Free Will (Antigone vs. Aeneid)

For my essay, I would like to compare and contrast the existence of free will in Sophocles' Antigone and Vergil's Aeneid.

Thesis: Although the characters of Antigone and The Aeneid utilize the free will that they have to some extent, both plays show that mortals have no free will because their fate will ultimately end the same way.

In Antigone, King Creon issues an edict that forbids a proper burial for the traitor Polynices. Despite knowing the consequences of breaking this law, Polynices' sister and Creon' niece Antigone defiantly transgresses this law by giving her brother a proper burial ritual. Antigone shows that although she didn't necessarily escape her ultimate fate of death, she still utilized her free choice and free will to decide the outcomes of her actions. If she chose to obey her uncle's law, perhaps she wouldn't have died such a tragic death. However, since she chose to brazenly break this law because she thought it was disrespectful towards the gods, Antigone accepts that "even if she [dies] in the act, that death will be a glory" (63). Because Antigone goes against the establishment, she chooses to make a decision that is outside her destiny. Although she uses her free will to pick how she wanted to live her short life, in the end, her life ultimately ends in her death. At the end of the play when Antigone dies from hanging herself rather than starving from being shut in the cave, this also shows how Antigone took control of her life and didn't allow fate or nature to steer the course of her life.

In Creon's case, Antigone shows that Creon could have been in charge of his own fate if he had not succumbed to Tiresias' prophecy. If Creon had not allowed his hubris and unnecessary dedication to the state to enslave his individuality, the grim tragedy that occurs at the end of the play easily could have been avoided. My idea on how Creon fits in with free will isn't very built upon yet...

In The Aeneid, the character of Aeneas is portrayed as a character who does not have much free will or freedom in his life matters. His life is heartlessly and carelessly manipulated by the gods, and he is used as a pawn in the gods' fights and games. The beginning of the play starts off with divine mechanizations steer his journey--Aeolus' storm, Venus' intervention by giving Aeneas advice in disguise, and Jupiter's disclosing of Aeneas' ultimate destiny. However, it isn't until Book IV that we see the full limitations of Aeneas' free will. When Mercury tells Aeneas of his destiny, Aeneas automatically and fully accepts the fact that his destiny is what the gods say it is. He does not even have a second thought that perhaps a mortal like himself could create his own destiny and fate.

We learn very early on that Dido's fate is doomed as Sophocles wrote, “Dido does not know how great a god is taking hold of her poor self" (25). Dido falls in love with Aeneus because of Cupid, not because of her own free will. We don't know from the text whether Dido would have fallen in love with Aeneas otherwise. I think Dido's role in the play is to provide some kind of resistance to Aeneas' view that the gods create the mortals' destiny. She goes through any extent to try and persuade Aeneas to defy the gods' destiny for him and to stay. When she sees that she had failed in doing so, she kills herself. And in some sense, suicide is a way of taking "control" of one's life. Although Dido is still a pawn piece in the gods' manipulation, she is not manipulated so much as Aeneas is. Unlike Aeneas, Dido believes that Aeneas has the capability and free will to go against the gods' destiny and to create his own fate.

For question #1
Some sat an army of horsemen is the most beautiful thing on earth. Others say a host of foot soldiers, a fleet of ships. I say it is whatever you passionately desire.
I can easily make this clear to all, for when Helen, who surpasses all in beauty, abandoned her husband, most noble of men, and sailed to Troy, she gave not a thought to her child or dear parents, Aphrodite led her willingly on.
…
Which reminds me of absent Anaktoria, whose lovely walk and glancing bright face I would rather see than any Lydian war chariots and fully-armed infantry.

In this poem by Sappho it is unclear how deluded Helen was by Aphrodite in leaving for Troy with her loved one. The word “willingly” is used and leaving did not seem to be something she did not pay a second thought about as she “gave no thought to her child” and is leaving her noble husband and dear family. By using words like dear and noble Sappho is emphasizing how much good Helen is leaving in order to go after what she most “passionately desire”. But rather than using this to blame Helen she is showing the power of love; what she is giving up for sailing with her love to Troy is major. To further justify Helen´s decision to leave, Sappho is indicating that she would do the same. She would also choose to place a loved one over duty. That conclusion comes from that she is saying that she would rather see her “lovely walk and glancing bright face” than “war chariots and fully armed infantry”. She passionately desires a person whereas the army and duty is in first place for the ones thinking “an army of horsemen is the most beautiful thing on earth”.

