FREE ESSAY ON AENEAS AS A ROMAN HERO

AENEAS AS A ROMAN HERO

Aeneas as a Roman Hero
In Virgil's poem, The Aeneid, the ideal Roman hero is depicted in the form of Aeneas. Not
only does Aeneas represent the Roman hero, but he also represents what every Roman
citizen is called to be. Each Roman citizen must posses two major virtues, he must remain
pious, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In the poem, Aeneas encompasses both
of these virtues, and must deal with both the rewards and costs of them.
In the poem, Virgil says that all Romans ought to have two certain virtues: he must
remain a pious Roman citizen, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In Virgil's
poem, he uses Aeneas as a portrayal of not only a roman hero, but also as the ideal Roman
citizen. For a man to be pious, he must do what he is called to do and follow his
destiny. Aeneas is above all pious. He follows the will of the gods, even when it makes
him suffer. Aeneas' destiny is to lead the Trojan people to the new land of Rome.
Although this is tough for him to do and he runs into difficulties along the way, he
keeps on striving towards his final goal. Aeneas also, throughout the entire poem,
remains loyal to the Roman race. there are times that it would be easy for him to go
against the Romans, but he remains loyal and keeps on fighting for the empire. Aeneas is
used to represent the ideal roman citizen and the ideal Roman hero, but these
characteristics do not surface until the poem is nearly over. As the poem is coming to a
close, Aeneas begins to explain how it is his duty to fight Turnus. He does not have the
desire to have the battle with Turnus, but he has the desire to follow his destiny and do
what he has been called to do. He says, "Hold back your anger! Now the truce is set, it's
terms are fixed, I am the only one who ahs the right to battle; let me fight, and set
your fears aside. With my right arm I shall maintain our treaty. (XII 426-430)" In this
quote, Aeneas is saying that it is his right to fight Turnus and it would be wrong for
him to give up that right, it would be impious.
Although to remain pious and to remain loyal are virtues that every roman should possess,
there are some costs that sometimes outweigh the rewards. By following his destiny,
Aeneas was put in an enormous amount of danger, that he would not have been put in if he
had not fled Troy, in search for Rome. When he first leaves Troy, he knows that he may
have to put himself in dangerous positions, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to
please the Gods. Also, Aeneas lost nearly everything that he once had during the course
of the poem. He lost his father, his lover, and ultimately, he loses his identity. Losing
your own identity is the greatest loss that anyone could suffer and Aeneas does
experience that loss. These losses that Aeneas endures, greatly outweigh the rewards that
Aeneas acquires in the end of the poem. Aeneas defeats Turnus and gains the Roman empire,
but that is how the story is left. There are no celebrations, there is no wedding for
Aeneas and Lavinia. It is just over. The reward is that he has accomplished what he set
out to do, but the reader is not shown how or if Aeneas is rewarded in a physical way.
In that way, it seems that Virgil agrees that the costs greatly outweigh the benefits. It
would appear that if he were to disagree, he would have concentrated much more on the
rewards rather than concentrating on all the hardships. The entire poem is based on the
trouble that Aeneas must go through in order to remain pious and to remain loyal to the
Romans. It is not until the very last page where we are shown the rewards that Aeneas
gained from his quest. The last sentence states, "Relentless, he sinks his sword into the
chest of Turnus. His limbs fell slack with chill; and with a moan his life, resentful,
fled to Shades below. (XII 1268-1271)" This one defeat cannot offset all the trials and
tribulations that Aeneas went through to get to that very battle between him and Turnus.
It was a tough journey and the only real reward that he got was to know, in his heart,
that he did the right thing and remained pious to the gods, his people, and his empire.
There is not one way to look at Virgil's view, it can also be looked at in the opposite
way. It can be said that in remaining pious andgoing through all the hardships that he
did, he single handedly prevented civil war. Everything that Aeneas went through was for
the good of the commonwealth and was rewarding for the people. Because his view can be
looked at in two ways and is rather unclear, Virgil's verdict is equivocal. 
In Virgil's poem, The Aeneid, a picture is painted of a very virtuous roman hero who
remains pious and loyal to his people. This is the picture of Aeneas' life. It is shown
in the poem, that the costs that come with holding these virtues greatly outweigh the
rewards. The rewards, although small, are on the inside of the hero and the costs are
large and are on the outside. It is critical to follow your destiny no matter what it is,
but that is a virtue that not only Roman heroes, but also all Romans must possess.