MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - "He ain't heavy, he's my father:" The Aeneid

Hamlet53 · 09-20-2012, 06:13 PM

So I am now through Book III and have to say that I am enjoying this the most of the three classic saga that Issybird inspired a group read for. Probably more the change in original author, but maybe the change in translator to Mandelbaum is a factor as well. So I have just a couple comments so far, and given the existing discussions I won't bother with spoiler tags. I am hoping our resident Greek and Roman classical literature experts can provide some comment.

I was familiar with the major plot points of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but unfamiliar with the Aeneid. Did the Romans at the time of Virgil really believe that they were descendents of refugees from Troy? One of the reasons that the goddess Juno visits such hardship on the Trojans as the sail from Troy toward their final destination is stated to be that their descendents [as Romans] will destroy Juno's favored city of Carthage, that in addition to Juno's ongoing hostility to Trojans. I had to check, but in fact the people of Carthage had their own gods, and did not worship any of the Greek pantheon of gods. However, the Romans at the time of Virgil did, having assimilated them from Greece. Surely Virgil would have been aware of these facts?

09-20-2012, 06:13 PM	#31
Hamlet53 Nameless Being	So I am now through Book III and have to say that I am enjoying this the most of the three classic saga that Issybird inspired a group read for. Probably more the change in original author, but maybe the change in translator to Mandelbaum is a factor as well. So I have just a couple comments so far, and given the existing discussions I won't bother with spoiler tags. I am hoping our resident Greek and Roman classical literature experts can provide some comment. I was familiar with the major plot points of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but unfamiliar with the Aeneid. Did the Romans at the time of Virgil really believe that they were descendents of refugees from Troy? One of the reasons that the goddess Juno visits such hardship on the Trojans as the sail from Troy toward their final destination is stated to be that their descendents [as Romans] will destroy Juno's favored city of Carthage, that in addition to Juno's ongoing hostility to Trojans. I had to check, but in fact the people of Carthage had their own gods, and did not worship any of the Greek pantheon of gods. However, the Romans at the time of Virgil did, having assimilated them from Greece. Surely Virgil would have been aware of these facts?