Book 6 Reflection

I'm almost halfway through!! Just have to finish this blogpost:D

When Aeneas and Sibyl first get to the underworld, they encounter monsters. These monsters, such as heartbreak, sorrow, terror, hunger, senility, and diseases are all things that ruin lives. I thought about them and what they meant, and I realized, all of these monsters could blur the lines of morality. They are all terrible things to encounter in life, but they are a part of it, meant to test us at out weakest. Morals don't seem to exist in the afterlife, and my guess is because it's the place of judgement. Humans get their chance to chose right from wrong on Earth, and where they reside in the underworld depends on how they have lived their lives. Although it is unfair to doom someone to suffering for eternity (and maybe not moral for the person doing the dooming), it's a consequence for bad choices on Earth. The rules of the underworld make me wonder also whether the force that created it had any morals. Leaving unburied souls to just stand around and wait for judgement is unjust and borderline cruel, but I suppose it makes sense because their lives in a new place cannot begin until their lives in the old place end. This is why I like the topic of morals so much. It's all based on opinion, and sometimes, very difficult to understand.

Fate is integrated into so many parts of the book, it's actually getting hard to keep track of all of them. The first thing I noticed and thought was the most interesting was the golden bough incident. Although Sibyl says that it will come away easily if fate permits, Aeneas struggles with it before it comes loose. What I made of this was that Aeneas took the bough too early. He was fated to get the bough, but because he took it earlier than fate expected, the bough struggled against him, but still gave way to him. Possibly because the burial of Misenus was not complete yet. A question I had about fate was, is it the "violent but random force that ripped" Palinurus away from the ship (349)? It was not fair that he had to die so quickly, but fate doesn't always work in fair ways, and Palinurus states that it was not an action of the gods. Speaking of gods, the statement Sibyl makes on page 140, about fate being once spoken by gods, I wonder what that means. But she also says that it cannot be altered by prayer, which shows that fate is set in stone before life begins and is stronger than the god's power. When Anchises is showing Aeneas the future of Rome, the reader can see there also that fate is set before life begins because Anchises knows what the men will do before they are even bodies on Earth. I am starting to wonder what Virgil believes determines fate, and also what force has the ultimate power over every being. I hope that the rest of the book can give me a hint to those answers, because without them, there is only so much you can understand about fate.

Apollo, or Phoebus is the first god we encounter in this book, because he is the god of prophecy (along with other things as well). His seer, Sibyl, has the ability, through him, to reveal what fate has planned for the future to help whomever seeks her. He is a big name throughout the epic because he is the god of prophecy, and can foresee what fate has planned for them, which could help big-time with their journey. Venus, Aeneas's mother again steps in to help him in a time of need by sending her two doves to lead Aeneas to the bough. In a way, her actions might seem small and useless, but she saved Aeneas a lot of time in searching for the bough, and she never hurt anyone while intervening on Earth (different from other gods we've encountered). Although Venus is portrayed as a very kind-hearted goddess, when I read about Tartarus, and how gods punish wrongdoers, I couldn't help but wonder if she simply covers up her wrath for her son's sake. Certainly, the goddess of love must be capable of extreme hatred as well (seeing as the emotions are so deeply connected)? Tartarus serves as a way of reminding the reader that although fate may control the gods, gods are still in control of humans and can damn them to eternal suffering. However, I suppose it could be looked at differently based on the viewpoint. The people in Tartarus probably have committed awful crimes, and deserve to be punished, making the gods act as peacekeepers. It's all perception. Everything is perception.

Love and death are brought together in this book, as we can see that it is still present, even in the underworld. This shows that love (or hate) is so strong, it continues beyond death. The heartbreak area in the afterlife was funny to me, because it wasn't something that I expected. It reminded me of a never-ending sleepover where girls cry over all of their boy troubles (even though I know that's a funny picture). I wonder why all of the heartbroken souls are placed together, and I also wonder if they are ever allowed to leave their section. Wounds heal over time, but are these souls damned to be in pain forever? That's awful. Dido, still "fresh from her wound" absolutely refuses to acknowledge Aeneas, proving how strong her loathing for him is (451). I figured I should take about hate in this paragraph as well, because love and hate are as close to brother and sister as words get (which is funny because I used to think they were opposites, and I guess in a way I think they still are). Love and hate can inspire a person to do a lot of things they might not do without the presence of these emotions, and they are the best examples of passion the world has. For example, Aeneas journeying to the underworld alone was quite a feat, and he may not have had the courage to go through with it without the love he has for his father. Anchises recognizes what love can do, and by "[kindling] love for the glory to come"in Aeneas's life, he has further excited Aeneas's passion to follow his fate (889). This book really shows how strong love is and how it's burning passion can drive a person to do almost anything.

Sibyl and Dido are the only two women that I will mention from this book, and I'll start with Sibyl. She's pretty inspirational and simply radiating independence. She is also very matter-of-fact and no-nonsense, and shows no fear at entering the underworld Furthermore, Sibyl acting "monstrous" when Apollo is within her almost seems as if she is rejecting his control and fighting him; however, that doesn't make any sense because she does not show any signs of contempt towards Apollo when it is over (77). Maybe it is overwhelming for her body to be possessed by a god, even for such a short time. That makes a little more sense. Oh my goodness! It's like Apollo and Daphne! I'm sure it'd probably be more obvious in the latin text, but Apollo being inside of Sibyl as she acts like that seems to me like rape. I wonder if it's described that way in the latin. Okay, onto Dido. Her hate/love obviously goes with her even into her afterlife, making her treat Aeneas so cruelly even when "fate gives [him] this last chance to address" her (466). This just shows that Virgil understands how strong a woman's will can be and what great grudge holders they are! I don't think I'm liking the women topic as much as I originally was, and I'm not sure why, but I'll keep examining them to see if my interest returns again.

Now, I know I haven't been writing about this one for every book, but I feel like the Aeneid in Augustan Rome is a little too obvious in this book not to mention. Virgil takes the reader through the history of Rome, putting special emphasis on Octavian (or Augustus). This isn't any kind of discreet message to Rome. He's praising Augustus as ruler of Rome. Virgil also mentions the Alba kings and the story of Romulus and Remus, giving a nice little summary of how Rome came to be. Of course the history is somewhat glorified, Virgil is probably giving his audience a reason to be proud of where they come from and how their city came to be. He also sneaks in a few patriotic sayings such as "other loves yield before love of one's homeland," and "you, who are Roman, recall how to govern mankind with your power," (823, 851). A reader would understand why this was such a cherished book in Roman literature, and why Augustus praised it so much.