At the beginning of the quarter, my class read The Aeneid, which was written by Virgil. While reading the epic, my class for discussion was torn.
Within the epic, the main character, Aeneas, leaves a girl who he loves and who loves him dearly (so much so that she commits suicide in reaction to his departure) to follow his fate.Many of the people in my class agreed with his decision; he had a future and he followed it. But others, myself included, disliked his choices.
Personally, I felt that he should have stayed purely for the reason that he lead Dido, the girl, on and took advantage of the fact that she loved him. In addition to this, he wouldn’t have a bad life with her. They would have a kingdom and live comfortably. Regardless of this, he left and with the intent of not saying goodbye to Dido.
However, after going home for Thanksgiving, my perspective on Aeneas and his decisions changed and this is purely because my sister continuously gave me a hard time. She pointed out to me that the way I spoke had changed to some extent. Not only that, but that I had also picked up certain characteristics along with other things.
Because of this, I began to think about how influential our surroundings are. It made me question whether or not we are just a product of our environments. Although none of my core values have changed, I still cannot deny that I have changed.
I relate this to Aeneas because he grew up with the knowledge that he had a destiny and that he had to execute it.
Although he spent a good amount of time with Dido and could have truly fallen in love with her, he could not have changed his mindset significantly.
Because of this, he left Dido for what he was raised to be and what he was raised to do. He wasn’t just leaving Dido for new and better thing (my previous perspective), rather he was just being true to who he was. Because of this, I believe that we are not just the product of our environments but a combination of this and much more. Therefore, I cannot be hate Aeneas.
letsgettothecore 