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.