Referring back to the poem, Dido is well aware about the strength of love that causes Helen to leave all there is behind. Since the death of her first husband, Sychaeus, the duty has been the most important to her and she has managed to build a great city. She is not at all interested in love and another marriage, “may [Sychaeus] keep it and be its guardian within the grave” (p. 80). She is using the word “it” rather than “my love”, which puts her perception of love far from Sappho´s description of the one you fall in love with as the “something you passionately desire”. There is no question in that Dido loves Aeneas, but what loving someone means differ a lot from how Sappho depicts it. There is a difference in what Dido and Sappho sees in the objects of their love. Sappho is describing Anaktoria´s lovely walk and her bright face whereas for Dido there seem to be a focus on Aeneas achievements rather than his appearance: “Again she prays to hear about the trails of Troy, again she hangs upon the tellers lips” (p. 81). This is, once again, taking us away from the focus on passion in love in Sappho´s poem. The attraction is connected to duty rather than personal desire. Dido is mentioning his pleasing looks, but it is in his great leadership the real attraction lies.

From Sappho´s poem we do not learn what Helen has fallen for, but it is clear that she fell hard. She did not think twice about the decision to go. For Dido, on the other hand, there is a decision to make. She knows that she is lost to love, and the question is what to do about it. All along she has been convinced that staying widowed is what her duty requires of her. She has turned down offers of marriage from great leaders in the area and the statement “I´d violate you, Shame, or break your laws” (p.80) indicates the fear of what her citizen will say if she marry a second time. From class- that the ideal was to only marry once (look up in notes). However, her sister Anna is appealing to her sense of duty in trying to justify a marriage to be motivated by the good of the city: “If you marry Aeneas, what a city and what a kingdom, sister, you will see”. This, rather than deep passionate feelings for Aeneas, seems to be what makes Dido to accept the thought of marrying him.

Still working on my thesis, I think it will be about how they have both fallen in love influenced by gods, but what love means is different for Helen and Dido (different in what way?) And I dont know if I will be able to get a full essay, but I have another idea in that case.

Close Reading 4

“Dido and the Trojan chieftain have reached the same cave. Primal Earth and Juno, queen of marriages, together now give the signal: lightning fires flash, the upper air is witness to their mating, and from the highest hilltops about the nymphs. That day was her first day of death and ruin” (IV. 18-24).

In Virgil’s The Aeneid, the gods use the humans as a tool to reach their objective. Fate is predetermined, yet some characters do not accept their fate. Juno, being rash and impulsive, does not yield to fate. The feud between Venus and Juno is an example of the gods’ manipulation of humans. They both exploit various characters in an attempt to outwit the opposing goddess. Things being played with include human lives, love, and more significantly, nations. There exists no boundary in which the gods can exercise their mighty power.

In this passage, the secret marriage of Dido and Aeneas was planned by Juno and Venus. Surprisingly, Venus goes along with Juno’s plans because she knows that ultimately, Aeneas will found Rome, regardless of any obstacle or distraction that arises. Juno refuses to accept fate and does anything she can to hinder Aeneas’ progress towards founding Rome.

It is noteworthy how the translator explicitly states, “that day was her first day of death and ruin.” Dido represented an exemplary ruler. Carthage was depicted as a prosperous nation that was still growing. Dido’s downfall, however, was her emotions. Nevertheless, she can be considered a victim of the gods’ interference with the lives of humans. This scene demonstrates the superiority of reasoning over human emotions, or stoic philosophy. To the Roman audience, Dido was a bad ruler because she succumbed to her emotions rather than prioritizing on her nation.

