The Aeneid by Virgil Essay -- Greek Gods Shipwreck Essays

The Aeneid by Virgil In Virgils famous school text The Aeneid he writes about the history of the coming of Rome and the journey of its Trojan compriseer, Aeneas, from the wreckage of his old home at Troy. While this text is extremely adjunct of the greatness of the Roman Empire, it also has a distinctly surreptitious irregular voice that talks about loss. We also find that in Confessions by Saint Augustine the author at times addresses paragon very personally, and at different times does non refer to him much at all. The private tones of these 2 texts contrast in that Augustines is generally constructive, while the match voice in Virgil describes loss. Virgil begins The Aeneid with a general summary of the story that he is about to tell and, while the great rise of Rome is foretold, the low of its founder is also interwoven. That the greatness of Rome is mentioned so archaean is not surprising, because the purpose of this text is to glorify Rom e, its people, and their histories. Virgil begins his text with, I sing of war and a man at war. / From the sea-coast of Troy in early days / He came to Italy by destiny, / There he could found a urban center and bring home / His gods to Latium, land of the Latin race, / The Alban lords, and the high walls of Rome. (Virgil, 3) These first hardly a(prenominal) lines appear very optimistic and boastful. Aeneas is destined by fate to found Rome, and also to bring with him the favor of his gods. When read in this form, these lines are positive however, Virgil also forecasts misfortune for Aeneas. Several of the first few lines also inhibit prospects for Aeneas to suffer losses. In the lines in the preceding paragraph, the first ellipsis reads as follows A fugitive... ...ders attention to important issues within the text without elastic the authors style or message. The main differences between the two are that it is more accurate to characterize Augustines writin g as having one voice which speaks in a private, direct tone to God when he has something important to say and in a general, relaxed tone the other times. In contrast, Virgil writes in a private voice to pity the mountainous amount Aeneas suffered against his own will to found Rome while the earthly concern voice solicits propaganda for Rome. Nevertheless, both authors successfully use their styles to convey important ideas which we persist in to see and hear of today. Works Cited Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York Random House, 1990. Saint Augustine. Confessions. Trans. enthalpy Chadwick. New York Oxford University Press, 1992.