Representation of Lust in “The Aeneid”
“The Aeneid” is an old epic written by Roman poet Publius Virgil Marco. Virgil was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period of English Literature. Virgil is famous for his three poems, “The Eclogues” (or Bucolis), “The Georgics” and “The Epic Aeneid.” He wrote many of his poems in the Latin language, but later they have translated in English also. Vigil’s poems are undoubtedly masterpieces of art because of their exclusive styles and themes. Virgil is ranked among the greatest poets of Rome.
Virgil wrote the poem The Aeneid in between 29 and 19 BC. The poem was written in the classical Latin language. It comprises of 9896 lines which follow dactylic hexameter. The Aeneid was first translated in English in 1697 AD by John Dryden and his companions.
The poem is a story of a Roman legend Aeneas. He was a Trojan who, along with his escorts, traveled to Italy, where he settled down and became the Romans’ ancestor. The epic is a detailed narrative of the events if the travel of Aeneas and the hardships and obstacles that he faced during his journey. The epic reveals many faces of a human from violent to loving and from the innocent pitiable victim of war to brutal murderers. In the same place, where there are numerous human emotions in the poem, lust is also present.
The protagonists of the story are Aeneas and Dido. They are trapped in the cages of lust in the poem. Where the epic, on the one hand, is an adventure and legendry story of Aeneas on the other, it is a love saga also.
At the beginning of the poem, Aeneas, and his fellow Trojans, leave his homeland, Troy, because the Greeks had destroyed it. Aeneas left the place with a big mission and goal in his mind. He wanted to sail to Italy so that they can reach to Rome and settle down and make a new home town for his family and people. He left with a great dream in his mind to make it a reality. When they were about to reach their destination, a storm came in their way and diverted them from the path. The storm threw them on the strange land of Carthage. A youthful and brave Queen Dido owned this place. She also fled from her home and founded this place, which she named Carthage.
Both the protagonists of the story are brave and ambitious, but Lust purely overcame them. When Aeneas arrived in Carthage, he got very impressed by Dido, and so was Dido. They both developed an infatuation for each other. Aeneas stopped his journey under his Lust. He was detracted from his goal. He almost forgot what he enthusiastically wanted to achieve some time ago. Aeneas stayed there for a long time, and they both lived as lovers and cherished every moment and fulfilled their desires with each other. However, later Aeneas got a message from God. He was reminded of what he was destined to achieve. So Aeneas though unwillingly but continued his journey with his mate. He was under the influence of his Lust, so he did not want to leave because he wanted Dido with him. “With my own ears, I drank His message in. Come; stop inflaming us both with your appeals. I set sail for Italy—all against my will.”
Nevertheless, Dido, who was very devastated at the departure of Aeneas, started mourning. She believed that she was in love and was incomplete and wrecked from deep inside as Aeneas left her. Dido was so mad that she killed herself with Aeneas’s sword. She, who was a founder of a city, who survived the death of her husband, left her home behind, was blinded by Lust, and so she gave up her life. It can be seen that Lust can cause people to do many odd things, such as Dido did. Aeneas and Dido’s relationship was said to be nothing more than pure Lust because they both were just attracted to each other because of the fulfillment of their desires. So it can be seen that Lust is represented as a distraction from the goals of a person. It was Lust that washed away the goal that Aeneas once was so willful to achieve, and on the other hand, Dido, who was an epitome of bravery and preference, took her life because of Lust.
Representation of Lust in “The Voyage of Bran: Son Febal”
“The Voyage of Bran: Son Febal” is an Irish narrative story written in the 8th century. However, it was first translated and published in English in the year 1875. The author of the book is Kuno Meyer. The story is of immense importance for literature, and for the same reason, it is a part of literature still after centuries. In the same way as in Aeneid, the protagonist of “The Voyage of Bran: Son Febal” is a victim of Lust and loses everything. It is a story of a man Bran Macintosh Feabhail. He is the main character of the story. Bran leaves his home and goes on a journey to the Otherworld.
One day while Bran was walking, he heard some sweet voices; he got so captivated that he slept there. When he woke up, he saw a silver branch and a white flower in front of him. Bran was so astounded because he had never seen any such thing in his life. After that, he went to his royal house, where a lady showed up. She was not from Bran’s world; instead, she was from the Otherworld. The lady sang him a sonnet about the land where she lived and from where the silver branch with a white flower came.
In her sonnet, the woman praised the Otherworld. She said that the branch is from a tree in Emain and is an apple tree branch. She told him that Emain is another part of Ireland. The woman kept on praising Otherworld and told Bran that there was always summer in the place, and people have no need for food or water. She added further that in the Otherworld, there were no miseries and vices. She then advised Bran to go on a journey to the land of women. Bran, in the first place, is lured by the beauty of the Otherworld. To that was added that there were many other women.
The woman had told Bran that the land was above the ocean, but Bran was so mad in his Lust that he did not bother any outcome and just took the decision to go to the Otherworld. The next day Bran assembled nine men and left his home to find and quench his Lust. After a long, tiring, and hard journey Bran and his companions reached the World of Women. However, at that point, Bran at first hesitates to live his dream, but later the leader of the women draws him towards her. All the members of the crew pairs with one woman on the Island and Bran goes to the leader.
They stayed there for almost one year and lived up to the fullest, but they wanted to go back to their homes. The leader of the ladies forbade them to go back. However, they missed their homeland and their families, so they did not listen to them and came back home. When they came back, they realized that everything was changed. There was no one whom they recognized, and no one recognized them. On inquiring further that they did not come back after a year; instead, many years were passed in their absence, and they were remembered as legends. Nechtan Mac Collbran, who was one among Bran companions, jumped on the shore and was burned down into ashes. The rest of them sailed across the sea and were never seen by anyone again.
In this story, we can see that Bran’s Lust drove him so crazy that he left everything and went to a faraway unknown place just because a woman has asked him to come there. He did not care about the consequences of following the instructions of a strange woman. He just was enslaved by his Lust that he left everything sacrificed his everything for his Lust.
To sum up, it is clear that Lust is one of the world’s biggest vices and ruins one’s life and character. It is Lust that detracts a determined and ambitious man from his/her goal. A human with a lustful mind loses his senses and often do most lame things. Lust enslaves a human and guides him/her on its path, which always leads to doomed ditches of repentance or eternal gloom.