Introducing Virgil’s Aeneid

This free course offers an introduction to the Aeneid. Virgil’s Latin epic, written in the 1st century BCE, tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey to Italy, where he would become the ancestor of the Romans. Here, you will focus on the characterisation of this legendary hero, and learn why he was so important to the Romans of the Augustan era. This course uses translations of Virgil’s poem, and assumes no prior knowledge of Latin, but it will introduce you to some key Latin words and phrases in the original text.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Epic poetry and the Aeneid
• 1 Epic poetry and the Aeneid
• 1.1 Epic poetry before Virgil
• 1.2 Virgil and his predecessors
• 1.3 Politics and Roman identity
• 2 A brief summary of the Aeneid
• 2 A brief summary of the Aeneid
• 3 Roman values in the Aeneid
• 3 Roman values in the Aeneid
• 3.1 What is pietas?
• 3.2 Pietas vs furor
• 3.3 Aeneas and pietas
• 3.4 A conflicted hero
• 4 Book 12 of the Aeneid
• 4 Book 12 of the Aeneid
• 4.1 The death of Turnus
• 4.2 Vengeance and mercy in the Aeneid
• Conclusion
• References
• Further reading
• Acknowledgements