Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-10-30
tunes and fell desperately in love with
him would have Shared her kingdom
with him, while. r..r.-,4r -,,--f-.

j "Thus through the city of her pride.
She walks, Eneas at her side,
81 Displays the stores of Sidon's trade,
And stately homes already made" "f r
Eneas manages to resist all this aban-
dons the poor lOve-sick Queen to her fate
and sets sail for an unknown. country,
in obedience, as he supposes, to the, will
of the Gods. Now this may have been
the proper thing in Virgil's' day, but it
looks very unhero-like to our modern
eyes. Treachery and .ingratitude are
mot very knightlyJ traits in any nature.
Surely they have no part in the make.
up of the true hero However great and
noble the hero may be, either in peace
or war, that fact of being false to q true
and loving woman would forever forbid
him riding in quest Of the .'Ho1y
Grail" !" and he could not be brave and
pure hero of the knightly type of the
Sir Galahads' order.ot d W .
Eneas was unquestionably the hero
and warrior that Virgil designed him
to be in carrying out the plot and design
of the Eneid, and his being SO tena-
ciously true and faithful to the voices or
oracles of the Gods was regarded as a
most commendable piety and sense of
duty, to which everything else should be
subordinate !; and there is no doubt but
what he filled the full measure, the ac-
cepted standard of the heroic in the po-
cts estimation in consummating the
ends in view, the laudatory purpose of
the epic poem. Turnus, the Rutulian
Prince, possessed many heroic qualities,
and made good fight with Eneas,
| when we consider the fates being against
| him in the shape of invulnerable shields,
black furies and the pr6wess of his
mighty rival, Had this brave prince
had the protecting shield of Achilles,
it would not have averted his fate, since
he was not the hero of the Hneid. M
! The site of Virgils villa at Naples is
yet shown to strangers. He lived here
in much style and affluence, through
the munifcence of his patron, M@cenas.
Here he is said to have written his
Georges and Eneid, although it has
been claimed that these were written at
Rome, where he was also well establish
ed in fine house near the palace of
M9cenas. We rather lean to the opin-
ion that the poets earliest written po-
ems Ibis PastOrals-were composed at
Rome, where his fame began, and when
he first attracted the attention and was
taken under the patronage of his rich
and influential friend, the popular min
lister of Augustus, there is no real ques-
ton embracing any amount of doubt
but what Naples was his permanent res
idence and the scene of his best works.
We know that he made extended visits
to Rome, where he was in so much ia
vor that the Emperor Augustus himself
did not receive more attention and hon.
or. 1t has been said that his Royal
Master was very devoted to him, and it
has also been asserted, with every SEM
blance of reason, that he even conde-
scended to suggest to the poet the gen.
eral character of his great epic poem
that is, this great patron of art and lit
erature may have urged Virgil to at
tempt some great effort worthy of his
genius, which hint from the Emperor
resulted in the production of the Ene-
id. This will always be one of the most
popular of the classics and textbook
for students. "- "- tj I'D Hl,
When you 60 to Naples, dear reader,
take walk of mile or more on the
public road, leading out of the city to
Puteoli, and you will stand at THE
TOMB OF VIRGIL. ' t4---sh- 4
N-4 - ' t~ OCULAR.