Yu, Josely V.

SFENT 3E

LIt 1: Assignment

Based on the characteristics of the epic that you have learned, why is Aeneid considered epic?
Cite events from the piece to prove your claims.

Unlike the Iliad and Odyssey, which are oral epics, the Aeneid is a literary epic written in writing
and meant for a literate audience living in a stable, civilized society. The Aeneid is a national
epic, a praise and exaltation of Rome and its people, less concerned with Aeneas' life and travels
and more concerned with his role in building the Roman state. Virgil has a spiritualized, utopian,
and aspirational vision of Rome, which he sees as majestic and sacred, fated to control the world.
During Augustus' reign, he saw a golden age of human life emerge, a golden age brought about
by the gods. The Aeneid is intended to extol this new, organized society and to praise its virtues
and greatest traits through Aeneas, an epic hero who is thought to embody the typical Roman.
Aeneas exemplifies the most significant Roman personal qualities and attributes, particularly the
Roman sense of duty and responsibility that Virgil believed was responsible for the construction
of the Rome he admired.