Week 3: Taylor Baggerly

An epic poem, by definition, is "a long narrative poem on a great and serious subject, related in an elevated stule, and centered on a heroic or quasi- divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or a human race" (The Epic). The Aeneid by Virgil meets these requirements and more. The entirety of The Aeneid is an epic poem in itself, but I will be focusing on Book IV, specifically lines 239-261:

“Now in no time at all
through all the African cities Rumor goes-
Nimble as quicksilver among evils. Rumor
Thrives on motion, stronger for the running.
Lowly at first through fear, then rearing high,
She treads the land and hides her head in cloud.
As people fable it, the Earth, her mother,
Furious against the gods, bore a late sister
To the giants Coeus and Enceladus,
Giving her speed on foot and on the wing:
Monstrous, deformed, titanic. Pinioned, with
An eye beneath for every body feather,
And, strange to say, as may tongues and buzzing
Mouths as eyes, as many pricked- up ears,
By night she flies between the earth and heaven
Shrieking through darkness, and she never turns,
Her eye lids down to sleep. By day she broods,
On the alerts, on rooftops or on towers,
Bringing great cities fear, harping on lies
And slander evenhandedly with truth.
In those days Rumor took an evil joy
At filling countryside’s with whispers, whispers,
Gossip of what was done, and never done. . . . (239-261)

In this passage specifically, we see a great deal of metaphors. ‘Rumor’ is personified as a malicious woman whose pleasure lies in spreading lies about people wherever she can. Throughout Book IV, metaphoric passages happen frequently, as does personification, and one has to keep that in mind while reading The Aeneid.

Another thing to consider while reading Book IV is the absence of a strong feminine role. While it’s true that Juno and Venus are given sharp personalities, the rest of the female characters, in and out of Book IV are not as biting.

Dido, for example, lets her love for Aeneas control her life. Dido was effectively used by the gods as a plaything. Although some strength is shown by her defying the gods and continuing to love Aeneas, even though she knows he’s destined to go and build the Roman Empire, she ultimately turns into a psychotic mess when Aeneas does leave. By building her own funeral pyre and stabbing herself with his sword, she shows a) her inability to handle tough situations, and b) how psychologically messed up she is. “On Dido in her desolation now/ Terror grew at her fate. She prayed for death,/ Being heartsick at the mere sight of heaven./ that she more surely would perform the act/ and leave the daylight,” (The Aeneid, Book IV, lines 622- 626).

A, N. "The Epic." Mac Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Sept. 2011.