Book Eight: The Shield of Aeneas

Book VIII There is a general parallel to The Odyssey books three and four when Telemachus goes to Pylos to find out about his father. There is obviously a striking similarity between this book and Book XIX of The Iliad in which Thetis asks Hephaistos to make a shield for Achilles. The name Evander is the Greek for “good man”. The fact that Evander is Greek suggests some kind of cultural reconciliation between Greece and Rome.

Hercules and Aeneas The story of Hercules and Cacus is hugely symbolic and has great political and historical significance. The comparison between these two figures is built up throughout The Aeneid (remember the lion’s skin Aeneas uses in Book II when carrying his father). The twelve labours of Hercules are comparable to the sufferings of Aeneas in the epic. Evander sits Aeneas on a lion skin and it is clear that his visit is seen like the second coming of the hero Hercules. Virgil is trying to make Aeneas as popular as Hercules. Hercules was defied, Aeneas will be when he dies too.

Hercules and Augustus Augustus celebrated his triumph of 27BC the day after the festival of Hercules so the two would be associated together. Hercules killed an exotic beast just like Augustus killed the threat of the East. Both Pompey and Antony claimed to be the descendants of Hercules. Virgil is asserting that Augustus is the true heir. Hercules killed Cacus and there was huge celebration. Augustus won at Actium and there was huge celebration. Hercules was deified. Virgil is therefore perhaps hinting that Augustus should be like his adoptive father Julius Caesar was.

Hercules and “Furor” Hercules kills Cacus spurred on by “furor”. Aeneas also will kill Turnus driven by the same rage. However, both are reluctant killers. It is presumably better to kill when roused to anger rather than in cold blood. If the parallels between Hercules and Augustus are correct, this point has (good) implications for Augustus.

Hercules and Roman Religion The story is an explanation of Roman religious custom. The reader is given the origins of the festival of Hercules. The story also gives us specific details about Roman sacrifice e.g. Romans wore purple robes when sacrificing and covered their heads.

The Shield Of Aeneas The obvious parallel is with the shield of Achilles but the ideology portrayed on the shield is entirely Roman. The shield depicts important events in Rome’s history. Rome had gone from being a city (urbs) to ruling the world (orbs). The circular shape of the shield is supposed to represent the cosmos. The sea is represented, the heavens are represented (with a theomachy) and Cato is arguing for the underworld. There is a symmetry to the shield. Atlas bore the world on his shoulders as did Hercules briefly (having been tricked by Hercules). At the end of Book II Aeneas picks up his father (the burden of the world) and his labours begin. At the end Book VIII Aeneas picks up the shield and this siginifies the start of the war.

The Shield of Aeneas: Ideology The concept of the city ruling over the world taps into Augustan ideology about the empire and the cosmos. Augustus received a shield in 27BC with four virtues (virtue, clemency, justice and piety) on it like the four major sections of Aeneas’ shield. The idea of bearing a huge weight on one’s shoulders (in Aeneas’ case a symbolic globe) is very Stoic as is the rest of the epic. The ideology is not entirely positive. The rape of the Sabines is depicted when it certainly does not have to be. This is a reminder of the sacrifices made when building an empire. The image of Cleopatra dying recalls almost exactly the words used to describe Dido’s death; yet another reminder of the sacrifices made for the state by the individual. AS WE DISCOVERED IN BOOK VI, IT IS NEVER A SIMPLE CASE OF PROPAGANDA IN THE AENEID.