Gods In The Odyssey

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However, the role of gods in the portion of the text is not complete. Aeneas is quickly reminded of his duties to found his homeland through Mercury. Mercury encourages Aeneas through stating “What about your own realm, your own affairs?” (Aeneid 302). Eventually, Aeneas leaves the island but conflicted that he has to leave Dido who ultimately kills herself. As mentioned earlier, book four demonstrates the influence that gods have over human affairs. However, Virgil also demonstrates another purpose for these interventions. First, Virgil aims to impress his audience that their current leader Augustus, like Aeneas, is using the gods to maintain their empire. There is a unique connection between these figures because Aeneas was the one who lead to the founding of Rome and Augustus would be one who would maintain Rome's incredible power. Through this, one is able to see that Virgil does not only write this epic to impress a sophisticated audience, but also for Augustus as well. …show more content…
A key concept of the Roman empire is known as Pax Deorum. Essentially, it is an agreement between the Roman people and their gods that the Romans will provide worship and sacrifice and the gods will provide them with protection and prosperity. There is an interesting connection between this concept and this section of The Aeneid. One can argue that Aeneas' abrupt departure from Dido which leads to her suicide represents a sort of sacrifice to the gods. Most importantly, this sacrifice allowed Aeneas to further his journey toward the establishment of his