Aeneas and Dido

“This vision stunned Aeneas, struck him dumb;

His terror held his hair erect; his voice

Held fast within his jaws. He burns to flee

From Carthage; he would quit these pleasant lands,

Astonished by such warnings, the command

Of gods. What can he do? With what words dare

He face the frenzied queen? What openings

Can he emply? His wits are split, they shift

Here, there; they race to different places, turning

To everything. But as he hesitated,

This seemed the better plan: he calls Sergestus

And Mnestheus and the strong Serestus, and

He asks them to equip the fleet in silence,

To muster their companions on the shore,

To ready all their arms, but to conceal

The reason for this change;…”

In Aeneid by Virgil, Aeneas who is fated to found Rome becomes distracted by his own interests when he meets and falls for Dido of Carthage. After receiving reminders of his responsibilities, Aeneas is troubled about what to do. He can either stay in the comfort of Carthage where he has someone he loves and a well-suited living situation, or he can sacrifice his own personal desires and fulfill his destiny of founding Rome. As he makes this decision, Aeneas is conflicted as the poem says that he has to choose between “[quitting] these pleasant lands” of Carthage or stay for his own satisfaction. He, however, finally decides, though still hesitant, that he has to leave in order to fulfill his role as a hero who is to found Rome. His relationship with Dido depicts a couple that differs strongly in many ways. Dido, when choosing between her own desires and what would be for the benefit of Carthage, would choose to satisfy herself. She chooses to live for herself and her happiness, forgetting about the progress of the city when she falls in love with Aeneas. On the other hand, Aeneas, who loses track of his destiny, once reminded, decides to do what he must do and chooses to leave Carthage and abandon his own personal desires. This depiction of the couple shows that Dido lives in the moment while Aeneas lives in the past and future. Dido enjoys life for herself and though she is queen of Carthage, would forget about the benefit of the city if she is satisfied with her own life. When Aeneas chooses to leave her in order to go on with his journey, she chooses to kill herself rather than forgetting about him and continue the progress of her city. Dido does not care about how the city will survive without her and suicides for her own benefit and to avoid suffering from heartbreak. Aeneas, in contrast, lives in the past and future as he tries to connect the two: he lives in the past, thinking about his home yet unable to return to it because he is working towards the future that is Rome. He is unable to live life for himself because he feels that he is obligated by the prophecy to found Rome. Thus, he abandons Dido in Carthage and continues on with his journey towards building up Rome.

Close Reading: Book IV, Lines 480-492

“Anchises warns and terrifies; I see the wrong I have done to one so dear, my boy Ascanius, whom I am cheating of Hesperia, the fields assigned by fate. And now the gods’ own messenger… has brought his orders through the swift air… My ears have drunk his words. No longer set yourself and me afire. Stop your quarrel. It is not my own free will that leads to Italy.”

These lines by Aeneas reveal much of Aeneas’ character and his motivations, and show that he and Dido are two very different characters. Aeneas makes a point of telling Dido that his decision to leave Carthage is not his own decision; rather, the decision was made for him by the gods: “It is not my own free will that leads to Italy.” This is in contrast with Dido, whose character is one that follows her own desires (even to her own death) and not the desires of others. However, though Aeneas pins all the blame on the gods, part of Aeneas also wants to leave Carthage and establish his own “foreign kingdom.” Aeneas’ mention of his father, Anchises, and his son, Ascanius, provide us with two reasons for Aeneas’ departure and subsequent abandonment of Dido. It’s clear that Aeneas respects his father, as he travels to the underworld later in Book VI to converse with him. His respect for his father’s advice and his trust in his father’s words lead him to leave Carthage and Dido behind. Also, as any good father would want for his son, Aeneas wants Ascanius to live a proud and happy life; Aeneas knows that for that to happen, he must follow the Jupiter’ plans. So while Aeneas may seem as if he mindlessly following the wants of the gods, he is also following what he knows is best for his family, which Dido is not a part of.

I was planning to compare the similarities between the relationships of Aeneas vs. Dido and Creon vs. Antigone, also pointing out similarities in their motivations and actions. I was also going to make the argument that Aeneas, in a way, chose family over desire, opposite of Creon, who chose state over family (especially if Creon's choice of state was his desire as well as his duty."), which was the clear difference in their outcomes, as Creon's life was ruined where Aeneas was able to achieve his destiny of founding Rome.

