Aeneas and Fate

My life was full of despair and remorse. The only thing Ihad to look forward to was the quest for the land thatwould become the famous Roman Empire. During my life, I wasbut a pawn of the gods in the effort to secure thisdestiny. Occasionally there were happy times but mostly Ihad been filled with suffering, the victim of circumstanceafter circumstance, and my family was also made to suffer.I am Aeneas, a great Trojan warrior and king, and unable todeter the unhappiness that Fate had brought upon me. After the great war we fought against the Greeks, over awoman, I was forced to leave. In my dreams and by mymother's will, my family had to leave Troy in order for theTrojans and their gods to live. Against my will I left thebattle and collected my family, including my father whoneeded added encouragement from the gods above on Olympus,and we departed that land we had always called home. Inthat process, I lost my loving wife, Cruesa, to thosemurdering Greeks. I tried to retrieve her but her wish aswell was for me to continue on my journey with our son,Ascanius, to ensure the population of the Trojan people ina distant land. With my son, my father, and the rest of the survivorswilling to follow me to a new land, I went over themountains and set sail for Italy. The first place wevisited was the great island of Sicily, with its "famousking of Trojan blood, Acestes", where we were welcomed andinvited to stay on to make this place our home (VirgilI:169-170). It was during this visit that I lost my father,Anchises. We politely declined this offer and again set sail. Littledid we know Juno, having known of the future Romedestroying her favorite city of Carthage, set up a storm totry to avert our passage to what would become our newhomeland and was temporarily successful. I did end up inCarthage and, oh, the beauty of the Queen. Dido, a woman tobe admired, had lost the love of her life by her brother'shand and was able to go on and begin the framework of avery successful city. She had, however, sworn never to loveagain but was guided by the goddesses, Juno and Venus (mymother) to give her heart to me. I returned her love fully,but reminded by the god Mercury that my destiny awaited inanother land, was forced against my will to leave Dido'sside which caused her death. Towards my destiny I then moved, and after a dream visitedby my father, I landed on Italian soil and consulted TheSibyl to take me to the world of the shades. There I sawmany of my comrades and Dido, who was still so angry shewould not speak to me, and finally what my father intended:the Great Romans that were to come of my ancestry. As thesettlement of Italy begins, a war breaks out and I wasvisited by my mother who is bearing gifts of armor to keepme safe from harm. Her husband, Vulcan, hand crafted thearmor and the shield on which I finally was able to see whyall the anguish I had endured was necessary. There on theshield was the entire story of the Rome to come and mydescendants that would ensure its existence and maintainits power for generations. I married Lavinia, after having to battle and defeat Turnuswhich was not an easy task with Juno on his side. I livedwith war and trouble and died before my time, as Dido bidme as her death wish after I left her, but it was all forthe greater good. Our Trojan ways were eventuallyincorporated into the Latin culture also granted to Dido bythe gods, but that was just one more sacrifice to be made.Although not mortally by his side, I was able to see my sonand his descendants go on to found the city of Rome and thegreat Roman Empire. I was immortalized and able to see thehappenings as foretold to me by my father and on the shieldcarefully crafted by Vulcan and I was, probably for thefirst time, able to be happy with Fate. Bibliography Virgil, The Aeneid. The Norton Anthology of WorldMasterpieces. Vol. 1. 6th ed. Ed. Maynard Mack, BernardM.W. Knox, John C. McGallaird, P.M. Pasinetti, Howard E.Hugo, Patricia Meyer Spacks, Rene Wellek, Kenneth Douglas,and Sarah Lawall. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992. 841-917.Bloom, Harold, ed. Virgil: Modern Critical Views. New York:Chelsea House Publishers. 1986.