# Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem/Chapter 11

CHAP. XI.
Of the Fable of the Æneid.
In the Fable of the Æneid we are not to expect that simplicity, which Aristotle esteem'd so Divine in Homer. But tho' the Fortune of the Roman Empire envied the Poet this Glory, yet the vast extent of the Matter it furnishes him with, starts up such difficulties as require more Spirit and Conduct, and has put us upon saying that there is something in the Æneid more Noble than in the Iliad These very difficulties we are to solve, and they call upon us for our utmost care and attention.
There was a great deal of difference between the Greeks and the Romans. These last were under no obligation, as were the former, either of living in separated and independent States; or of frequent confederating together against the common Enemy. If in this respect, we would compare our two Poets together, Virgil had but one Poem to make, and this ought to be more like the Odysseïs than the Iliad, since the Roman State was govern'd by only one Prince.
​But (without mentioning the Inconveniences the Latin Poet might meet with in forming a Fable upon the same Foundation, which the Greek had laid before him) the Roman State furnish'd him with Matter different enough to help him to avoid treading in the footsteps of him that went before him, and to preserve to him the glory of a primary invention. Homer in the Odysseïs spoke only for States already establish'd, and the Roman Empire was but of a new date. It was the change of a Commonwealth (to which Cæsar's Subjects had been always extreamly biggoted) into a Monarchy, which till then they could never endure. Thus, the Instructions, which the Poet ought to give both to Prince and People, were quite different from those Homer left his Countrymen.
He ought to instruct Augustus as the Founder of a great Empire, and to inspire into him as well as his Successors, the same Spirit and Conduct which had rais'd this Empire to such a Grandeur. A very expert Roman, and a great Politician (no less thanCicero himself) informs us, "That good Humour and Humanity was so far Essential to this State, that it was predominant even in the very midst of War; and that nothing but an absolute Necessity could put a stop to its good effects." And he adds, "That when this Conduct was lost, and this Genius, which gave life to the State, was gone, there was nothing left but bare Walls, and what in propriety of Speech might be term'd a dead Carcase." In short, he shews the Advantages which a mild and moderate Government has over a cruel and severe Conduct, which inspires Men with nothing but a slavish fear.
This then is the Instruction Virgil would give the Roman Emperors, who began in the Person of Augustus to be settled upon the Throne. This Instruction has two parts, as each of Homer's had. The first comprehends the Misfortunes which attend a Tyrannical and Violent Reign: And the second the Happiness, which is the Consequence of a mild Government. Homer has plac'd both the parts of each Fable in one and the same Person, Achilles at first is at variance with the Confederates, and afterwards is reconcil'd to them: Ulysses is absent from home, and at last returns thither: and in all this there is nothing of difficulty. But Virgil could not represent in one and the same Person, a Hero, who by his Violence and Impiety was the Ruin of his Country; and who afterwards by his Piety and Justice, restor'd it to its former Glory. This inequality of Manners and Conduct would have been intolerable, and especially in that Brevity, which the Recital of an Epick Poem requires; besides, such a sudden change is never to be rely'd on; Men would think it Hypocritical, and fear a very quick return of the old Tyranny. The Poet then is oblig'd to make use of two different Personages, to maintain the two parts of his exemplary instruction.
​Besides, several weighty Reasons did indispensibly oblige him to put Humanity and Good-Nature in the Manners of his Hero, and to make Piety his predominant Quality, and the very Soul of all his Vertues. One of these great Reasons is the desire and necessity he lay under of pleasing his chief Auditor, who alone was more considerable than all the rest. Augustus Cæsar did nothing to settle himself upon the Throne, but what his Piety put him upon undertaking; or at least he had a mind the World should think so. This is the Judgment which the most Prudent past upon him, even after he was dead, when he was no longer the subject of Mens Flatteries, or their Fear. ThisCornelius Tacitus informs us of.
The Reasons why the Poet spoke thus of the new Establishment, were owing to the Subjects of Augustus, who made up the other part of the Audience; and the second Object of his Morality. He was oblig'd to make them lay aside the old Antipathy they had to Monarchy, to convince them of the Justice, and the legal Prerogative of Augustus, to divert them from so much desiring to oppose his designs, and to raise in them a Love and Veneration for this Prince.
Religion has always had a most powerful influence over the minds of the Vulgar. The first Roman Kings, and the new Emperors, made use thereof, by joyning the Sacerdotal to the Regal Office. The Poet likewise us'd his utmost care in searching for all the Advantages he could derive from thence, by making it the chief Foundation of his whole design. He makes it appear, "That the great Revolutions, which happen in States, are brought about by the appointment and will of God: That those who oppose them are Impious, and have been punish'd according to their Demerits, For Heaven never fails to protect the Heroes it makes choice of, to carry on and execute its great designs." This Maxim serves for the Foundation of the Æneid; and is that first part of the Fable which we call the Truth.
Besides, the Poet was oblig'd to represent his Hero free from all manner of Violence, and elected King by brave and generous People, who thought it an Honour to obey him, tho' they might lawfully have been their own Soveraigns, and have chosen what form of Government they pleas'd. In short it was requisite that the Justice of his Cause, like that of Augustus, should have been grounded upon the Rights of War.
In a word, the Hero should have been like Augustus, a New Monarch, the Founder of an Empire, a Lawgiver, a Pontifex, and a great Commander.
​The necessity of reducing all these things into one Body, and under the Allegories of a single Action, makes it appear how great a difference there is between the designs of Homer, and that of Virgil: And that if the Latin Poet did imitate the Greek, yet the applicaaion of it is so remote and difficult, that it should never make his Poem pass for a new Copy, nor rob him of the glory of the invention.
