Aeneas: a Most Unheroic Hero?

Philip Reynor March 2006

Aeneas: The Most Unheroic of Heroes?

Philip Thomas Reynor_____________________________________________________________________

Virgil’s characterization of Aeneas is complex and intricate. If

we examine this characterization as a movement or progression out

of one sphere of social ideals and into another, the question as to

the heroism of Aeneas can be formulated with more clarity leading

to a clear and distinct exposition of the relationship between

Aeneas and the heroic ideals in question. When Aeneas leaves the

conflagration of Troy he is unconsciously stepping away from the

heroic Homeric ideal and slowly moving towards his destiny and a

new heroic Roman ideal. This transformation movement is not

simple or smooth, in fact, as Adam Parry outlined, the movement is

laden with suffering1. In order to transform successfully Aeneas

must face manifold challenges that hinder - possibly regressing or

even preventing the transformation. However, these same

challenges are the catalyst for the transformation itself without

which Aeneas may have remained confused and unsure in the limbo

of the Homeric ideal.

Firstly, it is necessary to demonstrate the values inherent to

the Homeric hero. Commencing with the heroic ethos from which

the movement begins and holding it as a standard from which to

make future judgements, we can then gauge the progressive

transformation of Aeneas from an individual hero to a pious

humanistic hero. The ethos of the hero, in the Iliad and Odyssey,

maintains his standing in society; he must display his aretê and

prove that he is a worthy agathos the consequences of failure being

1 Parry, A; ‘The Two Voices of Virgil’s Aeneid’; p.107-123.

1


loss of kleos or tîmê on one hand and slavery or annihilation on the

other, merits do not lie in mere intentions. Success in this arena

bringing with it kleos esthlon and, as Graham Zanker points out,

the only type of immortality the Homeric hero can aspire to –

eternal life in public on the lips of men and women2. As we see

Achilleus vigorously testifying to Odysseus that when you fail to

grant tîmê to one who deserves it then ‘coward and hero are

honoured alike’3 this is the key piece to the arch of the heroic

society without which heroes loose their raison d’être, and thus a

strong motivation for individualism of the Homeric hero4. The

qualities the Homeric hero aspires to are now clear but it is also

clear that aspiring to these qualities will not aid, and may hamper

the hero Aeneas as he faces unique emotional and intellectual

challenges.

The progressive transformation is evident from Book 1

onwards. Homer has already fated Aeneas to become king of the

Trojans5 and as Bowra comments ‘as such Homer described him,

and as such he remains in the Aeneid.’6 The heroism of the Homeric

epics has been inherited in ‘The Aeneid’. However, for Virgil the

hero with Homeric qualities alone is lacking and this lack is evident

from the first moment we meet Aeneas - caught in a raging storm,

sent by Juno, as he leaves Sicily on the final leg of his voyage to

Italy. Surprisingly, he is terrified. Now Aeneas is still strongly

clinging onto the Homeric ideal, resultantly we see a man torn

between two worlds, a broken and desolate leader who has

difficulty coping with the situation and prays to have fallen at the

2 Zanker, G; ‘The Heart of Achilles: Characterization and Personal Ethics in the Iliad’; p.12 “…the glory of success, prestige, authority, dignity, high rank…can result in kleos, ‘fair fame’ which will be public, and which will provide the only form of immortality to which the Iliadic hero can aspire”.3 Homer; ‘The Iliad’; Trans: Hammond, M; Book 9: 318-19.4 The individual hero who is striving for personal glory is personified for example in the actions of Diomedes in Book 5 of the Iliad when he even attacks and wounds the gods themselves.5 Homer; ‘The Iliad’; Book 20, lines 308-9: Poseidon remarks that ‘… the mighty Aineias will be king over the Trojans, and his children’s children born in future time.’ While just prior to this Achilles asks Aeneas, ‘Does your heart urge you to fight me in the hope that you will take Priam’s royal position over the horse taming Trojans’.6 Bowra, C. M; ‘Aeneas and the Stoic Ideal’, p.209.

