Essay on "Choose From List"

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[EXCERPT] . . . .

Lavinia in the Aeneid

In the Aeneid, the character Lavinia plays simultaneously a very minor and a very major role in the poem. Her name is mentioned a mere 17 times throughout the body of the poem (Virgil), and she takes no actual action, except for what is mentioned in a flashback sequence. As a result, it is clear that her role is minor. However, she is also the wife of the hero and the means by which the Trojan line can be perpetuated. Therefore, she is a minor character with a major role in the play. Moreover, her major role in the play does not simply define her role, but also the role of her country in the history of the Trojans. Her role is minor in that she is mentioned only a handful of times throughout the play, and she personally has no real interaction with any other characters. Instead, her basic role is that of chattel, to be given by her father, Latinus, to Aeneas as a wife. However, while Lavinia herself takes practically no action in the poem, her role is major in that this political marriage has a significant impact on her countrymen. Lavinia becomes the underlying reason underneath the struggle between the Trojans and the Latians, and she actually symbolizes all of the Latians; whoever wins Lavinia will be the ruler of the Latians. This means that Lavinia's story really provides the historical underpinning for the entire poem.

Lavinia is principally defined as her father's daughter, which is not a surprising characterization given the historical context of the poem, in which women were largely considered chattel and it was not unusual for fathers to arrange marriages for their daughters. Her father Latinus is the King of Latium, and she is his prize; with her hand goes the country:

Thus King Latinus, in the third degree,

Had Saturn author of his family.

But this old peaceful prince, as Heav'n decreed,

Was blest with no male issue to succeed:

His sons in blooming youth were snatch'd by fate;

One only daughter heir'd the royal state.

Therefore, it is important to always keep in mind that when the poem is discussing Lavinia it is, by extension, also discussing the fate of Latium and all of the Latians. Her fate is intertwined with the fate of the country, and it is intertwined in that manner long before any mention of Aeneas because she is her father's only surviving heir.

The undeniable relationship between the state of Lavinia and the fate of the Latians is important, because it helps explain why some of the characters in the play are so perplexed by Latinus' seemingly ready acceptance of the fates decreeing that a foreigner shall marry his daughter. His doing so not only impacts his daughter's life, or even serves as a typical political marriage, but literally means that the entire fate of the country will transfer from Latian-controlled to being controlled by an outsider. However, he acknowledges the role that Lavinia is prophesied to play, not only in Aeneas' life, but in the continuation of the Trojan line:

An Alban name, but mix'd with Dardan blood,

Born in the covert of a shady wood:

Him fair Lavinia, thy surviving wife,

Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary life.

In Alba he shall fix his royal seat,

And, born a king, a race of kings beget.

Then Procas, honor of the Trojan name,

Capys, and Numitor, of endless fame.

A second Silvius after these appears;

Silvius Aeneas, for thy name he bears;

For arms and justice equally renown'd,

Who, late restor'd, in Alba shall be crown'd (Virgil).

It is important to keep in mind that simply because Latinus accepts his daughter's fated future, it does not mean that he is happy to hear that she needs to marry a foreigner. There is nothing to suggest that his warm welcome for Aeneas is driven by any genuine positive emotion for him, but it does indicate that he understands the risks of going against prophecy. More importantly, he understands that his daughter plays a role in fate that must be fulfilled, even though it will be unpleasant. A prophecy clearly stated that his daughter's marriage to a foreign prince would provoke a war that would devastate his people:

An ancient augur prophesied from hence:

"Behold on Latian shores a foreign prince!

From the same parts of heav'n his navy stands,

To the same parts on earth; his army lands;

The town he conquers, and the tow'r commands."

Yet more, when fair Lavinia fed the fire

Before the gods, and stood beside her sire,

(Strange to relate!) the flames, involv'd in smoke

Of incense, from the sacred altar broke,

Caught her dishevel'd hair and rich attire;

Her crown and jewels crackled in the fire:

From thence the fuming trail began to spread

And lambent glories danc'd about her head.

This new portent the seer with wonder views,

Then pausing, thus his prophecy renews:

"The nymph, who scatters flaming fires around,

Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crown'd;

But, caus'd by her irrevocable fate,

War shall the country waste, and change the state" (Virgil).

It is also critical be realize that Aeneas was a hero of the Trojan War, which makes the idea of fighting over a woman, any woman, seem particularly foolhardy. He does not have to rely upon prophecy to understand that this was will waste a country; he has already lived through a war that was ostensibly fought over a woman and that devastated his country. The Trojan War began when Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. As in the Aeneid, the gods played an important role in the Trojan War, which originated with a dispute between the goddesses Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite over who was the most beautiful. Paris determined that Aphrodite was the most beautiful of the three goddesses, and, in return, she gave him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Unfortunately, Helen was already married to Menalaus at this time, and when Troy took Helen from her, he began the Trojan War. Of course, in the Trojan War, the underlying motive for the war was not really Menelaus' affection for Helen. Menalaus was not even the one who waged the war; instead, it was Agamemnon, Menalaus brother and the king of Mycenae, who waged war against Troy, because it was insulting that Paris took Helen. The Achaeans were eventually successful in their siege of Troy, and they slaughtered almost all of the men, kept the women and children as slaves, and desecrated the temples. Aeneas was one of the few Trojans who survived the siege; therefore, one would think that he would have been particularly aware of the potential dangers, not only to him but to his fellow surviving Trojans, of starting a war over a woman. He would also have been wary of the gods promising anyone a marriage, because Aphrodite was the one who made Helen fall in love with Paris. However, he would also have been more aware of the role that the gods played in daily life, and not likely to ignore their wishes for his life.

In fact, one of Aeneas' defining characteristics is his piety. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that he is determined to follow the gods' wishes, even if doing so puts him in an awkward or vulnerable position. There is no question that Lavinia has been promised to Turnus when the gods informed Latinus that they wanted Aeneas and Lavinia to wed. However, Aeneas role in the poem is to be fate's tool for creating history. Aeneas is very conscious of the role of prophecy in his fate, and he makes repeated attempts to help create the circumstances discussed in the prophecy. In fact, he does so even when he does not want to go along with what fate has decreed for him. His marriage to Lavinia is one of these circumstances; while he does not dread marrying her, he is also not anticipating his marriage with her. However, if he does not marry Lavinia, then there will be no way to perpetuate the Trojan lineage according the prophecy. Therefore, he resolves that he will marry her.

Equally critical with the above considerations is that, just as Lavinia symbolizes Latium, Aeneas symbolizes all of Rome. The merger of the two of them is the merger of two great traditions and helps explain the continuation of the Romans and the Trojans through the establishment of a Latin line. The further one gets into the story in the Aeneid, the greater one realizes Aeneas is literally the future of Rome. He cannot create this future unless he fulfills his destiny. Contrasting him with Paris, which is critical because the Trojan War forms the whole backdrop against which the Aeneid must be considered, Aeneas never allows himself to be ruled by lust. After all, Aphrodite did… READ MORE

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