Finished! This is the last paper I had to write for the semester. All passages translated by yours truly.
Aeneid Book I as a Philosophical Text
Written at the onset of imperial Rome, Vergil’s Aeneid is a founding legend aimed at glorifying the present by immortalizing the distant past. This epic of Rome’s original ancestor pays homage to archaic mythology and the heroic age of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. But unlike that Greek poet, Vergil lived under the culmination of classical philosophy. He exploited these various paradigms to make his masterwork not only historically relevant, but also a reflection of current ideologies, with political implications. Aspects of different academies exist in any one of the poem’s twelve books, from the pre-Socratics to the Epicureans. As the saga’s exposition, Book I offers a fresh look at the characters of men and gods, and how their roles play into Vergil’s philosophical agenda.
I sing of arms and the man, who, made a fugitive by fate, first came from the coasts of Troy to Italy and the Lavinian shores—across the lands and deep sea he was tossed by the force of the gods, on account of savage Juno’s unforgetting wrath, and he also endured many things in war, until he established a city and carried his gods to Latium—whence have come the Latin race and the Alban fathers and the walls of high Rome. (Aeneid I.1-7)
Just the first seven lines offer multiple layers of interpretation. On the surface, as with the entire epic, is Greco-Roman mythology: a pantheon of independent deities in conflict. Homer described the Trojan War as a battle between gods, with no mortal justifications. Read literally, the Aeneid is the story of a life determined by supernal whims.
Divine predestination reveals two more layers of interpretation, regarding fate and causality. First is fatalism, the idea that the course of mortal life is exclusively governed by the gods. A subscriber to the Delphic oracle would take this philosophy to heart. Omens and augury was still an institution during Vergil’s time, and it was validated by Augustus’ restoration of old republican customs. Vergil sought to reinforce the importance of divine favor and minimize humanistic impiety. Second is determinism, the belief that prior events dictate the future. This rationale is less mystical than fatalism in that it takes into account the human potential to effect future events.
Determinism is a tenet often associated with Stoic philosophy. However, it is a misconception in that a true Stoic is not subject to social causality. Rather, he remains autonomous of all but nature and his own will. By Vergil’s time, Stoicism had become the Roman philosophical standard, and its principles reveal themselves as the Aeneid unfolds:
“Oh you who rule the affairs of men and gods with perpetual authority, and who terrifies them with bolts of lightning, what so great an offence has my Aeneas committed against you, what could the Trojans have done, against whom, having suffered so many disasters, the whole sphere of the lands is shut on account of Italy? Surely you swore that from this place, at one time, with the turning of years will be born the Romans, from here they will become leaders from the resurrected blood of Teucer, who might control every sea and the lands?” (Aeneid I.239-237)
In this passage, Venus addresses Jupiter, the supreme god of the pantheon. Stoicism often used Jupiter’s image to embody the logos, the universal mind that governs humankind and nature. The poet often attached epithets to Jupiter’s name: ruler, father, thunder-god. Jupiter is the logos for he drives all things according to his plan. He rules the human race by demanding worship in exchange for his blessing, lest they suffer his wrath. Stoics honor the logos by exercising it as reason. To err from it is to abandon reason. Jupiter shows his command of nature itself by hurling thunderbolts at will. As the logos, he is the cause of all nature, which physically manifests his plan through natural events and conditions. Jupiter is also the father of the gods, and thus the source of divinity. A Stoic saw the various gods as avatars of the sole logos. Apollo, Mars and even Juno were simply manifestations suited to specific purposes, much like the imperial government.
The Aeneid was written to glorify Augustus, the political logos, who exercised supreme authority over his subordinate magistrates, the people and the empire. As the emperor’s client, Vergil was obliged to defend the new order after a century of civil war. The republican system was analogous to the traditional pantheon of self-sufficient deities. In mortal life this role was played by senators, who derived their power from ancestral nobility. Jupiter was always king of the gods, but he ruled more like a consul, whose power was greatest but not absolute. A cosmos not governed by an absolute force cannot be stable, and neither can human civilization. By this rationale, an emperor with ultimate jurisdiction can maintain order by legislating a single agenda. Jupiter works his will, unobstructed by dissenting deities. If this be the nature of the logos, then so should it be for Augustus. This argument might not have favored the majority of the Empire’s subjects, but it did favor Vergil himself, writing for his patron prince. Through the analogy of Jupiter to Augustus, Vergil functions as the Machiavelli of his day. The Prince was written to the patron Medici to justify tyranny. Likewise, the Aeneid supported the Roman Principate.
