The Aeneid- the role of the gods. (The Aeneid - Virgil)

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Product:	The Aeneid - Virgil
Date:	28/01/01 (413 review reads)
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Advantages: The gods enhance the story greatly

Disadvantages: They give an unbeleivable edge to it

The gods are very important to this story. Without the gods’ intervention, the story would merely be about Aeneas’s quest for a new home in Italy. There would be no mention of Dido or Carthage and it would be a very uneventful trip to the future site of Rome.
One of the most important gods in this story is Venus. She is Aeneas’s mother, so she has his best interests at heart. When Aeneas is in Troy, Venus appears to him and tells him to get out while he can. This action saves Aeneas life, and gives him a feeling of good luck that he uses to his own advantage. He feels like he is invincible. She directs Aeneas to Carthage in the guise of a huntress. She also is responsible for making Aeneas and Achates invisible, so they could enter Carthage undetected. The majority of things that Venus does for Aeneas help him and give him a greater chance of survival and of completing his mission to found Rome. One thing that Venus does do to Aeneas that turns out to be detrimental to his chances, is to make Aeneas more attractive to Dido. It was always going to be bad if Aeneas had any ties in Carthage, because it would result in him being reluctant to leave. Venus does this with the best intentions, to keep Aeneas alive and to allow him to found Rome. Yet she does not realise the effects that she will have on the life of Dido. To make Dido fall totally in love with Aeneas, Venus sent Cupid down to entrance her. Although Cupid only has a tiny role in this play, his actions are very important. If Dido had not fallen in love with Aeneas, then it would have been very easy for Aeneas to leave Carthage and Dido would not have felt that she had to kill herself. She may have been attracted to him because Venus had made him appear very handsome to her, but nothing more.
Another goddess is Juno, without whom there would be no story at all. She was always against the Trojans ever since Paris chose Venus above her in the beauty contest. As she was a god she could se
e into the future, and she could tell that Aeneas would be the founder of Rome and that one day his descendants would come and destroy Carthage. For these reasons, Juno disliked Aeneas greatly. She ordered Aeolus to start the storm that blew Aeneas off his course to North Africa. Her intentions were that Aeneas should die in the sea and never reach the site of Rome. If the storm hadn’t happened Aeneas would never have got to Carthage and met Dido. However, when the storm started, Neptune, the god of the sea, noticed and was angry that a storm had been started without his consent. He calmed the seas and made it easy for Aeneas to land in Carthage.
Juno eventually hatches a scheme that lets Dido and Aeneas marry. She does this so that Aeneas will never leave Troy, and will stay in Carthage forever. Venus only lets Dido and Aeneas marry because she knows that the marriage won’t last. She can see into the future and she only allows them to marry to get temporary peace from Juno. However, in order for the two to marry, they must consult Jupiter, because it is a change of fate. Juno says that she will ask for Jupiter’s permission, but in truth she doesn’t because she thinks that it is unnecessary. So when Dido and Aeneas get married, both Juno and Venus believe that they are properly married along with Dido, but Aeneas is the only one who thinks otherwise. In order for Aeneas to stay married to Dido forever, it would result in a change of fate. Jupiter must check any changes of fate. This is why the couple break up, because fate decreed it.
Another god who has an effect on the story is Apollo, who makes a prophecy that tells Aeneas more about where he must go to found his new city, Italy. His prophecy helps Aeneas and gives him confidence in his struggle. Apollo is a minor character but he helps Aeneas a lot by renewing his self-belief.
The gods are very important to the story line of this tale, and without their presence, the history o
f Aeneas would be very dull.

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