Is Virgils Aenied an anti-war poem Essay - 2377 Words

Is Virgil’s Aeneid an Anti-War Poem? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Virgil opens the ‘Aeneid’ with the words ARMA virumque cano ( I sing of arms and of men). The central role that war plays in this Roman epic is made apparent from the very first word of the ‘Aeneid’ by the emphatic placing of the word arma at the very beginning of the poem. A fair chunk of Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ is set on the battle field but its violent and gory descriptions of death and its frequent battles alone cannot make this poem an anti-war poem. Virgil does not merely use the notion of war to further his plot but deals with many types and aspects of war throughout the entirety of his book; mythological wars; recent wars; their effects; their causes; and often one is†¦show more content†¦In book eleven, Virgil stresses the protagonist’s views on unnecessary violence when Latin envoys are sent to Aeneas to beg for a truce so they may collect their dead to which Aeneas replies â€Å"I would wish for those that were killed to have left this battle alive and I would wish not to have come here, if the fates had not given me this place and this home. Nor do I wage war with this race. It was the King who abandoned our friendship and trusted more in the weapons of Turnus† . Here we can see clearly that Aeneas was reluctantly forced into this war, not necessarily by the Latins but rather by the fates. It is possible that Virgil wished to communicate his own opinions on war to his audience in a subtle and stylistic manner by using Aeneas as his mouthpiece. Aeneas is the hero who we have all grown to love by this point in the epic and so expressing ideas via him would be the best approach as they will be more easily accepted when suggested by a well liked character. This technique could also allow Virgil to convey his personal thoughts in such a way that it would still be in keeping with the rest of the story. Virgil further suggests that an intense desire for combat is unheal thy and not particularly admirable by portraying Turnus, the enemy, as the embodiment of such a characteristic. After being manipulated by Allecto, Virgil states that the â€Å"love of the sword raged