your experience:

1) The Aeneid is a poem
I know. Hard to believe when you think about how long it is.  You're holding it right now, right? This thing has some weight. This isn't your cute little rhyming selection.  This is a twelve book epic poem. You'll notice that it doesn't rhyme, and it actually doesn't have to, because it was written according to a specific rhythm or meter. Every line has a certain pattern of long and short vowel sounds that, when read aloud, give it a kind of drum beat sound.  The last five syllables always went dum-diddy-dum-dum. Think of it almost like rap lyrics spoken to a beat. The lyrics don't always have to rhyme in order to fit together from one line to the next, but rather, the flow needs to fit the beat.  Meter is the beat. The words are the lyrics. The flow is when the lyrics riff off the beat, riff off the meter.  That's good rap and that's good metrical poetry.

2) The Aeneid is a Latin poem
Yup. Fagles translated all twelve books from the original Latin. You won't be reading the Latin, unless you want to (available online for free here), but it's important to keep in mind that what you're reading is a translation of an original text.  Translating is a difficult job.  What do you keep and what do you change? How much fluency do you loose for the sake of accuracy? How do you account for the sound and style of one language in another language? If you are curious, feel free to flip through another translation to see how Fagles compares to Fitzgerald or Lombardo.

Latin literature is a great tool for interpreting Roman culture. In fact, you're reading ancient Roman culture. Vergil was considered to be something like the poet laureate of Rome. The Aeneid was the national epic, a story about the earliest ancestors of Rome and the blended culture of myth, geography, and heroes that this civilization based it's foundation in.  The poem was written in the earliest years of the Roman Empire (great brief summary in the first two pages of the introduction of the text), the dawn of a new era. Rome, at this point, stretched well beyond the city and surrounding countryside of Italy and into central and Western Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia Minor to the East.

3) The Aeneid is an old Latin poem
Like I just mentioned, the poem was written by Vergil in the very beginning of the Roman Empire.  This text is over 2,000 years old.  Sometimes, I need to stop and think about how old that really is and all of the ways in which the world has changed and developed since the text was written.  At the same time, it's something of a comfort to trace the human elements of the interactions between characters and their response to the circumstances that they find themselves in. Sure, the text is 2,000 years old, but think about how much has actually stayed the same.  Human response, motivation, virtue is fairly consistent, which never fails to amaze me.

As you read, I'd like you to think about the fact that this is an old Latin poem.  Enjoy the text for the beauty of the poetry.  Mark one passage that you just really love, for the image it conveys, the symbolism it calls to mind, or even the beauty of the way the language  is arranged.  As though you were reading an autobiography or a primary source, enjoy the way in which the story can inform us about the culture of Rome and Roman identity at the very time that these concepts were being defined. Reflect on some component of the text that furthered your understanding of this ancient culture.  Finally, keep in mind that though this poem is old, I mean, really really old, enjoy the way in which it exposes elements of the human experience that are seemingly universal and transcend time. Pick out one part of the text that felt this way you to you, something that you can relate to in 2014 and be prepared to talk about it when we get back together in September to discuss our summer reading.  

Most of all, enjoy reading The Aeneid because it's just a plain old good story and who doesn't like to read something like that?

Best,
Ms. Cook