Respond to two students 300+ words each, add to the conversation not critique their work. Citations in MLA format.

First response

Virgil's poem The Aeneid begins with "Wars and a man I sing- an exile driven on by fate". (Puchner, et al., p.981). War is the center of most of our reading materials and has caused many individuals to be displaced.

War and its aftermath is the obvious conflict in the poem that causes Aeneas and his followers to leave troy. Aeneas is on a mission to find and establish a new home. He has a responsibility to his followers and I think that some of major, yet less obvious conflicts presented is the mental stress Aeneas endures throughout the poem and the pressures of being a leader.

Tragedy, violence, and death plays a major role during this time period that we study, yet the feelings of those who live through this are not highlighted, nor are they the focus on. Aeneas says "I launched on the Phrygian Sea with twenty ships, my goddess mother marking the way, and followed hard on the course the Fates has charted. A mere seven, battered by wind and wave, survived the worst." (Puchner, et al., p.992).

Out of twenty ships only seven made it to land due to Juno's plan in trying to destroy them all. Aeneas must deal with the pain of what happened at Troy only to be subjected to more destruction while at sea. As a leader he needs to stay strong in front of others. The internal conflicts he has forces him to carry the weight of the world because he has others who are relying on home to find a new home.

Aeneas stress, grief, pain, worriers, and suffering are due to the deaths of others, war, trauma, and the fear of the unknown. I would consider Aeneas deepest feelings a major conflict in The Aeneid because it is up to him whether or not they affect his leadership. In a way Aeneas is battling not only what is in front of him, but what is inside him as well.

It is mentioned that Aeneas is "overwhelmed by despair, wishing he could have died with his friends at Troy ... Aeneas feels not only physical fear but also despair at being a survivor, with no home to go to" (Puchner, et al., p.979).

This kind of stress could easily break someone, but Aeneas stays strong for his men who have also been traumatized by the effects of war. As a leader Aeneas puts his own feelings and thoughts aside to reassure others that there is hope. "Dismiss your grief and fear. A joy it will be one day, perhaps, to remember even this. Bear up.

Save your strength for better times to come" (Puchner, et al., p.987). In front of his men, Aeneas remains positive and keeps his own fears and uncertainties to himself. A major, but less obvious conflict are the feelings, thoughts, and emotions Aeneas keeps to himself in order to give hope to others.

Work Cited

Puchner, Martin, et al. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. W.W. Norton & Company, 2014.

Second reply

Besides Aeneas and Dido, and the Greeks and the Trojans, there are less obvious conflicts that take place within Virgil's Aeneid, which should be considered.

While most of the poem's most obvious battles involve both internal and external conflicts of Aeneas, significant conflicts also exist between the Gods and Goddesses. They play a direct role in the fate of the characters and at times their motives seem to be conflicting and detrimental in helping guide those heroes who are trying to fulfill their destinies. They almost act as children at times in their fits of rage, pettiness, and cruelty.

Juno, the goddess of marriage and wife and sister to Jupiter, is considerably one of the main sources of conflict within the Aeneid. She is a selfish goddess filled with pride and jealousy, who desires to be worshipped. She states, "Is anyone going to still worship the deity of Juno or in supplication lay honoring offerings on her alters?"

From the beginning, Juno, who has long despised the Trojan race - being that her beloved city of Carthage is prophesized to be destroyed by the Trojans - decides to take her anger out on Aeneas. Her anger prompts her to convince Aeolus, the god of wind, to raise up a storm in efforts to wipe out Aeneas's ships during his voyage to Italy. In return, the sea God Neptune, who is annoyed with Aeolus's interference with the ocean, is able to subside the storm and Aeneas sets port in Libya, still with some ships left to spare.

Neptune says, referring to Aeolus, "He is not the one who has jurisdiction over the sea or holds the trident that knows no pity. That is my responsibility, given to me by my lot". This shows how much the gods were able to manipulate and influence the characters in the midst of their own petty quarrels. While Aeneas was detested by one god, he experienced favor from another. Another example of this type of conflict between gods occurs when Juno realizes that Aeneas is destined to be the founder of Rome.

She sends her messenger, Iris, to the beach to convince the other women, who are fanning over the men playing games by the ships, to set the ships on fire in efforts to stop Aeneas from sailing to Rome. After failed attempts to put out the fire, Aeneas begs Jupiter, who as king of the gods, has the power to overrule any other god, to help save his ships. Jupiter, then summons for rainfall and the flames are then doused in water. Also despise Juno's efforts to keep Aeneas out of Rome, Jupiter sends Mercury, god of finance, gymnasts, thief's, merchants, and commerce, to Carthage to remind Aeneas of his destiny and that he should leave for Italy.

The gods are just as juvenile as some of the mortals that they try to manipulate

Works Sited

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mercury." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica.

Martin Puchner, Suzanne Akbari, Wiebke Denecke, Barbara Fuchs, Caroline Levine, Pericles Lewis, and Emily Wilson. The Aeneid. The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. 9th ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.