Fathers and sons in Virgil's Aeneid
Subtitle: tum genitor natum
By: M. Owen Lee.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 1979
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 200
Subjects: Virgil; Aeneas (Legendary character) in literature; Epic poetry, Latin -- History and criticism; Fathers and sons in literature; Rome in literature
Description: "Why is it that no father in the Aeneid can help his son in his moment of need? In addressing himself to this question, the author isolates the essential theme of the Aeneid and shows the pattern of father-and-son relationships in the poem. The search for an answer to this question also leads to the other perennial Virgilian questions: "What is pietas?" "What is the Golden Bough?" "Is Aeneas a failed hero?" "Why did Virgil despair of his long poem?" Some of the answers come from an analysis of the hero's descent to the underworld in terms of Jungian archetypes. Still more come from a synthesis of Virgil's Homeric parallels and a formulation of the hero-myth itself, with a statement on the part women must play in the heroic paradigm.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.