Myth Ch 22
Legends of Aeneas
Vergil—the Aeneid—
a Latin epic poem
modeled on the Iliad and Odyssey
Rome rips off a lot of Greek, but is really
fundamentally different
There is no divine myth—
Roman
myth is limited to LEGEND
intimately connected to Roman
history and Romans
perceptions of themselves
Myth
as propaganda
like George Washington stories
Italy
non-European Etruscans
Greek
settlers
Originally
a Kingdom
c. 500 BC—patricians establish Senate and Res publica
sounds nice, but what really an oligarchy
two consuls
SPQR
Senatus Populusque Romanus
by first century BC,
Rome controlled whole Mediterranean, and the Republic couldn't handle it
Julius
Caesar—dictator for life (killed 44BC)
grandnephew—Octavian, “Augustus”—imperium
retains
the trappings of republic, but this is an empire
lasts until 5th century in West, and 1453 in the
East
Roman Religion
Beware
of believe in the gods
stories about god do not necessarily reflect believe in the
gods
Romans
inherited/ripped off all Greek literature
but they had a
radically different set of beliefs
Although
they had a lot of equivalents of gods
did not believe in
them the same way
and did not worship them the same way
Not
all Greeks believed in the gods
Plato;
Aristotle
the playwrights?
Vergil and his Roman contemporaries
certainly did not believe in the gods the way that
Homer's
audience may have
BUT—he's
directly imitating Homer, so it looks the same
Indigenous Roman Religion
Based on Numina and Sacrificium
Numen—a
“spirit” that inhabits something
nature
worship
everything has a spirit, which can be bribed
Sacrificium—the
deal you make with a numen
use
divination to determine if your sacrifice has been accepted
Ceres—who could be
sub-divided
Janus—doorways (no stories
about him, though)
Equating Greek gods with Roman
largely an invention of poets, which has almost nothing to
do with religion
Ovid—tells
lots of Greek stories—for fun
Jupiter—sky
god; many numina associated with this notion
Juno,
Ceres, Diana
Mercury—is
just Hermes with a new name
Vulcan,
is unclear
Neptune—originally
a water numen, then Poseidon
MARS—something
genuinely Roman about him
much more important than the Greek Ares
Hercules
was venerated in Rome since early times
Family: Lares and Penates
protective spirits
probably the single most important aspect of Roman believe
personal; based on your immediate family
ancestor worship
Lares—the protective ghosts of particular places, like
fields
Penates—the protective spirits of a particular family
they are portable
“pantry” ghosts
Centered
on the familia
paterfamilias had absolute
control—even life and death—over all members of his household
“gens” “gen-ius”
venerate the
spirit of Augustus in each emperor
becomes emperor worship
State
as Family
cult of Vesta—the most important
cult in Roman
Vestal
Virgins—protectors of the Roman hearth
protectors of the Roman flame
Commitment
to family/state = “pietas”
“pius
Aeneas”
abstract notions of statehood and religion
anthropomorphism is just for literature
AENEAS
Vergil—connect Augustus' reign (and brand
new idea of empire) with the ancient Roman past and its Res publica
a conscious literary / mythical explanation for a political
state of affairs
hence beware of references to “will of the gods” and “fate”
Vergil
(70BC-19BC)
Poet:
Eclogues
Georgics
left Aeneid
a bit unfinished, asked for its destruction
Augustus
says no thanks
In Homer, and Homeric Hymns, Aeneas is son of
Aphrodite/Venus and Anchises
Trojan
prince who is destined to have many descendants
survives fall of Troy
Even
shows up in Iliad
Aeneas founds Lavinium
his son (Iulus/Ascanius) founds Alba Longa
hundreds of years
later—Romulus and Remus found Rome
Connect themselves
with Troy—consciously—literarily
(many European nations follow suit in the 12th
century—Brutus, etc)
The Aeneid
“Arma virumque cano”
It's
the Odyssey, then the Iliad
begins with Aeneas washed on shore of beautiful queen's
island
Dido—of
Carthage
ancient enemy of Rome
here, associated with Juno (hates Trojans)
(Hannibal,
d. 183BC)
He's
been at sea for 7 years
Aeneas
tells his story (like Odysseus)
most
complete recount of the destruction of Troy
Laocoon, “Timeo danaos et dona
ferentis”
death of Priam
all sympathetic to the Trojans, of course
Image
of Aeneas fleeing the city
Family
man—in the Roman sense
Son
in hand, father on back, Penates in father's hands
Ascanius/Iulus
Anchises
Venus
makes Dido love him
in the cave
but he has to leave—fate—Jupiter—pietas—duty to family/state
she curses him, kills herself
Carthage/Roman
hostility
Trojan
Women complain
leave them behind on an island
Aeneas
and Sibyl travel to Hades
see Dido—like Ajax scene
Tartarus—not allowed to enter
Elysium
meets his father—cannot embrace
ghosts drinking from the
river of forgetfulness—prepping to return to the world
the whole history of Rome
The
DUTY of Rome—read
Arrive
in Italy
king Latinus gives Aeneas his
daughter, Lavinia
Turnus attacks
River
god Tiber tells Aeneas to form alliance with Evander—local Greek
Turnus kills young Pallas, son of Evander
One
on one combat-Aeneas and Turnus
Turnus begs for life
Aeneas
about to give it to him, until he sees Pallas' belt
dead.
Big differences from Homer
this is a literate
poem—
a sit down and write
with an unambiguous political agenda
propaganda
allegory—meant to be interpreted and reinterpreted
Drew
upon philosophy of Stoicism – notion of fate or “logos”
“in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God”
Absolute
obedience to family /state --DUTY--pietas
abandon Dido
Like
Helen
Like
Calypso and Circe
and Medea and Cleopatra
abandon Trojan women