Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1922-05-26
VergiPs Aeneid
Graduating Essay Read by Miss Il
at Commencement Exercises ST. Joseph
High School, May I8. 1927

The question that confronts girls
when they first enter high school is:
Whether they shall take Latin, as
it is with them an elective subject.
When we entered high school, dis
regarding the warnings of the older
pupils, we followed the advice of our
teachers, who told us that Latin is
essential to q successful college Ca
reer. We had great aspirations then
and could see ourselves in he future
at the very top Of the ladder of sue
cess and fame.
Notwithstanding the hard work re-
quired, we were delighted from the
very first to find the intricate rela-
tions between our own language and
that of the ancient Romans and to
learn the origin Of so many of our
words. By means Of this most highly
infected language we were able to
understand, as never before, the
grammatical relations between words
and the fundamental principles Of
languages.
| We had heard % much about
Caesar, the numbers Of Gauls he had
slain, and the many high school stu
dents he had caused to fail, that we
were very proud when We were able
to read his commentaries with flu
ent ease. We campaigned with him
: in Gaul and fought with him his
many battles. We shared his honors
and triumphs and wondered at the
mssterful generalship he displayed
in extricating himself from apparent
ly hopeless positions and turning what
appeared to be certain defeat into
glorious victory.
The third year we were charmed
by the unsurpassed eloquence Of the
distinguished orator, Cicero, as he
gave his scathing denunciations Of
the conspirator, Cateline, and the
brilliant defense Of his friend, the
poet Archias, whom he proved to be
not only entitled to Roman citizen
ship, but to honor in his adopted
city. The clearness of statement, the
beauty Of diction, and the regularity
of construction of his Grafton in be-
half of Pompey thrilled US thru and
thru.
As according to the adage: "Finis
opus coronat"-the end crowns the
work, SO does our last years work
crown our whole course in Latin.
1t is q royal crown, too, studded with
glittering gems, for it reveals to Us
the wonderful beauty Of the language,
when used by an inspired poet, to
give to the world one Of its greatest
epics. Only one poem in q language
is worthy Of being called true epic,
and the epic Of some languages is
yet to be written. But we have
Homer's Illiad in Greek, Dante's
Inferno in Italian, Milton's Paradise
Lost in English, and virgil's Aeneid
in Latin. All epics have some great
underlying purpose. Virgirs purpose
in writing the Aeneid was to glorify
Rome, to show that the Romans were
direct descendants Of the ancient
Trojans, and to prove the ancient
lineage of some Of the proud fami.
lies, especially the Caesars, who were
his patrons.
The story is really . sequel to
Homer's Illiad and begins, where
tkat ended, with the destruction If
Troy by the Greeks, AFR . sitse
Of ten long years. It il replete with
NEUROLOGICAL references and reveals
to us how deeply religious the Ro-
mans were, causing Us ~ wonder
that q religion based, az theirs was.
CT mere tradition an mere signs and
omens, could have such powerful in
f!uence over the people. Virgil, as
did Homer, represents the gods as
being deeply concerned In the affairs
of mortals and absolutely controlling
their destinies. They are even rep
resented as opposing one another;
Juno, wife and sister Of the great
Jove or Jupiter, favoring the Greeks,
while his daughter, the beautiful
Venus, is the guiding spirit Of the
Trojans; in fact she il represented
as icing the mother Of Aeneas, the
hero Of the poem.
The genius Of the poet is dis
played in his dramatic treatment Of
the story, for he opens the first book
with a picturesque description Of q
terrible storm which throws Aeneas
onto the shores Of Africa, near the
city of Carthage, which the beautiful
queen, Dido, was building.
While wandering on the unknown
shore, to which the storm had driven
five of his twenty ships, he meets his
mother, the goddess, who has ap-
peared in the form of huntress, and
she directs him to the city and tells
him that he will find there his COM
panions from the other ships, all Of
whom had landed safe in another
harbor. To insure to him . warm vel.
come, Venus, goddess Of love, sends
Cupid to inspire in the queen q great