THE AENEID BOOK I (read in Latin) ***spoiler alert, although they will really only make sense if you have already read the book***

     The Aeneid of Virgil, written during the rule of Augustus, was based primarily off of the Iliad and the Odyssey, following traditional epic style and following the adventures of a character who showed up in Homer's Iliad, Aeneas, and his son Ascanius, also called Iulus, which if taken for history was meant to propagate the idea that the Julian-Claudian empire of Rome was meant to be.
     The first line is immensely famous- Arma virumque cano- I sing of arms and man. Whereas traditionally epics have begun with an Invocation to the Muse, particularly in Homer,  Virgil does not introduce that until many lines later. Furthermore, when most epic poems credit the Muse for their story and art, Virgil, by saying cano, I sing, takes credit for his work, something completely revolutionary at the time. This makes Virgil the narrator of a story of which parts were probably passed down orally for decades or even centuries beforehand.
     Another thing that is interested is that at first the main character Aeneas, pious with a sense of duty, a king and great leader, his first words, are not exactly leader-like. He is wishing that he had died on the fields of Troy, rather than die during a great storm that Juno has stirred up with the help of king Aeolus. The Greeks and Romans believed that if a body was not buried properly, its soul would wander forever above ground rather than going down to live in the underworld. By dying on the bloody fields of Troy, he would have had a decent burial. By dying in a shipwreck, he is deprived of both a glorious death and a correct burial procedure. Fortunately, Aeneas is fated to go on to found a new city, so he is spared despite the wrath of mindful Juno.
     The next time Aeneas speaks, however, he is brave, bold, and tells his comrades to banish fear from their hearts. He pretends to be confident and sure, and, missing much of his fleet, goes to the top of a hill to scan the waters for their ships. there he kills seven stags to feed his men, one for each remaining ship. Aeneas, despite all his struggles and fear and weariness, is thinking of his men.
     The pace of the book is slow and fast, varying with the content. The best way to determine in the pace is the scansion. Since it is an epic, it is written in Dactylic Hexameter. This consists of spondees and dactyls. A line composed primarily of dactyls will be incredibly fast, whereas a line composed primarily of spondees will be slower, meandering.
     There is so much within the book it would be impossible to thoroughly analyze it, especially for an audience with no previous knowledge. Every literary device, every word, line, epithet, and adjective has a deep meaning that furthers the reader into this world. It is amazing how even today, hundred upon hundred of years later, I can still read this book, and find meaning, relate to its characters, appreciate its history, and ultimately love it the same way an ancient Roman would be able to. This connection to the past that  feel when reading The Aeneid, especially in the original language, this ability to produce the same feeling an unknown person from a lost time would have, if a gift. Virgil has truly created a piece of art.