Aeneas' Lack of Free Will

Book IV, pg 91, Verses 479-492

"...my father's anxious image
approaches me in dreams. Anchises warns
and terrifies; I see the wrong I have done
to one so dear, my boy Ascanius,
whom I am cheating of Hesperia,
the fields assigned by fate. And now the gods'
own messenger, sent down by Jove himself--
I call as witness bot our lives--has brought
his orders through the swift air. My own eyes
have seen the god as he was entering
our walls--in broad daylight. My ears have drunk
his words. No longer set yourself and me
afire. Stop your quarrel. It is not
my own free will that leads to Italy."

In Aeneas' explanation of his departure to Dido, he shows us that he does not live for the present, but for the past and the future. He lives for everyone else--both humans and gods--but himself. He mentions both his father Anchises and his son Ascanius ("father's anxious image approaches me in dreams" .."my boy Ascanius, whom I am cheating") as reasons he must leave Carthage. Rather than doing things for himself and enjoying his present, Aenaes must constantly look to honoring his father who lived in the past, and providing money and glory for his son who lives in the future. It is as if he just exists to bridge to past and the future and really does not get a life of his own at all. The pressure and obligation Aenaes feels to fulfill his fate also comes from the gods, who constantly remind him of his duty. As his mother, Venus helps him with his mission and protects him from harm, but her real motivation is to have him fulfill the fate and not shame her. Although she brings some good things into his life, such as his relationship with Dido, the purpose was to keep him safe for his journey rather for than his own personal satisfaction. The same is true of Juno. She also plays a part in bringing about his relationship with Dido, but only because she wants to stop him from finding Rome. Jupiter helps him on his journey as well, but also only to fulfill fate ("the god's own messenger has brought his orders through swift air").

Nothing Aeneas does is of his own free will, as he says in "It is not of my own free will that leads to Italy." As he mentions later, he would still be in Troy if this were true. He had to leave his wife and his homeland, and now he wants to stay in Carthage with Dido but fear of the gods drive him on. His father's image in dreams "terrifies" him. The sad thing is that not only is Aenaes Aeneas forced to do this under threat of the gods, he also sees no wrong in the fact that he can't choose for himself and feels like it's his responsibility to obey. This is shown when he says "I see the wrong I have done" and says that he is "cheating" Ascanius of Hesperia, as if it were his own selfishness that is at fault. Aenaes has no free will and feels bound by obligation--he is not even after the fame or glory of finding a great city. He is only driven to find Rome by fear and duty, not by his own personal desires.

I'm not sure if this is what I want to do for my essay yet..

Mother-Son relationship

“And when Aeneas recognized his mother, he followed her with theses words as she fled: ‘Why do you mock your son – so often and so cruelly- with these lying apparitions? Why can’t I ever join you, hand to hand, to hear, to answer you with honest words?” (579-584, book 1)

This passage reveals the type of relationship between Aeneas and his mother Venus. This mother – son relationship is a conflict between motherly love and divine love. In the beginning of the story Venus’s love for her son seems indicative of human, motherly love when she pleads with Jupiter to ease the hardships of Aeneas. Her pleas for Aeneas seem like the plea of a mother genuinely worried about the sufferings of her child. But upon further analysis Venus’s love in fact seems devoid of motherly love. She complains about being Aeneas being “kept far from Italy” and not being able to achieve his fate. She is worried about the fulfillment of his destiny to establish the foundations of Rome. She is not concerned with Aeneas’s distress. If Venus had a true motherly love for Aeneas she would not be reproached by her son for being distant (as in the quoted passage). She appears to Aeneas just long enough to ensure that he is able to be successful, but the moment he recognizes her, she disappears. Venus’s divine love for Aeneas is concerned with the establishment of Rome, not with Aeneas’s emotional needs for a mother. Although Venus’ love for her son may almost seem cruel, it directly affects Aeneas’s identity. Throughout the story Aeneas fights between fulfilling duty over desire. Venus’s divine love emphasis duty and the importance that Aeneas achieve his destiny. Venus’s divine love is not a type of love singly focused on her one child. Her love is for the future of Aeneas; the creation of Rome.