Virgil's Aeneid, pt 5: voyage by sea (1)
Nothing stirs the heart quite like a voyage at sea. From the wanderings of Odysseus to the Grey Havens of Tolkien, the sea has been an image of threshold. One crosses the sea as one crosses a threshold – and it is by the sea that Aeneas and his company must come to Italy. There are many wonderful images in book III. Aeneas continues his tale of Troy’s fall with an account of what happened after the city was destroyed. He and his companions, encouraged by “auguries of heaven” (III.5) turned their minds to “exile in the far quarters of the world.” And so they built a fleet.
It is marvelous to see the Trojans escaping by sea. The sea brought a fleet of Argives to their shores, and now the Trojans themselves must sail over it in order to found their new city. First they make for Thrace, in hope that they might begin anew. It was an obvious first choice: “Guesthood and common household gods had bound this realm to Troy while fortune held.” (III.21) While making an offering, Aeneas discovers something rather startling and gruesome: a bleeding tree. It seems that Lycurgus (king of Thrace) had been entrusted with gold from Priam. The greed of Lycurgus was great, and he murdered Priam’s emissary Polydorus, claimed the gold for himself, and turned traitor by siding with the Greeks. Polydorus was murdered by the spears of the Thracians, and each spear which pierced him took root (III.64). The spirit of Polydorus haunts the tree which grew on the spot: whenever a branch was broken, blood would run from the ‘wound’. It is an image which Dante used in his Inferno for the punishment of the suicides (I’ve posted on it in my Dante series – I’ll put in the link later). All in all, Thrace is a less than suitable place for the Trojans to resettle: greed, murder, treachery and the whims of Fortune are not the principles upon which a lasting empire can be founded. Aeneas and his companions piously give Polydorus proper funeral rites, and then sail on.
They come to the temple of Apollo, where Aeneas makes his prayer to the god, hoping for some divine guidance;
And walls to weary men, grant us posterity
And an abiding city; guard our second
Tower of Troy, this remnant left alive…
Father, grant us a sign, enter our hearts!
(III.117)
Apollo’s oracle gives them an answer, telling them to set sail for the “land that bore you…look for your mother of old”. For it is there that “Aeneas’ house/ In her will rule the world’s shores down the years/ Through generations of his children’s children” (III.130). Anchises gives an interpretation of the prophecy from the god: they chould set sail for Crete, where indeed the Trojans have some ancient lineage. But at Crete they are besieged by a plague from Apollo, and Aeneas himself is given further direction in a dream: the very hearth gods brought from Troy seemed to speak to him out the fire (III.205) and now he is told clearly that it is to Italy that he must sail.
Aeneas’ vision of his destiny is becoming clearer. He is becoming fit to be the leader of the new city, which is not merely a new Troy. Here he has a greater grasp and understanding of the divine signs and messages. I wonder if at this point, the gods begin to speak more plainly to Aeneas. Anchises recognizes the truth of his son’s vision, and even comes to understand the truth of Cassandra’s prophecies (III.260). Remember that it was Cassandra’s fate that no one should believe her prophecies. Now the Trojans are more fully understanding the actions and meanings of her words. If you are going to found an eternal city - an abiding city -, you have to understand the gods.
They joyfully set sail for Italy, but it is part of the fate of Rome that one cannot entire paradise directly: they are blown off course, and land on the island of the Harpies. College football updates are on, so I'll pick this up later.
View entire series on the Aeneid here.
Comments