Totalitarianism, in a divine sense, is necessary to maintain natural order:
“Jupiter, father of men and gods [was] smiling with an expression that calms the sky and storms.” (Aeneid I.254-255) Without Jupiter, there would be chaos. Without Augustus, there would still be civil war.
Jupiter’s absolutism is required also to effect the course of nature, which Vergil represents as the Fates:
“Your son (For I will confess, since these cares worry you longer, I will put in motion the arcane scrolls of the Fates, turning their pages) shall wage a tremendous war in Italy and will crush ferocious peoples and establish customs and for his men he will place walls…I give an empire without end. Then even harsh Juno, who currently wearies the sea, lands and sky, will refer to better plans, and with me she will cherish the Romans, the masters of all things, the toga-clad race.” (Aeneid I.261-264, 279-282)
The logos, the causal force, determines all fate and, by virtue of its reason, foresees the future as the logical consequences of prior events. Vergil represented this as Jupiter holding the scroll of the Fates, with the ability to read its pages far ahead of the present. Jupiter, unlike Venus or Juno, displays no negative emotions, for as the essence of reason he is secure in the logical course of fate. In this case, Venus represents human nature, which torments people with irrational fears and passions. Such impulses disrupt the Stoic balance between pleasure and pain by unreasonably favoring pleasure. Juno, in this context, symbolizes the forces of nature, as she wills the storms to besiege Aeneas. Human pain is often attributed to natural causes, such as weather and disease (Gods as metaphors for natural forces are commonplace: Neptune is the ocean and Zephyrus is the West wind). However, just as Juno will eventually concede to Jupiter’s will, the violent forces of nature will always return to tranquility. By attributing error to both humanity and nature, Jupiter, the essence of the Good, becomes logically superior to both. Since nature submits to the logos, a Stoic should follow nature’s example.
Politically speaking, the storm of Aeolus is the Roman civil war. The calm that follows it, willed by Jupiter, is the Pax Romana. Since it is the will of reason for Augustus to rule the Empire, his presence ensures peace. War preceded him because the republican system was illogical. Human government should exemplify natural law. The emperor maintains the former just as Jupiter logos legislates the latter.
The idea of Jupiter as the universal principle bridged the gap between old and new religions. While the Aeneid offers such deep philosophical and political interpretations, Vergil never lost focus of celebrating Rome’s history and cultural traditions. The poem is rich in Hellenistic polytheism, with most of the traditional gods playing their assigned roles in relationship with mortals. Mercury, as messenger of the gods, is sent to Aeneas by Jupiter to remind Aeneas of his true destiny. Like an angel in the Christian tradition, Mercury acts as a channel of communication between humanity and God. The idea of a supreme god with subordinate manifestations is compatible with the Judeo-Christian God and His angelic emissaries. The Romans’ transition from archaic polytheism to more virtually monotheistic doctrines, like Stoicism, created a more fertile environment for Christianity to take root. Centuries of scholarship have referred to Vergil as a proto-Christian, both philosophically and prophetically. Jesus tried to justify his status as the Messiah by pointing to the prophecies of Isaiah, who died centuries before him. So did Vergil, and he only died a couple decades before Christ’s birth. For centuries, scholars pointed to Eclogues IV, in which the poet tells of a boy born to usher in a golden age of peace. The more logical conclusion is that this passage is more Augustan propaganda like the Aeneid. Still, Vergil’s superposition of Jupiter has enough monotheistic leanings that his works were revered long after the days of pagan Rome; take Dante for example. But a Christian interpretation of the Aeneid can only go as far as taking the Stoic logos another step toward the more singular role of God. It is viewing the work through many lenses: less likely to find the true meaning.
