Fate And Duty In Virgil's 'The Aeneid'

The themes of fate and duty are very evident in Virgil’s The Aeneid. “The concept of fate or destiny can be used to express the privileged sense, derived from hindsight, that, once a series of events has taken place, its unfolding can be seen to have been inevitable: it could not have happened otherwise” (Williams, 5). These themes are shown most in the killing of Turnus and his destined death by Aeneas and ultimately the gods who control the fate of everyone. Lines 940 through 1157 depict the fate of Turnus related directly to the duty given to Aeneas, but this fate is hinted at in the entirety of The Aeneid. The killing of Turnus is believed by most to be of fate; which according to some, Turnus already knows. Aeneas is a man of character …show more content…
Turnus was not afraid of Aeneas and in any other circumstance he would have been able to defeat him, but at this point, his fate rested in the hands of the gods, who favored Aeneas. He is described as “huge” and even tells Aeneas “you don’t scare me, big-mouth. The gods scare me” (XII.1084-1085). Turnus is not the only one who knows his fate. An omen that solidified Turnus’ closeness to death is the Dread One who came to Turnus disguised as an owl, beating on his shield and terrifying him: “A strange, numbing dread washed through Turnus’ body; his hair bristled with fear; his voice stuck in his throat” (XII. 1047-1049). Death was approaching Turnus and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would die unless he could hinder Aeneas and somehow kill him before the gods helped Aeneas fulfill Turnus’ destined death. His bravery was soon replaced with fear when “he saw death closing in,” and had “nowhere to escape, no way to attack his enemy” (XII.1110-1112). Huskey’s view on Turnus’ response here proves to be relevant because it shows once again the theme of fate in The Aeneid. He says Aeneas really preserves his sanity here because he subordinates his own anxieties and desires to the demands of fate. Having an understanding of the theme being portrayed between Aeneas and Turnus is vital to understanding the entire …show more content…
He was constantly tempted to let his emotions overthrow his lawful duty to Troy; furthermore, the gods were constantly watching his every move and moving him towards the right path for the ultimate goal and purpose of his journey. The gods saw Aeneas as a great man who would one day be divine, as quoted by the Lord of Olympus when he explains to Juno that “Aeneas, the hero of his country, is destined to be exalted to the stars,” and in the case of Turnus, “however bravely he tried, the Dread One would not let him win through” (XII.957-958, 1106-1107). Juno knew that Aeneas was going to conquer Troy and so she began to place obstacles in front of Aeneas to delay his fate, even though she knew that she was not going to be able to withhold Aeneas from pursuing and conquering his destiny. When Juturna struggled in helping her brother, she was shamed and her actions reprimanded because of her attempt to salvage Turnus’ life at the cost of her own. She could see the severity of the Dread One’s signal to Turnus and despite her immortality as a nymph, she cried out to her brother, “nothing I can do will prolong the light for you” (XII.1056-1057). Not only is this statement a plea to the gods for her brother’s life, but it is also an underlying statement on the absence of power that women had during this time in Roman culture and values. The gods also protected the Trojan soldiers to ensure that Aeneas would be able