Poor Little Me

I had been feeling sorry for Dido. Her first husband was murdered by her brother; she was made to fall in love against her will, and the man she loved eventually left her. Dido faced some hard situations. But this was no excuse for some of her actions. Aeneas had to leave; neither one of them could disregard the will of the gods. But, out of selfish love, she demanded that Aeneas stay with her. When he insisted that he had to go, she insulted him. When it became evident that he wasn't coming back, she got her sister to unknowingly make preparations for suicide. The sister was forced to watch Dido kill herself. These are not loving actions. Dido did feel genuinely hurt, but some of her actions were just selfish.

I commented on emilylaforce's post.

The Importance of Burial

While reading past epics such as the Odyssey I never really understood why burial was extremely important until reading The Aeneid.  I realized that one of the reasons the soldiers would fight over the fallen bodies so they could have a proper burial was so they would receive honor, but I felt there was more to it.  When Aeneas makes his trip to the underworld he encounters the souls of the unburied. Sibyl informs Aeneas that the souls of the unburied are not allowed to cross the river into the underworld.  They have to wait until either their bones are buried in the ground or wait one hundred years on the banks of the river before they are allowed to cross.  Aeneas unfortunately encounters Palinurus( his helmsman who was pitched overboard and was killed by savages when he finally go to the shore of Italy) as one of the unburied souls and Palinurus begs Aeneas to "deliver him from his captivity."  I never really understood this part of the underworld until reading this.  If you knew that that is what would happen if you or a loved one wasn't buried you probably would almost fight to the death to give someone a proper burial. This would insure they would have a safe passage to the underworld and not have to wait another one hundred years.  Actually being in the underworld can seem bad enough and then having to wait even longer to enter would be devastating knowing that peace is just across a river.  Thankfully as Aeneas journey went on we were able to see a more pleasurable side to the underworld, which almost makes waiting even harder. Therefore, all the fighting over the bodies to give the people proper burials makes so much more sense because it is not only for their honor but also to gain easy passage to the underworld.

p.s. commented on Molly Gray's Changing the Names

The Underworld

The vision of the underworld portrayed in the Aeneid was far more in detail than that of the Odyssey. The structure and manner in which it was portrayed was exsqisite. The nomadic fields of Elysium where the Lethye takes away the pain of ones past life could represent the lost innocence renewed. Even Tartarus has a structure and rules. There is not the chaos that one comes to expect from death. That could be related to how heaven will be in the Christian's perspective. Our sins and pain of the life we led on Earth will be washed away. The courts in the Roman underworld could also reflect the two judgements fortold in Revelations. There are so many parallels that it is a bit suprising. In the end, death claims us all.  

Deathly Distractions

I find it so interesting how often humans make such simple-minded decisions.  The gods and goddesses entrusted Aeneas with the fate of the Trojans, and he always found a way to let his humanity distract him from his task.  The Aeneid is full of instances where humanity trumps divine revelation, and the irony exists in the fact that Christians do the exact same thing.  It is often assumed that a lack of faith provokes such responses; however, I prefer to believe that these responses are caused by allowing humanity to cloud spiritual discernment.  As a result, Aeneas found himself straying from his destined path throughout the journey to Italy.  By being distracted by his desires, Aeneas made poor decisions that produced deadly results.

Connection vs. Commitment

I found the thoughts on the differences between emotional connection and lasting commitment to someone, very intriguing today. After a quick comment was made about it, I found myself thinking about it throughout the rest of class.
In the case of Dido and Aeneas, we clearly know who felt which way about the other person. Dido was so in love with Aeneas that when she was rejected, she...took it hard, to say the least. Yet Aeneas was sort of "whatever" about that whole thing, the whole time.
What would it have taken Aeneas to get from just an emotion connection to a lasting commitment with Dido? Why didn't he try? Obviously he didn't know Dido was going to take rejection so hard or he probably would've have had anything to do with her. But even still, playing with someones heart is a dangerous business, regardless of whether or not you know the potential consequences of your actions.
So I guess what I kept asking myself was, why don't more people try to get passed the simple emotional connection with someone to a long-lasting commitment? I think if it was something that was more striven for, people would find it much more satisfying then just toying around with emotions.

P.s. I commented on emilylaforc'es "I want it now"

Changing the Names

I, like many others I am sure, was a little thrown off by the transition from the names of the Greek gods, to those of Rome while reading The Aeneid. I personally favor the Greek gods over the Roman, simply because I am more familiar with them, but I quickly realized that I should get more familiar with them- so I made myself a chart. However, while thinking about the change from one culture to another, I thought about the transition from the British culture to that of the US when Merriam Webster decided that he wanted to change the spelling of several words simply to create a further separation form the Old World to the New. The simple change from the word “colour” to “color” was a way to show the establishment of a new power house, just like changing the name of Zeus to Jove, and Hera to Juno was a way for Rome to show the transition of power from Greece.

p.s- I commented on Emily LaForce's "I want it now"

 

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)