From the beginning to the end, the Roman Empire established itself as one of the greatest empires ever. At the pinnacle of its empire, it stretched from most of Europe to Northern Africa and Asia Minor. Such accomplishments were shaped by many great leaders of that time period including, but not limited to, Augustus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and many others. To Romans, many of these leaders were great because their leadership spurred from their willingness to submit to the gods. Aeneas, unlike some of the other characters in The Aeneid, gives in to the will of the gods to gain unimaginable leadership skills through Aeneas' excursion through the Mediterranean Sea, his contact/relationship with Dido, and his travels through the Underworld.
When Aeneas set forth onto the Mediterranean Sea from Troy, he encountered many different setbacks in his journey until he found out where he was truly destined. Aeneas first arrived in Crete, thinking this is the place for him, only to find out in his dreams that this is not where the gods commanded him to settle.
Aeneas tells Dido the misfortunes of the Trojan ci...
Aeneas, whom the Romans believed Romulus and Remus...
Aeneas Wilder, Untitled #155"It was night and sleep held in its grasp all the living things. There I lay, the holy images of the God's...Apollo here speaks the prophecy he will give you...you must leave this place. Delian Apollo did not send you to these shores. Crete is not where he commanded you to settle...Jupiter forbids you the Dictaen fields of Crete" (61).
Here two of Aeneas' gods command him to leave Crete. With such a strong prophecy, Aeneas knew he had to follow the words of the gods so he could become the great leader he was destined to be. Aeneas, seen as a great leader among his fleet, offers his knowledge to them and it is accepted gladly. "Let us yield to Phoebus Apollo.
"Aeneas: Man, Myth, and Legend"
By not even mentioning in passing the role that Vergil establishes for Aeneas as the founder of Rome, this essay fails to establish any connection between the pompous title and the interesting, if sketchy comments on the three areas he skims across.Most central to his thesis is that Aeneas follows the "will of the gods." Of course he does; Vergil is writing a homage to the glory of Augustan Rome, so he establishes the authority of Aeneas's "proper" founding of Rome by showing him to be a diligent performer of the will of the gods. Seen in this--not very novel--way, Aeneas's "desertion" of Dido becomes an example of the difficult, willful, decisions that Aeneas must make to fulfill his destiny: sacrificing his personal desires for the greater good.
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