The Aeneid by the Roman author Virgil is an epic poem that tells the story of the journey of the Trojan prince Aeneas to Italy and the eventual foundation of Rome following the events of the Trojan War. This epic is often compared to two well-known predecessors, The Iliad and The Odyssey (works commonly associated with the Greek author Homer), based on both stylistic and thematic similarities, but there are also distinct differences between the two authors' works . As Robert Fitzgerald points out in the “Postscript” for his translation of the Aeneid, “[Virgil] recreated a Homeric hero in the Homeric age, he also deliberately echoed Homer in many narrative details, in many conventions and features of style. . But his aim was totally non-Homeric and drastically original: to enclose in the mythical action of the Aeneid direct prefigurations and predictions of Roman history, more than a thousand years of it between Aeneas and his time. It is through this "non-Homeric" narrative that Virgil is able to weave the theme of love into this tale, thus showing his uniqueness as an author. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayLove takes many forms, ranging from romantic love to platonic, familial love and even bloodlust, which can be interpreted as love of war and battle, one of the most violent forms of passion. With these variations of love present in the Aeneid, Virgil then shows how this literary theme influences the duality of humanity as a compliant and unyielding force, simultaneously bringing power and also exposing weakness, and consequently influencing the themes of fate and pain expressed in this book. poetry. By presenting both the sentimental and volatile forms of love, a recognizable comparison and juxtaposition between love and war is then created, inviting readers to determine whether love is mere emotion or a force more powerful than it seems. Examples in which the above-mentioned forms of love take place include Aeneas' relationships with his father Anchises, his son Ascanius, the Phoenician queen Dido, and the Rutulian prince Turnus, as well as the tragic story of the Trojan lovers Nisus and Euryalus. Aeneas's relationships with his father Anchises and son Ascanius are described as a cyclical process, in which the roles of loving son and wise father are passed down from one generation to the next. After Anchises' death and despite his grief, Aeneas maintained a respectful attitude towards his father and strove to honor him on the anniversary of his death, thus fulfilling his pietas - his duty - as Anchises' son. He says it while carrying out and celebrating the funeral of Anchises and in turn demonstrates how love is steadfast, how it does not bow before death and how it persists despite pain (Aeneid 5,105-110): «I greet and bless you, sacred father , bless you, ashes and shadow and soul, fatherly soul that I once saved in vain. It was not given to me with you at my side to explore the coasts and plains of Italy, nor to discover, whatever it may be, the Ausonian Tiber… ”On the contrary, when he educates his son Ascanius, Aeneas's identity takes on a notable change, allowing him to become the same protective patriarchal figure that Anchises had been to him. In addition to acknowledging the importance of his role in Ascanius' life, Aeneas also mentions Hector, the fallen leader of the Trojan army, who was one of the main characters in Homer's Iliad. In the following passage taken from the Aeneid 12.595-602, Aeneas reminds Ascanius of the difficulties that await him and the two men who will be able to instruct and protect him: Aeneas and Hector. This message of passing on knowledge and continuing practice of filial piety across generationsit therefore denotes how love continues and will continue to be transmitted through such family relationships: «Learn from me the strength and the fatigue, son, the pain of true fatigue. Good luck learns from others. My sword arm will now be your shield in battle and introduce you to the benefits of war. When, before long, you reach the state of man, be sure to remember this. Remembering your family's role models, let your father, Aeneas, and your uncle, Hector, stir your heart. Beginning with the ill-fated love between Aeneas and the Carthaginian queen Dido, Virgil describes what is usually filled with amorous displays and sweet courtships as something like a fire, a deadly passion that devours the vulnerable Dido from the inside. All this thanks to the cunning of Venus, mother of Aeneas and goddess of love, and her son Cupid, in an attempt to intervene in Aeneas's chances of reaching Italy: “The inner fire devours the soft marrow, / And the Inside the wound continues to bleed in silence”. (Aeneid 4,93-94). Later, after receiving the news that Aeneas will leave Carthage to fulfill his destiny, Dido's metaphorical wound manifests itself in tangible form through her suicide by Aeneas's blade. This final act of personal sacrifice then shows how love surrenders to fate in such extreme circumstances, and how such fiercely passionate love can only lead to destruction (Aeneid 4.904-906, 915-919):“ 'Remain to me dear While god and destiny has permitted, take this breath and give me respite from these agonies. […]I die unavenged,' she said, 'but let me die this way, this way, it is a blessed relief to go into darkness. Let the cold Trojan, far out at sea, drink this conflagration and bring with him the omen of my death!' ”Similarly, the tragic story of the lovers Nisus and Euryalus also paints a less flattering picture of what romantic love can entail. After their escape from the raid on the Rutulian camp goes awry and Euryalus' life is threatened, even a warrior as brave and skilled as Nisus is reduced to making terrified pleas to prevent Euryalus from certain death. These efforts, however, proved in vain, as the lovers' captors decided instead to brutally kill them, carrying their severed heads on spears like twisted scepters of victory back to the Rutuli camp: horrible sight: / They stared at the spears, raised and aimed / In provocative parade: Euryalus and Nisus” (Aeneid 9.660-662). As this quote and the subsequent quote from Aeneid 9.605-610 show, love has the power to reduce us to our weakest and most pathetic states in the most desperate and dangerous circumstances, especially when we encounter fear and pain at the right times. at the same time: “No, me! Me! Here I am! I did it! Bring me your swords, Rutuli. The whole deception was mine. He didn't dare do anything, he couldn't. The sky is my witness, and the stars looking down on us, all he did was worry too much about an unfortunate friend. ”Finally, from a more unconventional approach, comes love in the form of bloodlust and desire for war and brutality. In the final moments of the Aeneid, Aeneas is on the brink of victory when Turnus begs for mercy out of love for his father. For a brief moment, it seems that Aeneas' bloodlust had been satiated and that his next move would be one of mercy, which would surely add another kind of love to the mix: one of compassion and forgiveness. Unfortunately for Turnus, Aeneas sees Pallas' sword belt hanging from the Rutulian prince's shoulders and his thirst for revenge thus resurfaces, strengthening Aeneas' decision to condemn Turnus to death instead. As Aeneas' last words will say, love, in its deepest core, is,.