2


hands of Diomede under the walls of Troy.7 Simply put, aspirations

towards kleos will not resolve this situation. Yet, because of these

challenges, he also progresses away from this ideal and thus we

first meet not a super-human hero but a brave man at the limits of

his endurance after seven years of wandering. Virgil here

illuminates the progression of Aeneas as, in his encouraging

speech, ‘he showed them (his companions) the face of hope and

kept his misery deep in his heart.’8 The movement is clear, as he no

longer wails to the stars for death but stoically subdues his

emotions in order to generate hope for his followers. In contrast to

Odysseus, we see why Aeneas must begin to move from the

Homeric sphere. Firstly, unlike Odysseus, Aeneas has no home to

return to, and furthermore, in order to settle a new home he needs

to reach his promised land with all his companions alive, a task that

Odysseus fails to accomplish. Secondly, Aeneas must progress from

Homeric individualism; he must be a social man, a man who

succeeds in bringing his people safely to Italy and ensuring the

legacy of his people. Aeneas is no longer on a Homeric quest for

kleos esthlon and Virgil demonstrates this by the frequent epithet

he gives his hero – pious, meaning dutiful, responsible and devoted

to others. The new ideal Aeneas must aspire is humanistic and

moral.

A progressive transformation continues throughout the poem.

We read a similar incident in the second book, where Aeneas

ignores Hectors advice to ‘escape…save yourself from these

flames… Look for a great city to establish.’9 Aeneas, stubborn in his

Homeric quest for noble death, ‘mindlessly’10 rushes out to face the

enemy. Only after witnessing Polites death does his mind

momentarily sway to his responsibility for his own father and

family, however, he regresses once more at the sight of Helen and 7 Virgil, ‘The Aeneid’; Book 1, lines 96-99.8 Ibid, lines 208-209.9 Ibid, Book 2, lines 289-296.10 Ibid, line 317.

3


the ‘praise’ he would win for ‘blotting out this evil’.11 This time it

takes divine Venus to wrench Aeneas from his bygone ideals and

guide him where Hector had previously attempted and failed. Yet

he still regresses for the third time; at the sight of his father

Anchises bound to the destruction of Troy and Aeneas, once more,

dons his armour only to be guided, once more, by a divine miracle

and a divine sign.12 At this, we witness further progression and are

given a symbol of the burden of social responsibility that Aeneas

carries - as he lifts his father Anchises, carrying the household

gods, onto his shoulders and makes his way out of his Homeric

past, out of Troy. The hero faces emotional challenges and, as

demonstrated, has difficulty in surmounting them. He swerves from

one ideal to another giving us the appearance of an indecisive weak

leader. Nevertheless, the hero meets the challenge and progresses

in the right direction.

This constant regression in order to urge forward progression

is a stoical13 theme in the first half of Virgil’s poem. In the Book 3,

Aeneas endures and surmounts diverse dangers in the search for

his new home – in Thrace, Crete, the Strophedes Islands, Sicily and

finally, with death of his father Anchises. Subsequently, Aeneas

begins his sorry affair with Dido and in the process forgets his

mission and his duty altogether, regressing once again from Roman

ideals. Again, he needs divine guidance to facilitate his

progression, to shake him from his slumber and urge him to face

the emotional challenges of abandoning Dido (representing

voluptas or passion)14 for duty, abandoning individual satisfaction

once again and moving toward pious ideals. Some may view Aeneas

11 Ibid, line 585.12 The miracle is the flame that rises above the head of Iulus without doing him any harm. The sign is a falling star, which flies above the home of Aeneas and lands in the woods of Mount Ida.13 Stoics believed that the development of the virtuous man was a result of facing trials, whether one fails them or not.14 Significantly, he is here compared by Iarbas to a ‘second Paris’ (4.217), as effeminate with ‘a Maeonian bonnet tied under his chin…enjoying what he has stolen’ (4.216-7). The affair of Paris and Helen played a major part in the fall of Troy and, similarly, if Aeneas follows the path of Paris Rome may never be founded. Cicero himself holds voluptas as a vice (Leg I, 31-32).

4


as inhuman in his treatment of Dido however, as David Feeney

illustrates ‘anything he might say will be inadequate after a speech

such as Dido’s’15, concurrently, following any other path of action

leads to regression,16 thus, there is only one choice Aeneas can

make and he shows true quality in making it. If we examine the

Roman ideal of wisdom, expounded by Cicero as ‘the knowledge of

what should be done and what should be avoided’17, in the context

of this episode Cicero would agree that Aeneas is behaving wisely,

a quality essential to leadership. In addition, he is displaying

another Roman virtue: temperantia in turning his back on the

wealth of Carthage.18 In Sicily, once more, we note a regression

and see Aeneas at his lowest point as he considers abandoning his

quest altogether after the burning of four of his ships. Anchises

comes to his rescue, as he did when faced with plague and famine

in Crete, and with his words stamps Aeneas’ resolve to sail for

Italy.

