The Valiance of War
I gotta be honest, the Aeneid is indeed rather hard for a rather stressed, young, and newly collegiate man (i.e. ME) to understand. And with the purpose of relieving my stress and the stress of my peers, I deem myself personally responsible for the asking of this very question?
Should I just be Ace Ventura for Halloween?
You obviously don't have to worry about commenting but if you think I should, hit ya boi up.
Nevertheless onward into dense contemplation I go.
There was a part of the Aeneid where Aeneas is reliving the war, and amidst ya boi trying to understand the dense ancient poetry of the Romans something really caught my eye. Aeneas starts a passage with this: "Into the flames, I go, into the fight." As he goes into all the fighting, he is joined by a bunch of allies. When he sees these people rushing into the battle behind him, he turns and says something that reminds me of every war movie I have ever seen (except maybe the war part of Forrest Gump). He turns to his comrades and says:
"Soldiers, / Brave as you are to no end, if you crave/ To face the last fight with me, and no doubt of it,/ How matters stand for us each one can see./ The gods by whom this kingdom stood are gone,/ Gone from the shrines and altars. You defend/ A city lost in flames. Come, let us die,/ The conquered have one safety: hope for none."
This is the stuff of legend, honestly. It's as if they have this insane sense of duty- so much so that they will willingly go into battle knowing that they would die, knowing that their city is literally lost in flames. Such a sense of duty quite honestly reminds me of marching band. My director used to tell us a story about how a drum major came to a football game the night her dad died. He told us that we had a duty to be in this band, that we were accountable for ourselves. That drum major didn't have to come that night but I think she couldn't let her bandmates down, her position as a drum major was unexpendable (Needless to say, after that I felt very honored to be in band).
The Romans had a sense of morals and duty, unlike anything this world has seen before. It was not just the army, it was the entire people of Rome that all collectively had this discipline about them. Perhaps this was why Rome was such a proud and conceited people, but imagine if all of us Americans had this duty to our country? How much different would we be from what we are now?
I am not saying that we should be going crazy about doing what is right for our country, I think we have enough to deal with as it is. But if we did, how much different would this world be? Would we be unified? Would we all be at war with each other constantly?
As you can tell, I have a lot on my mind pertaining to this topic. I hope I leave you with something to reflect upon tonight. As always, stay thirsty my friends. (Chocolate milk, of course.) Until next time.
I commented on Kayla's and Moriah's posts.
Kaye is my fav human
Should I just be Ace Ventura for Halloween?
You obviously don't have to worry about commenting but if you think I should, hit ya boi up.
Nevertheless onward into dense contemplation I go.
There was a part of the Aeneid where Aeneas is reliving the war, and amidst ya boi trying to understand the dense ancient poetry of the Romans something really caught my eye. Aeneas starts a passage with this: "Into the flames, I go, into the fight." As he goes into all the fighting, he is joined by a bunch of allies. When he sees these people rushing into the battle behind him, he turns and says something that reminds me of every war movie I have ever seen (except maybe the war part of Forrest Gump). He turns to his comrades and says:
"Soldiers, / Brave as you are to no end, if you crave/ To face the last fight with me, and no doubt of it,/ How matters stand for us each one can see./ The gods by whom this kingdom stood are gone,/ Gone from the shrines and altars. You defend/ A city lost in flames. Come, let us die,/ The conquered have one safety: hope for none."
This is the stuff of legend, honestly. It's as if they have this insane sense of duty- so much so that they will willingly go into battle knowing that they would die, knowing that their city is literally lost in flames. Such a sense of duty quite honestly reminds me of marching band. My director used to tell us a story about how a drum major came to a football game the night her dad died. He told us that we had a duty to be in this band, that we were accountable for ourselves. That drum major didn't have to come that night but I think she couldn't let her bandmates down, her position as a drum major was unexpendable (Needless to say, after that I felt very honored to be in band).
The Romans had a sense of morals and duty, unlike anything this world has seen before. It was not just the army, it was the entire people of Rome that all collectively had this discipline about them. Perhaps this was why Rome was such a proud and conceited people, but imagine if all of us Americans had this duty to our country? How much different would we be from what we are now?
I am not saying that we should be going crazy about doing what is right for our country, I think we have enough to deal with as it is. But if we did, how much different would this world be? Would we be unified? Would we all be at war with each other constantly?
As you can tell, I have a lot on my mind pertaining to this topic. I hope I leave you with something to reflect upon tonight. As always, stay thirsty my friends. (Chocolate milk, of course.) Until next time.
I commented on Kayla's and Moriah's posts.
Kaye is my fav human
You should totally be Ace Ventura for Halloween, and I agree, this book is weird and confusing. I like what you said though, about Roman's sense of morals and public duty. as we have talked about many times in Western Civ, Romans were almost required to participate in the military or they were highly looked down upon. As far as what these ideas would look like acted out in America, I don't know. I am not particularly sure if everyone could be in the Military, to be honest. I for one can only deadlift 30lbs, so I don't think it would go very well for me.
ReplyDeleteAce Ventura is a solid yes. But I do agree that the Romans' sense of duty is incredibly admirable. It almost frustrates me, though. Why do they fight when they know it's a lost cause when they have women and children to protect? Instead of dying in vain they could try to get others to safety. I'm probably missing the point entirely, which is a common theme with these ancient writings for me.
ReplyDeleteUnity for a greater good is what built this country. The fact that you have to put your personal needs behind you is why we formed together so easily. There is a time and a place for sadness, but you must aside your own problems and put the under the problems of the whole. There is power in unity. I am sure I'd be relieved to see an army of people to back me up in a series war defending our pride.
ReplyDeleteThis book really is the stuff of legends man. I dig. But this same concept of bravery in commissioning the men to move forward still in the face of trouble is the same courage, I would argue, that drives a leader to start again after a grave defeat. Just take a look at the last two stanzas of the second book and you'll see what I mean. Also, who is Ace Ventura?
ReplyDelete-Phillip