Book I, as a literary exposition, introduces the theme of conflict. Aeneas is in conflict with himself, others, nature and the gods. On a grander scale, Book I reveals a divine conflict between the sexes. Through Aristotelian logic, Juno’s antagonism toward Jupiter’s plan represents the inferiority of women. As a transition piece, the Aeneid unites the philosophy of the new political order with classical ethics. Aristotle’s Politica argues that women, unlike men, are inferior because they lack men’s degree of virtue. To have virtue is to follow the logos. Thus, to lack virtue is to err from reason. The goddesses depicted in Book I of the Aeneid stray from reason by resisting and doubting the credibility of fate:
“Supposedly I [Juno] am forbidden by the Fates? Could Pallas destroy the Argive fleet and drown its men upon the sea on account of one man’s crime—the mad deeds of Oilean Ajax?” (Aeneid I.39-41)
Juno is in denial that a hostile race is destined to rule the world. Already she demonstrates female irrationality by resisting the will of the logos. Furthermore, she is subject to the vices of envy and wrath. She is still jealous because Paris had judged Venus the fairest. She also envies Minerva, who exacted her wrath upon those who had offended her. Juno is wrathful to the Trojans. The excessive attitudes of wrath and envy do not accord with virtuous moderation: both a Stoic and Aristotelian ethic. Compounding the irrationality of these vices is that fact that they are contrary to fate.
Venus is not at all hostile to Aeneas’ destiny, but her attitude toward it is equally contrary to reason. Relying on sense rather than intellect, she trusts the present more than the future. As the love goddess, she represents spontaneous passions, which cloud reason. She sees her son in danger and fearful impulses consume her. She must consult a male deity to assure her that a favorable destiny is fixed. Had she more virtue, her ability to reason would keep her irrational fears in check.
Venus and Juno’s juxtaposition to Jupiter illustrates such a discrepancy between genders. As a proponent of Augustan moralism, Vergil demonstrated the consequences of powerful women. In the poem, Juno and Venus represent a disturbance of the natural balance: Juno extrinsically through weather and Venus intrinsically through emotions. This translates to Roman society. Women in power, like Juno, would disturb the political climate because they were, like Venus, susceptible to their immediate passions rather than logical foresight. This rationale reflected a conservative worldview to counter increasing respect for the female potential. Augustus saw how patrician women directed subversive agendas, rivalries and corruption. Vergil encoded the emperor’s moral restoration in the Aeneid by placing female characters in intemperate roles. For the logos is the standard of livelihood, which through Aristotelian logic, men more naturally followed and govern by.
The Aeneid was much more than a nationalistic folk tale. It was written to accommodate the transition from a corrupt Republic in civil war to peace under sole imperial rule. Read literally, the epic inspired pride in Rome’s past, and thus its present. The more critical reader peels back the layers of mythological, philosophical, political and religious interpretations to discover the deeper meanings of the work. But the beauty of the Aeneid is that each layer is equally significant to the overall purpose. Through a synthesis of traditional religion and custom, contemporary philosophy and political argument, Vergil’s poem appealed to every level of Roman society. The result was that the many social and ideological classes shared a common sense of identity embodied in a national epic. It used a common history and mythology to justify the new order of Augustus, while at the same time resurrecting the virtues of the early Republic. Thus it sought to erase the memory of civil war by bridging two eras of peace and prosperity. Most importantly, whether by the gods’ will, logical determinism or humanistic virtue, the Aeneid justified the Romans’ status as “the masters of all things”; “an empire without end.”
Works cited:
Aristotle (ed. Richard McKeon), The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House, Inc, 2001.
Publius Vergilius Maro, Vergili Opera. London: Oxford University Press, 1904.
"Stoicism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 3 May 2008, 19:48 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 May 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stoicism&oldid=209960454>.
Vergil (trans. Allen Mandelbaum), The Aeneid of Virgil. New York: Bantam Books, 1985.
Vergil (trans. Robert Fitzgerald), The Aeneid. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.