After his visit to the Underworld, we see a new man in

Aeneas. His movement has finally been secured and the hero sheds

his Homeric skin on landing in Italy and lifts ‘onto his shoulders the

fame and fate of his descendants.’19 Aeneas is no longer looking

backwards and Virgil firmly marks this from Book 7 onwards. In the

Underworld, Aeneas finally says farewell to the past and the ideals

of the Homeric hero. Firstly, to the helmsman Palinurus

symbolising a farewell to wandering20, then Dido as a farewell to

15 Feeney, D; ‘The Taciturnity of Aeneas’; p. 184.16 It may be argued that Aeneas’ covert departure is a sign of his callous nature and move away from humanistic ideals. Contrary to this, we could argue that Aeneas is showing quality leadership, a true Roman ideal and a pious one at that, a secret departure is to the benefit of his men and himself as Dido could easily capture and kill them thus jeopardizing Rome’s future.17 Cicero, ‘De Officiis’, I, 153.18 We also see this theme of ‘power in poverty’ (6.844-5) in Book 6 in the parade of future Romans, and in Book 8 in the words of Evander ‘you too must have the courage to despise wealth’ (8.366-7). Cicero also holds temperance as a virtue, and believed intemperance resulted in a diseased soul (De Off, III, 32).19 Virgil, ‘The Aeneid’, Book 8, lines 731-732.20 Ibid, Book 6, lines 337-385.

5


love21 and finally Deiphobus as a farewell to Troy22 and it is no

coincidence that following this he is granted a glimpse at the great

Romans of the future. Significantly, Anchises greets Aeneas in Book

6 with the words, ‘I knew your devotion would prevail over the

rigour of your journey’23, indicating that Aeneas has overcome his

challenges and progressed finally into the Roman ideal.

The heroism of Aeneas is set in motion when Virgil drives him

on an arduous transition for the welfare of his people. By

surpassing challenges that cannot even be addressed by the

Homeric ethos, he progressively becomes a new generation of

hero, one that adheres to the ideals of a new society, an evolved

hero. Aeneas represents a man who by facing and surpassing

challenges becomes a better man, a man who can deal with

complex emotional and intellectual issues. From the moment he

lands on Italian soil, we see a constantly decisive, wise,

courageous, temperate and pious man not some individual

attempting to display his aretê to secure kleos esthlon or selfish

glory at any cost. Cicero tells us that we should attempt ‘to make

the interest of each individual and the body politic identical. For, if

the individual appropriates to selfish ends what should be devoted

to the common good, all human fellowship will be destroyed.’24 The

benchmark of heroism in ‘The Aeneid’ is not a Homeric one,

heroism itself is progressing with Aeneas, and therefore he cannot

be judged by Homeric standards, Virgil carries the Homeric

individual, glory seeking hero, into ‘The Aeneid’ and realises that if

real human challenges are to be met these ideals must be

abandoned. A social hero has arisen, a man of the people, for the

people.

21 Ibid, lines 451-478.22 Ibid, 494-547.23 Ibid, line 686-687. This is significant as it is the first words of the only conversation between Aeneas and Anchises in the whole of the poem. 24 Cicero, ‘De Officiis’, III, 26.

6


Bibliography:

Primary sources:

Cicero (1967). On Moral Obligation: De Officiss. Trans:

Higginbotham, J. Faber and Faber L.T.D (London).

Homer (1987). The Iliad. Trans: Hammond, M. Penguin (London).

Homer (1991). The Odyssey. Trans: Rieu, E. V. Penguin (London).

Virgil (1990). The Aeneid. Trans: West, D. Penguin (London).

7


Secondary Sources:

Bowra, C. M. (1933/34). Aeneas and the Stoic Ideal. Virgil: Critical

Assessments by Classical Authors’; Volume 3, p.204-217. Ed:

Hardie, P. (London 1999).

Feeney, D. (1983). The Taciturnity of Aeneas. Virgil: Critical



Galinsky, K. (1988) The Anger of Aeneas. Virgil: Critical



Putnam, M. C. J. The Hesitation of Aeneas. Virgil: Critical



8

Aeneas: a Most Unheroic Hero?

Documents

Transcript of Aeneas: a Most Unheroic Hero?