[DRAFT] The purpose of reading ancient literature, for me at least, is primarily centered on the effects of the written word rather than its plain-faced narrative structure. Ancient texts are (understandably) often opaque to readers of the twenty-first century, who seem far removed from the prose and drama of Virgil's sweeping third addition to the Homeric epic. Plenty of people have discussed the work in relation to a lot of really cool aspects: the focus on its design as a legitimacy and propaganda piece for the Roman empire, the interesting and surprisingly diverse depictions of women (Camilla, anyone?), and more. All of these perspectives provide deep understandings of the text, but for me what constantly returned to my mind is identity-forging, and how The Aeneid encapsulates an ancient perspective as to how a good life is lived that both reveals the roots of western ideals while also highlighting how sharply we have diverged in our modern ethos.

Although Virgil's prose pales in comparison to Homer (sorry not sorry), it's imperative to take into account that the oral traditions passed down in the ancient world fulfilled more than one objective. The stories that last were intentionally interwoven with meaning and cultural information designed to help inform the people's concepts of who they are and where they came from. In this case, a large portion of the text is designed to tell the audience what makes a hero heroic. Or, more specifically, the text implicitly tries to show how is Aeneas (and the Trojans, overall) fulfill Roman concepts of heroism. What makes them worthy of admiration and emulation in the minds of the present poets and those who listen to their songs? Virgil's writing does an exquisite job of handing these pieces down to us, which I think is the mark of a good epic work.

All the characters in the poem work together to reveal what is valuable and what is scorned by Roman worldview. Aeneas and co. create a distinct image of what it is to stick to the "true and good", elevating them to the status of heroes. There are three to four-ish traits that Virgil works to specifically highlight: that of sacrifice, duty, progeny, and fate. Aeneid's leadership is constantly defined by how he navigates these things: how he sacrifices his own desires for

The value most starkly contrasted with our own is the Roman conception of love and its place in our lives. Contrary to the general modern view, which sees love as a _____, Virgil's poem sees love as dangerous and a threatening enticer. Here Dido and Aeneas' love is cast in a decisively negative front: born by Venus in Dido who "ached/with longing that her heart's blood fed, a wound/or inward fire eating her away" (4.1-2) and culminated by Juno, who uses the budding love as a means to ensnare our hero and distract him from our mission. Love is therefore not viewed as something that blossoms from within a person, but is rather a tempestuous force compelled upon people by fickle gods, making them slaves to emotion. Dido's great strength and sense of duty - the very virtues which are central to the Roman understanding of good - disappear when Dido submits to this one weakness. It ultimately isolates her, twice bereft, leaving her at the mercy of her countrymen and the surrounding rulers as the rule she carefully built up comes crashing down. On the flip side, Virgil purposefully designs Aeneas' side of the struggle to echo the narrative pause in Homer's Odysseus, where the protagonist remains trapped with the witch Calypso, unable to complete his mission due to her advances. Aeneas has to be called back to his "true path" as the founder of Rome, away from the "distraction" of Dido. In fact, his relatively callous parting with Dido might sit uncomfortably with modern readers, but is very much written to be the best response for our hero to make in Virgil's eyes.

Truly, love is a blinder and a manipulator. A continuing theme in the Aeneid is how love makes you a fool - as shown here, where both Dido and Aeneas require rude awakenings to reveal the "folly" of their love. But these are far from the only examples: see Turnus, who is brought to a firey passion due to love (or lust, of which there was little distinction in the ancient world) for Lavinia, which ultimately gets him killed (12.92-101). Or Vulcan, god of the forge and fire, who ironically bends to the "flame of love" - the only fire which he cannot control (8.516-527).

“The Greeks thought lovesickness was a type of insanity, a view that was adopted by medieval commentators in Europe,” Coontz wrote in her book, Marriage, A History, a point further supported in works like Luc Ferry's On Love and C.S. Lewis' amazing An Allegory of Love on the advent of courtly love in the Middle Ages. Our modern conceptions of romantic love as a centerpoint for culture and human flourishing is apparently remarkably new. The Aeneid, therefore, works to supplement and enrich our understanding as to the fluidity of these norms that we now may take for granted as universals, allowing us to give our own preconceptions a double-take.

So where is identity created if not in love and self-actualization, which are the focii of our modern concepts of a "good life"? Virgil provides us with the lauded traits of Aeneas and his compatriots: sacrifice, progeny, and fate (duty?).