Vergil’s Aeneid, Book X

<p>Book X is the first book of the <em>Aeneid </em>where battle scenes dominate the narrative. As such, we consider the battlefield conduct of Aeneas in light of the questions we have been discussing throughout our reading of the whole poem. Does Aeneas display piety as he slaughters his enemies? Or, since his piety is always with him, perhaps it is better to ask, <em>How</em> does Aeneas display piety as he slaughters his enemies? How does Vergil adapt and alter the battlefield scenes from the <em>Iliad</em>, and what are these various adaptations meant to tell us? What to make of the strange moment that ends Aeneas’ slaughter? Is this a moment of self-doubt, or merely a moment of general pity for all those he must kill? Finally, we take up the larger question, and central interpretive puzzle of the <em>Aeneid</em>, of how Vergil himself and his epic poem regard warfare and empire-building.</p>