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..