Fate Fate And Fate In Virgils Aeneid - 1637 Words

Virgil’s Aeneid, tells the story of Aeneas, the hero and object of fate who is also well known for fitting every description of a classic epic hero. He is of noble and supernatural birth, he faces and successfully overcomes temptations, and he acts as the vessel the gods wish him to be. Although Aeneas frequently makes his own life decisions, it can still be argued that no single aspect of his life was untouched by fate, predictions, or prophecy. Fate directs the main course of action as the gods and goddesses compete with one another in order to see their desired outcome. In the Aeneid, fate is an all-powerful force. While characters do have the free will to resist their destiny, it is also common knowledge that what fate decrees†¦show more content†¦Virgil most commonly wrote in past tense, but he chose future tense for prophecy and prediction. When we find Virgil in control of the narration, the point of view not only includes man’s story, but the actions of the gods as well. Aeneas, in his own storytelling, does not have the access to the gods’ perspedtive and therefore must relate events only from his own perspective. The suffering of wanderers seems to be a recurring theme in The Aeneid as does the primacy of fate. The first half of the poem tells of the Trojans’ wanderings as they journey from their city of Troyo to Italy. The culture highly valued geographic location and familial loy alty, and firmly believed that a homeland is one’s source of identity. As homelessness was thought to imply instability pertaining to both a man’s situation and identity, it was a great form of suffering in and of itself. Next we see that the destination and direction of Aeneas’ course are preordained, and his glories in battle and at sea along with his many sufferings over the course of the epic merely serve to postpone his destiny. The power of fate stands far above the power of the gods. The will of Jupiter, most powerful of the Olympians, is what this is often associated with. The disturbances in Aeneas’s life by the gods of lesser power, do not significantly affect the overall outcome of events because theShow MoreRelatedEssay on Fate of the Passionate in Virgils Aeneid1176 Words   |  5 Pages Virgil’s The Aeneid, to this day, remains one of the most influential epics to ever grace the merciless limitations of manuscript, inspiring, in pop culture as well as literature, an onslaught of themes, mythology, values, and the general sense of what a hero must be-or do- in order to overcome the obstacles of the gods and man. Written somewhere between 29 and 19 BC, consisting of twelve books (although never completely finished), The Aeneid takes us through the turbulentRead MoreEssay The Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The Aeneid1513 Words   |  7 PagesThe Role of the Gods and Fate in Virgils The Aeneid Are the deeds of mortal characters in the Aeneid controlled by the gods or by fate? Aeneas must fulfill the will of the gods, while enduring the wrath of other gods, all the while being a worthy predecessor of Augustus and founder of the Roman people. Of course, the Trojan is successful because he gives himself up to these other obligations, while those who resist the will of the gods, Dido and Turnus, die sad deaths. Juno, the queen ofRead MoreThe Aeneid By Virgil Aeneid1689 Words   |  7 PagesVirgil’s Aeneid was written in a time of political and social transition in Rome, which influenced the epic poem in a political way. 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In The Iliad, the men and gods are a driving power of the Trojan War, as are the men and gods a driving power of Aeneas’s journey in The Aeneid, but there is a stronger power driving Aeneas on his journey. It is the same power to which the characters of The Iliad are subject, and t hat is the power of fate. In The Aeneid the men and