The Aeneid

I really like how The Aeneid begins by just throwing you into the fire. This is where the book starts, this is how it starts, here’s a storm, Juno did it, wha-pow. Then, everything leads in to ‘why.’

The Aeneid seems to be a lot denser than Metamorphosis. It reminds me less of a story (or of stories) and more like history, at least in the way it’s written.

I am very curious as to whether or not the Pygmalion that Venus is referring to is the same Pygmalion we read about in Metamorphosis.

It is interesting how much effort Venus is putting in to try to convince her son that she is trying to help him. It is also interesting how Venus does not actually want to listen to his tales of “endless hardship.” Are these tales actually endless, or is Aeneas just being dramatic?

I am really surprised how chill the queen of Libya is at all of these Trojans just showing up. She seems to be incredibly generous, but there has to be strings attached somewhere, right? Unless Jupiter is actually trying to stave off his wife’s anger, and is really trying to help.

Juno really holds grudges well. She permanently hates all these Trojans because of the past. Let it go, Juno.

I am kind of amazed how much Cupid seems to jump at his mother’s requests. I feel like this happens a lot in mythology, which is weird, because often the gods and goddesses do not like to listen to their parents. Maybe it just depends on the parents.

So, we finally have the story of the downfall of Troy. It seems so much less exciting than it has always been made to seem after all these years. The movie Troy actually did a much better job.

It seems interesting to me that (in Aeneas’s story) Venus defends Helen. I have always thought that Helen of Troy was supposedly descended from Venus, and this would add credibility to that theory. However, I believe we might have talked about it before in class, that no one really knows who she is descended from, and that it is possible she is descended from Jupiter. Both seem probable, but I always thought Venus made a lot more sense. Venus is the goddess of love, after all, and while many of the goddesses are known for their beauty, it was always a specialty of Venus: that she could change her form to be whatever pleased people the most. The whole Trojan War started because of the beauty of Helen of Troy.

It is really interesting that the city of Troy is Neptune’s city. It is also really interesting that Juno does not ever really seem to have anything against Neptune. She has no problem with him; she just has a problem with the Trojans.

Oh, look. A dude that is a tree. How surprising. That does not remind me of Metamorphosis at all. I do not think I have ever read a story before about someone getting turned into a tree. Let me guess, he tried to sleep with someone and a god or goddess took revenge. No? Oh, darn. I guess murder and then growing into a tree is not quite as exciting.

I am so excited. Scylla has been mentioned so many times in both Metamorphosis and so far in The Aeneid, and finally we get to interact with that six-headed dragon thing. Yay.

I kind of feel bad for Mercury and Cupid. Mercury more so, but it has to suck being the two gods that get sent to try to clean up messes or take care of everyone else’s problems.