Question

In the epic poem Aeneid, the poet Virgil describes the path taken by the souls of the dead. Explain how, to instruct the living, the poet uses metaphor to describe various conditions. In other words, why is Virgil’s depiction of the underworld persuasive? On they went, those dim travelers under the lonely night, through gloom and the empty halls of Death’s ghostly realm, like those who walk through woods by grudging moon’s deceptive light when Jove has plunged the sky in dark 310 and the black night drains all color from the world. There in the entryway, the gorge of hell itself, Grief and the pangs of Conscience make their beds, and fatal pale Disease lives there, and bleak Old Age, Dread and Hunger, seductress to crime, and grinding Poverty, all, terrible shapes to see—and Death, and twisted, wicked Joys and facing them at the threshold, War, rife with death, and the Furies’ iron chambers, and mad, raging Strife whose blood-stained headbands knot her snaky locks.

Answer 1

Virgil in his epic poem Aeneid describes the path taken by souls of the dead in a metaphorical fashion. There is frequent recourse to figures of speech such as personification to invoke liveliness to the whole context. e.g. In the opening lines, the departing souls are compared to the dim travellers on their course to underground which is inhabited by dreaded monsters. Similarly, their movement through the woods are compared to peoples who walk in the woods by following Moon’s deceptive light.

Here in the poem all the vices and problems have been assigned a humanly touch where by griefs and conscience pangs are exhibited to rest in the entryway to be followed by Dread and Hunger and others. The description of these exhibits seems quite realistic and cast an impression of a dark cringy prison or underground bunkers which is occupied by these dreaded monsters on the minds of the readers.