Vergil continues to describe the image “the mother wolf stretched out in the green grotto of Mars, twin boys at her dugs.” (8.617-619) Here, he alludes to the legendary, oft-admired founder of Rome, Romulus, and his brother Remus, who were, as the quote describes, allegedly abandoned and cared for by a wolf. Although he does not specifically use their names, it is important to note that the phrase “twin boys” would most likely immediately evoke this specific myth in the minds of his audience - educated Roman men who would likely have a strong background in Roman history and mythology. Vergil’s references to Roman history notably includes the Gallic sack of Rome in 390 BC, over 400 years before the Aeneid’s publication. The presentation of this
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Augustus was Julius Caesar’s adopted son, and he took on the name “Caesar Augustus” when he rose to power. Vergil presumably uses this particular label to invoke the sheer power of Julius Caesar’s rule; the Aeneid was published in 19 AD, while Caesar was assassinated about 60 years earlier. His legacy may have added an almost legendary element to public perception of his character, like that of Romulus. Therefore, Vergil may have been attempting to trigger his audience’s memory of Caesar’s triumphs and associate them with Augustus in order to bolster his public image. This is likely, considering that Augustus served as Vergil’s patron, as a notable sponsor of art and literature during his rule, and is widely believed to have commissioned the Aeneid as a form of propaganda - a purpose which the Iliad likely did not take on. The passage describing the shield as a whole is a prominent example of propagandistic sentiment in the …show more content…
. . leading his troupe of eunuchs, his hair oozing oil, a Phrygian bonnet tucked up under his chin.” (4.202-4.204) The use of oil in one’s hair and the wearing of “bonnets” were fashionable in the East, presumably including in Aeneas’s homeland of Troy; such a custom was not reciprocated in northern Africa or in Greece at the time. In both of these examples, the Orientalization serves as a tool to establish intrinsic differences between two opponents; this particular tactic is not utilized nearly as heavily in the Iliad.
One of the other direct references to Homer made by Vergil, which takes place in Book 6, is also clearly propaganda: Aeneas descends into the Underworld in order to find his deceased father, Anchises. This scene is reminiscent of Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey, where Odysseus travels to the Underworld and meets his Achaean comrades: Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax. Said reminiscence is evident to the point where Vergil essentially uses a Homeric simile verbatim, writing that “three times [Aeneas] trie[s] to fling his arms around [Anchises’s]
Augustus was Julius Caesar’s adopted son, and he took on the name “Caesar Augustus” when he rose to power. Vergil presumably uses this particular label to invoke the sheer power of Julius Caesar’s rule; the Aeneid was published in 19 AD, while Caesar was assassinated about 60 years earlier. His legacy may have added an almost legendary element to public perception of his character, like that of Romulus. Therefore, Vergil may have been attempting to trigger his audience’s memory of Caesar’s triumphs and associate them with Augustus in order to bolster his public image. This is likely, considering that Augustus served as Vergil’s patron, as a notable sponsor of art and literature during his rule, and is widely believed to have commissioned the Aeneid as a form of propaganda - a purpose which the Iliad likely did not take on. The passage describing the shield as a whole is a prominent example of propagandistic sentiment in the …show more content…
. . leading his troupe of eunuchs, his hair oozing oil, a Phrygian bonnet tucked up under his chin.” (4.202-4.204) The use of oil in one’s hair and the wearing of “bonnets” were fashionable in the East, presumably including in Aeneas’s homeland of Troy; such a custom was not reciprocated in northern Africa or in Greece at the time. In both of these examples, the Orientalization serves as a tool to establish intrinsic differences between two opponents; this particular tactic is not utilized nearly as heavily in the Iliad.
One of the other direct references to Homer made by Vergil, which takes place in Book 6, is also clearly propaganda: Aeneas descends into the Underworld in order to find his deceased father, Anchises. This scene is reminiscent of Book 11 of Homer’s Odyssey, where Odysseus travels to the Underworld and meets his Achaean comrades: Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax. Said reminiscence is evident to the point where Vergil essentially uses a Homeric simile verbatim, writing that “three times [Aeneas] trie[s] to fling his arms around [Anchises’s]