Archive for October, 2010

Aeneid VI B

Thomas Fleming | October 21, 2010 | 0 Comments

Vergil lavishes a great deal of talent, energy, and lines on getting Aeneas to the Sibyl and transporting him to the Underworld. Clearly, in this very Odyssean section, he is seeking to outdo his master. There are many questions of the nature, geography, and justice system of Vergil’s Afterlife. One question has to do with how he interrelates his tripartite division–where bad people go, where good people go, and the intermediate zone–with his Pythagorean account of the reincarnation of souls.

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Aeneid VI

Aeneid VI

Thomas Fleming | October 7, 2010 | 5 Comments

Book VI and VII of the Aeneid mark the halfway point of the poem, and while VII describes the beginning of the final struggle–the landing in Italy, alliance with Latinus, and the war in Italy–book VI is even more pivotal. It looks back to the death of Anchises but more importantly it looks forward, past the coming trials, to all of Roman history down to Vergil’s day.

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