I agree with the aforementioned defense of The Aeneid. Regardless of whether or not it is finished, it ends with a victory over Turnus, which is appropriate enough because both Aeneas and the Trojans have their victory in Latium. The fact that some accuse Aeneas of being not like-able is a harsh critique. I implore those of you who are not fond of Aeneas to have empathy. Consider this, his homeland of Troy was burned to the ground and his friends were killed in their sleep before his very eyes. His wife was slain by blood-lusting Acheaens. He was driven from port to port and suffered many a tempest risen by relentless Juno...if you're home got burned down and family was murdered and then you were forced to sail for seven years looking for a home, don't you think you may be a tad bit callous yourself? Aeneas is different from Odysseus and Achilles because he is written to be more human, less perfect...yet all the while maintaining his epic qualities of virtue when he puts his people of Troy over himself and his family countless times. The Aeneid is more than an epic. It is one of the greatest stories ever told. It is original in its own right yet still maintains epic form. It cannot be said that Virgil "ripped off" Homer because all epics are written in that form, Homer just did it first. Does anyone criticize Milton for ripping off Homer in Paradise Lost? If you can find fault with The Aeneid, you might as well, he modeled the Army of Fallen Angels directly after Homer's Acheaens, with Lucifer being Achilles of course. Aeneas himself, like Hector is the total embodiment of the ideal Roman warrior, putting the state ahead of family and their own lives. The Aeneid is a wonderful story about the tribulations of a people who endured many a hardship. So have mercy on them and their hero and enjoy Virgil's masterpiece. feel free to reply to this.
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