awph
07-27-2003, 01:00 AM
Aeneas is a person in a story, devised by an author, based on a legend. Whether you think he is a good person depends to a certain extent on who you are. If you rate highly decisiveness, forceful conduct, dashing heroism and concern for women, you might not think that Aeneas was much good. To see him as a good person you have to admit that, overall, he does what he has to do rather than what he wants to do. He wants to kill Helen; he is shownthat it is wrong andhe does not do it. He does not want to leave Troy; he has to. He wants to stay with Dido; he leaves because he has another job to do. He accepts the guidance he gets from the gods and follows it. He is not a particularly keen warrior but he takes the lead against Turnus. He takes moral decisions, rather than ones which will suit him. He does what he ought to do, not what he wants to do. Some people think that this makes him a second-rate person; I think that he is more like most of us: we are faced with choices all the time: what do I want to do? What should I do? He is set up as an example to the Romans of the best way to behave as a human being.<br><br>This does not really account for his killing of Turnus. here he seems to give in to his human passions instead of doing the decent thing. <br><br>I think the question is one well worth asking.