10 VERGIL: AENEID, BOOK 2

gods and fate. Such readings perceive a much darker poetic world" and havebeen called "pessimistic" or "ambivalent.?" Vergil's portrayal of Aeneas isthus a major element in debates over the epic's meaning," and Book 2 playsan important role in them.

Book 2 within the context of the AeneidThe Aeneid begins as Aeneas and the Trojans are sailing to Italy, about

to reach the land that fate has promised them, when their nemesis Juno in-tervenes by sending a storm that shipwrecks them at Carthage. There, withsome divine assistance, they are welcomed by Dido, the Carthaginian queen.At a feast at the end of book 1, she asks Aeneas to tell his story about the endof the Trojan war and its aftermath.

Aeneas agrees, and the next two books are flashback narratives relatedin his own voice. In book 2, he provides an eyewitness account of the fall ofTroy (see below, Structure and major themes of Aeneid 2). In book 3, he de-scribes his often confused wanderings from Troy in search of Italy, and endshis narration with his arrival at Dido's city.

Book 4 then treats the tragic love affair that develops between Didoand Aeneas, whose desire to linger with the queen in Carthage is set againsthis duty to lead his people to Italy. Aeneas ultimately leaves Dido and, after astop in Sicily (book 5) and a heroic journey through the Underworld (book6), he reaches Latium in Italy (book 7). Upon his arrival there, however, he

41 See, e.g., Putnam (1965), Johnson (1976), Lyne (1987), and Thomas (2001). Putnam'sreading of the Aeneid has been particularly influential. Of the ending of the poemhe writes: "By giving himself over with such suddenness to the private wrath whichthe sight of the belt of Pallas arouses, Aeneas becomes himself impius Furor, as ragewins the day over moderation, disintegration defeats order, and the achievements ofhistory through heroism fall victim to the human frailty of one man" (1965: 193-4).

42 For a general treatment of the optimism/pessimism debate, see Kennedy (1992).For a critique of the "pessimistic" view, see Martindale (1993); for critique of the"optimistic" stance and its rejection of "pessimism," see Thomas (2001). For thecontinuing debate over the politics of the Aeneid and over the Augustan age moregenerally, see the collections of Powell (1992) and Stahl (1998).

43 Indeed some readers also question whether it is even possible to resolve thisinterpretive debate because ofVergil's inherent ambiguity. See Johnson (1976),Perkell (1994), and O'Hara (2007): 77-103. Martindale (1993) offers a critique ofambiguous readings.

INTRODUCTION

is immediately entangled in a troubling war that occupies the remainder ofthe poem.

Throughout the epic Aeneas appears as a complicated figure, whosestrengths and weaknesses are always on display. Book 2 provides a key entrypoint into his portrayal. In it, we see Aeneas at a defining moment, as he wit-nesses the fall of Troy. His account of his experiences involves many of theepic's central themes.

Structure and major themes of Aeneid 2Book 2 opens with the Greek camps deserted and the Trojans cau-

tiously believing that the war is over; it ends with Troy's utter destructionand Aeneas' flight from it. In between we hear Aeneas' account of the city'scapture, a tale imbued with tragic motifs of reversed fortune, disastrousmisinterpretation, and human suffering at the hands of the gods and fate.The book can be divided into three large sections: the ruse of the wooden(i.e. "Trojan") horse (1-267), the sack of Troy (268-558), and Aeneas' flightfrom the city with his family and people (559-804).

Though Aeneas' narration bears the influence of earlier tragic andepic accounts of Troy's fall (see 1-267 n.), Homer's Odyssey remains a defin-ing model, as it had been in the previous book. Aeneid 1, which describesthe shipwreck of Aeneas at Carthage, is modeled on Odyssey 5-8, in whichOdysseus is shipwrecked at Scheria. Likewise, Aeneas' inset narrative to theCarthaginians in Aeneid 2-3 recalls Odyssey 9-12, in which the Greek herorelates his wanderings after the Trojan war to king Alcinous and his palacecourt. Odysseus and Aeneas are thus both internal narrators, who have sur-vived Troy, nearly died at sea, and now seek assistance from those people towhom they direct their tales."

