The Aeneid Warfare

The first part of this quotation might not look like a statement about war. But think about it: if Virgil is saying that Fides (faith) and Vesta (the goddess of the hearth) and the local divinities Quirinus and Remus will only come back when war is at an end, isn't that kind of like he's saying that war makes all those things disappear? That's a pretty heavy statement about war. If you're not convinced, just look at the end of this passage, which paints a frightening picture of a fearsome demon shut up inside the Gates of War. We wouldn't want to mess with that guy. What are the Gates of War? Just check out the sixth quotation in this section and you'll get your answer.

These lines show the unintended consequence of Coroebus and some of the other Trojans' decision to arm themselves in Greek weapons (see the quotation above). Although they succeeded in taking some of the Greeks by surprise, they also ended up getting attacked by their own citizens, who did not know who they were. As such, these lines stand as an example of the confusion often referred to as the "fog of war."

These lines come from Aeneas's account of the fall of Troy. After all his talk about how the Greeks are a bunch of low-down, dirty sneaks, our hero reveals that the Trojans themselves ended up using trickery when push came to shove. This moment is only one of many in the poem in which we see how warfare makes traditional values break down.

These words are spoken by Juno to Allecto, one of the Furies, when she is about to send her down to incite Amata and Turnus to hatred against the Trojans. The Furies – known in Latin as the Furiae or the Dirae and in Greek as either the Erinyes or the Eumenides – were three goddesses who mainly took care of vengeance. (You can read more about them here.) In Virgil, the Furies generally act as more all-purpose stirrers-up of hatred and strife. Thus, even if these lines aren't about war specifically, they do give a vivid portrayal of the animosity that is the cause of many wars.

In these lines, Virgil connects a Roman custom that survived in his own day with the super ancient history depicted in his epic poem. Basically, the custom was as described: whenever war began, priests would open the gates of the temple of Janus in the Forum – which would itself have been nothing more than a ceremonial gateway, like this temple of Janus that still survives in Rome today (if you look at the picture closely, you can see that it is a 4-way arch). Actually, this is a little misleading. The Romans were at war so often, that it is better to say that the gates of Janus were closed during times of complete peace. This happened once in 235 B.C., and three times under the emperor Augustus in the 1st century B.C. (in other words, not very often). Virgil refers to this fact in a passage in Book 1 – which we used as the first quotation for this theme, above.

These lines describe the reaction of Turnus, immediately after the Fury Allecto has convinced him to make war against the Trojans. In the lines that immediately follow these, we are told of how Turnus gives orders for defending the Latins' territory, in violation of the peace between them and the Trojans. Why do you think Virgil chose the image of a boiling cauldron to represent Turnus's emotions and how they give rise to conflict? What might this image say about war in general?

In this brief image, Virgil brings home (literally) the human cost of war. Can you think of other passages in the Aeneid in which Virgil's female characters have different perspectives on politics and warfare than his male characters? If so, do you think that these differences of opinion were true only of Virgil's day, or do they still describe people today?

In this passage, Aeneas – even in his absence – shows his strength as a commander. Aeneas knows that his men won't be able to hold out against the Italian attack (that's why he's gone to make alliances with the Arcadians, and, though he doesn't know it yet, the Etruscans). So he tells them to stay put. The only risk they run now is from their own "shame and anger," which urge them to go out and fight the Italians head-on, even though that isn't the smartest move at this point.

Here Pallas reminds his men that sometimes, you've just got to have courage. Of course, these lines come in the middle of a battle, when you're kind of locked in to certain decisions. Do you think the Aeneid treats war itself as inevitable, or just certain actions within war – such as how Pallas instructs his men to save themselves by fighting?

Here Turnus encourages his men to attack Aeneas, who has just returned from meeting with the Arcadians and Etruscans. He uses a complex set of ideas to motivate them to fight: 1) love for their families, whom (Turnus implies) they wouldn't want to see fall into the hands of the Trojan invaders, and 2) a sense of pride, in their desire to live up to the deeds of their ancestors. Last of all, Turnus points out that the moment is now: they'll never have a better opportunity to give the Trojans hell. The last two lines, which could also be discussed in terms of the theme of Fate and Free Will basically express the idea that people make their own luck. Do you think that Turnus is right in thinking this or not?