Following the tumultuous journey of the first half of The Aeneid, the second half mainly focuses on how the Trojan’s arrival in Italy led to the founding of Rome. In essence, the first half is the story of the journey there and the second is about what they did when they got there.
The primary theme of the second half that stood out to me was the battle between fate and free will. Aeneas and the Trojans were preordained by the Gods to found Rome as the second coming of Troy. It begs the question of how much of their path was dictated by their own choice.
The second half of the poem seemed to cover much detail over a shorter span of time in contrast to the first half, in which a single book could cover as much as seven years. Due to this way of writing, we get deep insight into everything that went into Rome’s founding.
When we read this story so many centuries later, we are transported into a world crafted by a man feeling as if his nation were the zenith of the planet. Virgil evidently believed his nation to be the greatest in history and connected the Roman empire to be a product of divine intervention and destiny.
By the way he writes, he wants his Roman audience to view Rome as a holy empire, destined to encompass the world. I believe Virgil intended to also paint anarchic themes such as fate in a new light, righting this classical idea into a morally ambiguous world in which characters fight for their free will and try to live their lives by their own way.
It begs the question, as to if the characters in The Aeneid walked created their own fates or if they walked the path that was laid for them by the Gods. Virgil does not wish to give definitive answers. I find the question of how powerful of a force fate is to be the most intriguing element of this play.
VIRGIL. (2022). Aeneid. ARCTURUS PUBLISHING LTD.