It is therefore important here, as elsewhere, to consider the Aeneid'sinteraction with Homeric epic as a creative medium through which Virgildefines his characters and their struggles. For example, Aeneas in book 2turns the Homeric Odysseus into a symbol of treachery (see e.g. 90 n.). Atthe same time, he recasts the Trojans' loss of their city as an opportunityfor them to achieve a still greater achievement, the eventual foundation ofRome. Such reinterpretations of Homer, in turn, set in relief several issues

44 On Aeneas as narrator, see commentary note on 1-267.

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12 VERGIL: AENEID, BOOK 2

and themes important for our understanding of book 2 and ofVergil's epicmore generally.

First, the derogatory depiction of Ulysses (i.e. Odysseus) is central tothe portrayal of the Greeks as a whole, for throughout book 2 they will actwith characteristic treachery and impiety (cf. Sinon and Pyrrhus). Aeneasand the Trojans, however, will suffer because of their lack of deception, theirguilelessness, as they painfully come to accept their fate and the will of theirgods. Aeneas, in fact, will embody the ideal of pietas (duty and respect forone's family, state, and the gods), and this virtue will also be the definingtrait of the future Romans.

Second, we witness in Aeneas' actions a gradual transformation ofHomeric heroism (one that privileges the individual's glory) into a heroismbased in pietas (one that strives for the good of the community). By leadinghis people from their fallen city to pursue the land fate has promised them,Aeneas in Aeneid 2-3 differs significantly from his Homeric counterpart inOdysseus, who gradually loses all his companions in the course of his insetnarrative.

Finally, these differing modes of heroism are implicated in the con-flict between pietas and furor that operates throughout book 2. Aeneas willultimately act to save his family and people (i.e. pietas-based heroism), butalong the way he will be distracted by furor and ira to attempt acts for hisown glory (i.e. Homeric heroism). It will be Aeneas' challenge to control hispassions so that he may fulfill the mandates of the gods and fate.

Central to this transformation in Aeneas' heroism are actions on thedivine level. The plan of fate and the gods' machinations are largely un-known to mortal characters, but they place Significant pressure on Aeneas.At important moments in book 2 (289-95, 594-620, 776-89), he is given spe-cial access to the divine dimension behind Troy's fall. But for the mandatesof fate to be fulfilled, Aeneas endures many misfortunes - in book two andthroughout the entire epic. He loses his city, his king, and his wife (book 2),his father (book 3), his lover Dido (book 4). He becomes a refugee settler(book 7), and must fight another war (books 7-12). One of Aeneas' definingstruggles is to come to understand and to accept fate, the role of the gods(sometimes incomprehensibly violent) in overseeing it, and the require-ments placed upon him as a result.

Because book 2 involves themes that matter for the entire poem, it fig-ures in a number of debates that have defined interpretation of the Aeneid. Itis clear that Aeneas in book 2 is not a perfect being. He is constantly tested

INTRODUCTION

by emotions that threaten to distract him from what fate requires of him. Inwhat ways does his yielding to furor in book 2 shed light on his actions laterin the poem, particularly his slaying of Turnus at the poem's conclusion?And what does book 2 tell us about the nature and moral quality of fate andof the gods?

Bibliography. For more on the general themes and shape of book 2, seecommentary notes on 1-267,268-558 and 559-804. For general interpreta-tions of book 2, see Heinze (1915, 1993: 3-49), Putnam (1965) 3-63, Anderson(2005), Gransden (1990), Johnson (1999), Adler (2003) 253-79. On the lit-erary tradition of Troy's fall, see Heinze (1915; 1993: 49) and Gantz (1993)646-57,713-17. For the influence of tragedy in particular, see 1-267 n.

On the imagery of book 2, see Knox (1950) and Putnam (1965) 3-63.On Greek treachery, see R. M. Smith (1999) and Syed (2005) 199-204. For thediffering conceptions of heroism, see Johnson (1999) 50-4 and Adler (2003)252-79. On wrath and fury in book 2 and beyond, contrast the "pessimistic"view of Putnam (1995) 172-200 with the "optimistic" and philosophical ar-guments of Galinsky (1988) and Wright (1997). On the gods in book 2 (andbeyond), see Coleman (1982), G. W. Williams (1983) 3-39, Cairns (1989) 1-28, E. L. Harrison (1990), Feeney (1991) 129-87, and Johnson (1999).

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