Book 7 Reflection

To be completely honest, I didn't much like book 7. I don't even know why.

My favorite part of the book was Allecto, so I suppose I'll start with divine intervention. Juno once again recruits another being to do her dirty work, but she's disappointed when it's not done the way she wanted it. Allecto, as "the bringer of grief," hated by even those of Tartarus, is arguably the cruelest being that we've encountered in the novel up until now; she is probably worse than Juno herself, and that's saying a lot (325). I think Juno has recently brought other gods into the situation because she is doubting her own power (as seen on page 167) and wants to see if other immortals can exert any more power than she can (asking others could be seen as a moment of weakness for Juno because she's doubting her own power while asking beings that have lesser power than her to intervene). Juno at this point seems to be at her lowest state, but nevertheless still trying to stop Aeneas at all costs. Juno pushes open the gates signifying war, even though she knows very well that she can do all of the damage she wants, and still will not stop Aeneas. She doesn't give up even though she knows it's futile, which I suppose could reinforce the idea of the strength of love, and show how desperate it makes you. (At this point, the persistence of Juno is a little annoying. Just give up. It's hopeless).

Love has nothing to do with the marriage arrangements of Aeneas (once Turnus) and Lavinia. At one point it's about money and status (Turnus), and another, what fate tells Latinus to do (Aeneas). This is very different from Dido and Aeneas's marriage, because it says that marriage is not always a love affair. Sometimes duty must come before pleasure, and love must be disregarded for the sake of obligation. Latinus's wife understands this, and tries to throw it in her husbands face by saying he is obligated to marry her off to Turnus. She also tries to guilt him into letting their daughter by marrying Turnus by challenging his love and devotion to his family (although the way she acts towards him doesn't show much family love on her part). Love is also used in this book to act as a driving force behind different actions. For example, Ascanius's "love of distinguished approval" drives him to shoot the horse, and Turnus's"love of the sword" drives him to quickly prepare for war (496, 461). However, that really isn't anything new to us as we've seen this in other books, but during this book I started to wonder if love is perceived the same way now as it was back when the Aeneid was written. I mean I'm sure it isn't, but I wonder in what ways its different.

My favorite woman in the book, although she is in it only for a half of a page, is Camilla. I think it helped that I have a background knowledge of her from the introduction, but I think she's awesome because she is totally out of the stereotypical woman image. She brings a new, and totally different image to women in the book, unlike Lavinia, who does not show any independence and relies completely on men to make her decisions. Circe is pretty cool too because she takes all of her anger out on men, even though she's pretty cruel. Latinus's wife is used by Allecto and Juno to stir up anger in the women of Latinum, similar to the way Juno uses the women to burn the ships, previously.  Amata and her group of women are described as "dancing for Bacchus,"inciting that they've gone completely crazy (from what I know about Bacchus's effect on women), and it's funny that the women are always the ones to lose their minds (580). I guess in a way, we are crazier, but it's only because men drive us crazy. They're the reasons we are everything we are (even though Juno takes the blame for inciting our anger at men), and men are one day going to realize this.

So as I was reading this book, I thought of the quote, "all's fair in love and war," and I related it to the epic and morals within it. Virgil seems to be a real big supporter of it anyway. Is it right, or fair, of Latinus to break his promise to Turnus and marry his daughter off to a foreigner? Probably not, though you could argue that he didn't have a choice because it is commanded of him. Is it right, or fair, of Allecto to bring grief the way she does? Probably not, but she does because it's what she was made for, and probably all she knows how to do. Is it right, or fair, for Tyrrhus's family to start a war over a pet being killed? Probably not, but Allecto can be blamed for inciting the fury that started the war. There's always an excuse to make for not making the right choice, and if you'd rather not call it an excuse, a reason or justification (however insignificant) behind certain actions. So with all of these excuses, who is to tell what is the right choice and what is the wrong choice? How can morals be studied when they are so many shades of grey instead of black and white? I think Virgil is really trying to portray this in his epic, and show the reader that choosing between the right and wrong choice may not always be clear, nor will it always bring you to the resolution you desire.

Aeneas marrying Lavinia is fate's plan. Latinus knows it, and Juno knows it. The difference between them is that one encourages it and one discourages it. Juno thinks she's all high and mighty trying to challenge what she calls "powers above," but it just makes her look more naive and powerless than humans (312). Juno and Venus are funny when it comes to fate. They both are aware of what eventually will happen, but they worry and intervene for the sake of what they want to happen anyway.  It's something I don't completely understand. If gods are supposed to be these all-knowing, immortal, great beings, why do they act like children sometimes? I don't really feel like writing any more about fate. I'll try to put in more effort for the next blog, but I still have a lot of questions that I want to figure out and it's frustrating me that I don't know the answers.