Christopher Rush

If Achilles is the hero of the Iliad, and Odysseus is the hero of the Odyssey, surely Aeneas is the hero of the Aeneid?  The poem bears his name, after all.  He dominates the focus of the narration, and for the rare moments when he is not center stage the characters who take over are usually discussing Aeneas.  Yet, do not be misled by such seemingly overwhelming arguments: the hero of the Aeneid is Rome.

The poem’s invocation and introduction set our focus on Rome: “I tell about war and the hero” (1.1) – Aeneas doesn’t even get top billing here, and while Mr. Day-Lewis’s translation says “hero,” Fagles, Fitzgerald, and others simply translate it “man.” Aeneas’ name is not mentioned until line 94 in Day-Lewis’s translation, even later in others.  Homer gives us Achilles’ name in line 1 of the Iliad and Odysseus’ name around line 21 of the Odyssey.  Virgil mentions some form of Rome and her people seven times in the first seven lines: “Lavinian shores,” “Italy,” “a city,” “Latium,” “the Latin race,” “royal line of Alba,” “the high walls of Rome” (1.2-7).  Virgil names Juno, Paris, Ganymede, Achilles, Athena, Ajax, Aeolus, and Jove before naming Aeneas.  (Juno and Aeolus even have a lengthy conversation before we hear the name of the “hero/man” about whom this poem purportedly is.)  When we first see the fleet of Trojan ships, Virgil says “their goal” is “Latium,” and they have been sailing for seven years all “to found the Roman race” (1.31, 33).  Their purpose is to found Rome and the Roman people.  If that is the fleet’s destiny, it is also Aeneas’ purpose, immediately subordinating him to the real hero, Rome itself, even before we see him, before he has a chance to say one word.

Before we meet the “hero” by name, we are introduced to the poem’s major antagonist, Juno.  Prior to and during that aforementioned conversation with Aeolus, Juno worries not about Aeneas but about “a single nation” (1.48), and her plan is not to eliminate Aeneas but to “[w]helm those ships and sink them!” (1.70)  The Trojans are undoubtedly afraid of Achilles; the suitors soon enough become afraid of Odysseus.  Juno can’t be bothered even to call Aeneas by name, referring to him as “the Trojan lord from Italy” (1.39) – and it is his Trojan heritage that bothers her the most, not the fact that Aeneas “the hero” is coming to Italy.  Even when Juno attempts to cajole Venus into marrying Aeneas to Dido, Venus knows “Juno aimed at basing the future Italian empire / On Africa” (4.107-08), not because she was afraid of Aeneas.  Juno does not want Rome to exist; Rome is the enemy of the poem’s antagonist, Juno.

The hero and his or her actions should matter, especially in an epic poem.  While Homer does not hide the fact Achilles’ decision to (temporarily) abnegate the war is partly due to Athena, the poem emphasizes Achilles makes a free choice, a choice that threatens his fate as well as drastically affecting the war and the characters entwined with it.  Odysseus, likewise aided by Athena and Hermes, makes choices that delay his destiny, which significantly affects his family and his native Ithaca, as well as his crew.  Homer gives us no assurance Odysseus will return home safely and complete his goal.  Virgil, on the other hand, wastes no time in assuring Venus (and us) that her “people’s / Destiny is not altered; you shall behold the promised / City walls of Lavinium, and exalt great-hearted Aeneas / Even to the starry skies.  I have not changed my mind,” he says through Jove (1.262-64).  Jove mentions Rome first, Aeneas’ fame second.  Even as a consolation to his mother, Aeneas is subordinate to the inexorable success of Rome, the true hero of the Aeneid.  This scene intentionally mirrors Thetis’ similar request to Zeus, of course, but Zeus’ response to Thetis is all about Achilles and his forthcoming glory, subordinate to nothing.

Aeneas’ “choices” are all in service of the establishment of Rome.  This is demonstrated by the “present” of the poem always focusing on Aeneas and the crew heading toward Italy.  The seven years of wandering between the fall of Troy and the arrival at Carthage are told by Aeneas as a lengthy flashback in books two and three, and while the story is engrossing and a highlight of the poem, because Aeneas is narrating it we are always aware these events are over and done with and have little to do with what the poem is truly about.  While this mirrors Odysseus’ recounting of his travels in the Odyssey, that does not mean Aeneas is the hero just because he tells stories and his mother intercedes for him with the Father of Olympus.  Even during his recital of the past, Aeneas mentions his fate several times, most notably when the ghost of Creusa speaks to him: “These happenings are part of the divine / Purpose. … For you, long exile is destined … Then you will reach Hesperia, when Lydian Tiber flows … There, your affairs will prosper; a kingdom, a royal bride / Await you” (2.784-91).  His wife tells him his fate is mapped out for him, and even though he does it with a heavy heart, Aeneas “chooses” to commence his destiny.  Even his several months of dallying with Dido and delaying his destiny are glossed over in rapid summary in book four, with the narration resuming in earnest as Mercury chides Aeneas for this delay – with a message from Juno that if Aeneas has abjured his destiny he should at least think of his son’s glory and “the inheritance which you own him – an Italian kingdom, the soil of Rome” (4.280).  Aeneas resumes his destiny because of his son’s future glory, which, too, centers on the founding of Rome.  Achilles the hero chooses to return to the Trojan War not for Neoptolemus’ glory; Odysseus the hero chooses to return to Ithaca not for Telemachus’ glory; Aeneas the eponymous character chooses to turn to Rome for Ascanius’s glory, which is the glory of Rome itself.

The turning point of the poem is undoubtedly Aeneas’ journey to the Underworld, where the Sibyl allows Aeneas to see his father, Anchises, one more time, and the poem transitions from a journey to the military campaign against Turnus.  Before this mostly unnecessary catabasis, the Sibyl tells Aeneas he will encounter wars and hardship soon but “be troubled no more about this” (6.87), for “the Trojans shall come / To power in Lavinium” (6.86-7) – yet another reminder their fate, Aeneas’ fate, is assured.  Aeneas meets this reminder of his fate almost indifferently: “Maiden, there’s nothing / New or unexpected to me in such trials you prophesy. / All of them I have forecast, worked out in my mind already” (6.106-07).  He has no need to worry about these wars; he knows he will win.  His destiny has been continually placed before him for years now.  He knows his victory means the establishment of Rome.  His father reinforces that unequivocally in his forecast of the future leaders of the forthcoming mighty Roman Empire for a significant portion of book six.  The reader should have no doubt by this point of the identity of the hero of this poem: it is not the title character.

Aeneas is, ultimately, a hero.  Hector, Diomedes, Menelaus, Patroclus, Sarpedon, Nestor, Ajax (and Ajax), Idomeneus, Glaucus, and many more brave warriors were undoubtedly heroes in the Trojan War as well.  Yet none of them are the hero of the Iliad.  Aeneas is a hero: he is sacrificial, a leader through almost-overwhelming difficulties, a wise dispenser of largesse at the games honoring Palinurus and his father in book five, a brave warrior against Turnus and Camilla, and a worthy husband of Lavinia.  He simply is not the hero of the Aeneid.  Rome is the hero of the Aeneid.