Thursday, November 15, 2012

I want it now

Something that's prevalent in our society is action without foresight. People act on their emotions without thinking about the consequences. It's amazing to me how Virgil had such insight into human nature. People still use others and then cast them aside when they don't need them anymore or if duty calls them to somewhere else. Obviously, I'm referring to Dido and Aeneas and their love affair. Aeneas definitely acted selfishly because he knew he was fated to leave Carthage and establish a city and yet starts things up with Dido. Oh Cupid, why did you aim your bow at Dido? Although the gods caused Dido to fall in love with Aeneas, I think if Aeneas knew the consequences of his actions (Dido's subsequent suicide and dishonor) he wouldn't have done it. I think Virgil is trying to tell us to have foresight before we act. This could even be applied to college and studying so that when you end up a doctor you won't kill someone on accident cause you don't know what you're doing. also, think about the consequences of your relationships. Maybe your ex won't kill themselves cause you left them. (P.S. Commented on Jamie Kilpatrick's Infants in the underworld)

4 comments:

  1. I think you make a great point there in your first few sentences. Our culture is very much a "I want what I want, when I want it" culture. And then we go act off of our immediate wants and end up making wrong decisions. Unfortunately, in the case like Dido and Aeneas, other people often pay for our mistakes too.

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  2. I agree that our society is very much one with a "I want it, and I want it now!" mindset. I think that we have become so accustomed to being able to simply zip through a drive through, send a text, or order something off of Amazon that we don't really remember how to be patient. And without patience how can we have time to consider the consequences?

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  3. I'm not sure that Aeneas is being quite as callous as we think. After all, he did seem genuinely sorry that he had to leave Dido and that she felt so badly. He had basically been ordered to go to Italy by the gods, and he couldn't disobey. Well, maybe he could have stayed - but what would have been the consequences if he had?

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    1. I just wonder why he started his relationship with Dido if he knew he was destined to leave anyway. But then we're left with all the "what if?" questions. Those can be rather bothersome

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