Desire is very prevalent in both Augustine’s Confessions and Virgil’s Aeneid. It often has dangerous consequences--whether it be falling away from God and spirituality, like Augustine, or shirking away from pietas like Aeneas. The Confessions illustrates how desires and choices can morph into habits which tear a person away from God whereas the Aeneid demonstrates that desire and furor are nearly interchangeable, and when gone wrong, can have deadly outcomes. The gravest consequence of desire for Augustine as seen in Confessions is him drawing himself away from God. Augustine had a habitual lust for women that formed in his early adolescence and was first hinted at during an encounter with his father Patrick (Discussion 11/11, 11/13). Patrick
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There are three ideas driving the Aeneid: fatum, furor, and pietas. Furor and desire often go hand in hand, especially in the context of love. However, this furor often distracts from the pietas of an individual, which is exampled by the love between Aeneas and Dido (Lecture 10/23). Aeneas will always abide by his pietas even if he does not want to, due to the fated universe in which he lives (Discussion 10/21). Dido and Aeneas become enamored with each other, and Aeneas stays with Dido for about a year (Lecture 10/23). Aeneas desires to stay in Carthage with Dido, yet he rejects this because it is his pietas to establish the society which will eventually become Rome (Lecture 10/23). Although people have desires, some things have to go so everything else can fall into place (Discussion 10/23). The love between Aeneas and Dido simply could not be. Her furor for Aeneas, which was injected into her by the gods, was so strong that when he left Carthage, “in madness” Dido “unsheathes the Dardan sword” and kills herself (Aen. 4.893-894). Desire, for Aeneas and Dido, was a disastrous occurrence, and had deadly …show more content…
To be a “Roman” is “to spare defeated peoples” and to “teach peace to those [they] conquer” and then let them carry on which, leaves little room for revenge (Aen. 6.1135-1137). Battle is one place where the desire to kill is very prevalent, and when instigated, desires can overpower the need to be a proper Roman. Achilles’ son Pyrrhus illustrates this when he shows no mercy to and kills the King, Priam, on the “altar” after stating simply, “now die” (Aen. 2.727-743). Priam is “harmless” and had no chance of survival, yet Pyrrhus murders him anyways--the opposite of how a true “Roman” is supposed to act (Aen. 2.731, 6.1135). This foreshadows the outcome of the battle between Aeneas and Turnus later in the poem. Turnus kills Pallas in battle, and afterwards takes the belt Pallas was wearing (Lecture 10/28). Aeneas defeats Turnus, and Turnus begs Aeneas to think of “a dear parent’s grief,” invoking pietas (Aen. 12.1244). This tactic almost works until Aeneas spots Turnus adorning the “luckless belt of Pallas” (Aen. 12.1257). Aeneas was filled with rage, and his desire to avenge Pallas’ death overtook him (Lecture 10/28) Even Aeneas, the symbol of pietas, could not keep himself back from his desire for revenge when provoked (Lecture 10/28). There is a deep conflict between the desire to avenge the death of Pallas and being the ideal “roman” as outlined by Aeneas’ father in the underworld (Aen.
There are three ideas driving the Aeneid: fatum, furor, and pietas. Furor and desire often go hand in hand, especially in the context of love. However, this furor often distracts from the pietas of an individual, which is exampled by the love between Aeneas and Dido (Lecture 10/23). Aeneas will always abide by his pietas even if he does not want to, due to the fated universe in which he lives (Discussion 10/21). Dido and Aeneas become enamored with each other, and Aeneas stays with Dido for about a year (Lecture 10/23). Aeneas desires to stay in Carthage with Dido, yet he rejects this because it is his pietas to establish the society which will eventually become Rome (Lecture 10/23). Although people have desires, some things have to go so everything else can fall into place (Discussion 10/23). The love between Aeneas and Dido simply could not be. Her furor for Aeneas, which was injected into her by the gods, was so strong that when he left Carthage, “in madness” Dido “unsheathes the Dardan sword” and kills herself (Aen. 4.893-894). Desire, for Aeneas and Dido, was a disastrous occurrence, and had deadly …show more content…
To be a “Roman” is “to spare defeated peoples” and to “teach peace to those [they] conquer” and then let them carry on which, leaves little room for revenge (Aen. 6.1135-1137). Battle is one place where the desire to kill is very prevalent, and when instigated, desires can overpower the need to be a proper Roman. Achilles’ son Pyrrhus illustrates this when he shows no mercy to and kills the King, Priam, on the “altar” after stating simply, “now die” (Aen. 2.727-743). Priam is “harmless” and had no chance of survival, yet Pyrrhus murders him anyways--the opposite of how a true “Roman” is supposed to act (Aen. 2.731, 6.1135). This foreshadows the outcome of the battle between Aeneas and Turnus later in the poem. Turnus kills Pallas in battle, and afterwards takes the belt Pallas was wearing (Lecture 10/28). Aeneas defeats Turnus, and Turnus begs Aeneas to think of “a dear parent’s grief,” invoking pietas (Aen. 12.1244). This tactic almost works until Aeneas spots Turnus adorning the “luckless belt of Pallas” (Aen. 12.1257). Aeneas was filled with rage, and his desire to avenge Pallas’ death overtook him (Lecture 10/28) Even Aeneas, the symbol of pietas, could not keep himself back from his desire for revenge when provoked (Lecture 10/28). There is a deep conflict between the desire to avenge the death of Pallas and being the ideal “roman” as outlined by Aeneas’ father in the underworld (Aen.