VIRGIL’S AENEID
Many, many hundreds of years after the Iliad and the Odyssey were finally written down after being sung by bards for who knows how long, Virgil wrote the Aeneid. It’s ancient Rome’s answer to the Greek epics and fascinating in its own right… even if Aeneas is a bit obnoxious at times.
The Context
Friends, Romans, Countrymen... Rome, Janus & Virgil's Aeneid
Let's talk Rome: their mythology and some very important historical contexts of a little thing called the Aeneid.
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The Epic
Part 1 - He’s Greek & He’s Roman, He’s Making Juno Angry, He's Aeneas, Baby!
It's (finally) time... Aeneas, the hero founder of Rome, exile from Troy, son of Venus, hated by Juno... He's lived quite the life.
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Part 2 - Dido, the Badass Queen of Carthage
Jupiter and Venus discuss Aeneas and the Trojans' fate, and it's time we meet the Carthaginians and their badass queen Dido.
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Part 3 - Not That Damn Horse Again!
Aeneas meets Dido who asks him to tell her all he's been through to get to Carthage (it's a lot). Meanwhile, Venus and Cupid plot.
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Part 4 - Aeneas Had a Wife in Troy! Ghost Creusa’s Got Shit to Say
Aeneas tells the story of the end of the Trojan War, and where to go from there. He's visited by ghosts, quite a few ghosts. It's a vibe.
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Part 5 - The Man, the Myth, the Legend? Aeneas
Guess who's back, back again? It's time to return to the Aeneid. Aeneas is in Carthage with its queen, Dido, and things are going well... for now.
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Part 6 - Dido Wonders Why She Got Out of Bed At All
The "relationship" of Dido and Aeneas continues with the affects of the love potion only increasing. Juno and Venus begin to form a plan of how to handle Carthage.
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Part 7 - No Earthly Ships, the Tragedy of the Aeneid’s Dido
Dido's fate is determined by Aeneas's stubbornness and the far too potent love spell of Venus... Things get sad and dark for Carthage.
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Part 8 - A Dramatic Ship Race & Someone Lands in Blood and Dung
Abandoning queens! Burial anniversary celebrations! Funereal ship races! Aeneas and the Trojans set off from Carthage, but there is more in their way. They must land on Sicily where they take the opportunity to hold some anniversary funereal rites for Aeneas's father, Anchises. Plus, a ghost!
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Part 9 - Aeneas, Anchises, and Underworld Propaganda
Aeneas travels to the Underworld to speak with his father and learn the future of his descendants including, once again, Caesar and Augustus themselves!
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Part 10 - Just When Things Are Looking Up, Aeneas Goes to War
Finally, finally, Aeneas and the Trojans reach Latium. But Hera isn't finished with them yet!
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Part 11 - Vulcan Sure Can Forge a Prescient Shield
It's time for war... Fortunately, though, the future's pretty clearly laid out on Vulcan's shield for Aeneas. The war with Turnus and the Latins begins.
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Part 12 - What is the Aeneid Without Aeneas? The Second Trojan War Continues
The war rages on, Trojans vs. Latins. Jove convenes a meeting of the gods and Juno and Venus each make their case. And finally, FINALLY, Aeneas is on the horizon.
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Part 13 - Violent Aeneas, Merciful Aeneas, Phantom Aeneas
The war between the Trojans and their allies and Turnus, the Latins, and theirs, continues. Pallas, Lausus, and Mezentius enter the fray and things don't go well for any of them. Plus, ghost Aeneas!
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Part 14 - The Real Aeneid Was the Friends We Made Along the Way
It's here: the final episode of the Aeneid. The battle isn't over... Bloodshed, meddling goddesses, and angry dudes. Aeneas vs. Turnus... last man standing.
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Conversations
Why We Should Give Aeneas A Chance, with Dr. Aven McMaster
That's right: it's time to defend Aeneas! Classics professor Dr. Aven McMaster tells me all about Virgil's Aeneid, why the Aeneid is Good, Actually, and why we should really give Aeneas a chance. (Brief, simplified historical note should you get confused: Octavian = Augustus. Same person, Octavian = before he was emperor, Augustus = emperor.)
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