Let us see then the Collection which Virgil has made of all these Matters; and the general Fiction, which together with the Truths it disguises, makes up the Fable and Life of the Poem.
"The Gods preserve a Prince amidst the Ruin of a mighty State, and make choice of him to be the maintainer of their Religion, and the Establisher of a more great and glorious Empire than the first. This very Hero is likewise elected King by the general consent of those, who had escap'd the universal Wrack of that Kingdom. He conducts them through Territories from whence his Ancestors came, and by the way instructed himself in all that was necessary for a King, a Priest, and the Founder of a Monarchy. He arrives and likewise finds in this new Country, the Gods and Men dispos'd to entertain him, and to allow him Subjects and Territories. But a neighbouring Prince, blinded by Ambition and Jealousie, could not see the Justice and the Orders of Heaven, but opposes his Establishment, and is assisted by the Valour of a King, whose Cruelty and Impiety had divested him of his States. This opposition, and the War this pious stranger wasforc'd to, renders his establishment more just by the Right of Conquest, and more glorious by the overcoming and cutting off of his Enemies."
The model being thus fram'd, there was nothing wanting but to look into History, or into some Authentick Fables, for Hero's whose Names he might borrow, and whom he might engage to represent his Personages. The obligation he lay under of accommodating himself to the Manners and Religion of his Country, invited him to look after them in the Roman History. But what Action could he take thence, which might furnish him with a Revolution and Establishment of Government, that was proper to his purpose? Brutus had expelled the Kings, and placed the People in that which they then called their Liberty: But this Name was Odious and Prejudicial to Augustus; and this Action was quite opposite to the Design which the Poet had of confirming the Re-establishment of Monarchy. Romulus first founded Rome, but he laid the Walls thereof in his Brother's Blood; and his first Action was the Murder of his Uncle Amulius, for which none could ever find a satisfactory excuse: And then, it was very difficult to suppose these Heroes to have taken Voyages.
​Besides, these two Establishments were made before the Destruction of the States which preceded them, and were the cause of their ruin. The Kingdom of Alba flourish'd during the Reign of the two first Roman Kings, but was erased by the Third: And Monarchy was extirpated by Brutus, and his Successors in the Consul-ship. It was of dangerous Consequence, to instil this Notion into the Subjects of Augustus, and to put the People upon thinking, that this Prince had ruined the Commonwealth, and banished their Liberty. The Truth of History furnished him with a thought more favourable to his design; since in reality Cicero and Tacitus do both inform us, "That before this Prince made the least shew of what he was about to do, there was no Commonwealth in being. All the vigour of the Empire was spent, the Laws were invalid, the Romans were nothing else but the Dregs of a State; and in short, there was nothing left of Rome but bare Walls, which were not able to last much longer". Thus Augustus destroyed nothing, he only re-established a tottering State. This is what thePoet is to prove, a great Empire ruin'd, of which his Hero was in no fault; and this very Empire more gloriously re-established by the Virtue, and the good Conduct of the Hero.
In the Roman History, Virgil did not meet with a Prince, who could with any probability keep up the Character of his chief Personage; he was obliged to look out for one some where else. Homer had this Advantage, that the Heroes of his Fables were Greeks, and that his own Country was the Theatre whereon most of the Fabulous Actions were transacted: So that he had liberty enough to accommodate himself to the Manners and Religion of those for whom he wrote.
But the Genius and Skill of the Latin Poet helped him to that which Fortune denied him. He tookHorace's Advice, and had recourse to a Hero of the Iliad: And that he might make this stranger conform to the Religion of the Romans, he has feign'd, that the Hero came thither to bring into Italy all the Ceremonies, and to settle these Gods there, which ever since they have observ'd and ador'd. He has very luckily compleated this Conformity in ‡ the Customs and Manners by making the Trojans and Romans but one People. And he as well as Homer has caused that his Illustrious Heroes should be the Fathers of his Auditors; but with this Advantage, that he himself makes the Application of it to his Readers, with an equal measure of Wit and Applause.
​Æneas is his chief Personage, Turnus is Æneas's Rival, and in Mezentius one may observe the Cruelty of a Tyrant, who is at Enmity with both Gods and Men.
To conclude: The Arrival of Æneas into Italy, was not invented by the Poet, but handed down by Tradition.Cicero, who wrote before Virgil, speaks thereof in his Speech against Verres upon the account of the City of Segesta. Its Inhabitants gave out that 'twas built by Æneas, when in his Voyage to Italy, he staid for some time on the Coast of Sicily.
* ↑ Eventus bellorum crant aut mites, aut necessarii, &c. Cic. 2. de offic.
* ↑ Apod prudentes vita ejus variè extollebatur, arguebaturve. Hi Pietate erga parentem & necessitudine Reip. in qua nullus tunc legibus locus, ad bella Civilia actum: Pauca admodum vi tractata, quo cæteris quies effet. Dicebatur contra: Pietatum erga Parentem, & tempora Reipub. obtentui sumpta. Hist. Lib. i.
* ↑ Testaturq; Deos iterum se ad prælia cogi. Æneed. lib. 12.
* ↑ Iliaci cineres & Flamma extrema meorum, Testor in occasu vestro, nec tela, nec ullas Vitavisse vices Danaum, & fifata, fuissent, Ut caderem, meruisse marai. Virg. 2. Æneid.
* ↑ Rectius Iliaci Carmen deducis in actus, Quam fi præferres ignota indictaque primus. Poet.
* ↑ Sermonem Ausonii patrium moresq; tenebunt. Æneid. 12.
* ↑ Segesta est oppidum pervetus in Siciliâ, quod ab Ænesi fugiente à Trojâ, atque in hæc loca veniente, conditum esse demonstrant. Cicer. in Verrem, iv.
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