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Have you ever had an experience that changed you, changed the kind of person you were? Sometimes, something very sad or shocking can do that to you. Sometimes, it can be something beautiful and simple like the first really warm day in spring. Whatever does it, one day you wake up and have a whole new outlook on life. You understand something about yourself or about what you want out of life that you never realized before.
That\'s what happens to Aeneas in Book VI. Almost every great religion or culture--from Christianity to Buddhism--has a story about death and rebirth. Virgil uses the same theme in Book VI to show how the old uncertain Aeneas, the Aeneas whose heart is stuck in ruined Troy, dies and comes back a new, determined Aeneas, committed to Italy and its future.
How does Virgil do this? He has Aeneas journey to the underworld, the place in Greek and Roman mythology where dead souls or \"shades\" live. Aeneas doesn\'t actually die. His trip allows him to see what it would be like to be dead without really dying. In the process, he meets many people who lived both good and bad lives and from this he learns what really counts. This new insight makes his old, regretful self \"die.\" What\'s more, in the underworld his father shows him the future in a parade of great Romans who will be born. Aeneas is inspired. For the first time, he has hope in the future. He decides that his fate is worth pursuing, instead of avoiding. He starts to do things because he wants to, not just because he has to.
As you can see, Book VI is important because it describes a major turning point for Aeneas. Aeneas\' travels so far can be interpreted as a symbolic journey of a person in search of a new identity. In Book VI, Aeneas finally finds out who he is--the person who will make the Roman Empire possible. Let\'s see how that happens.
As Book VI opens, the Trojans have just landed at Cumae on the west coast of Italy near present-day Naples. The men are ecstatic, but Aeneas, who always does his duty first, goes looking for the Sibyl. (Remember that in Book III Helenus told him to go see the Sibyl as soon as he got to Italy.) The Sibyl, a priestess of Apollo, can foresee the future. When Aeneas asks his fortune, the Sibyl reels and spins and all the doors of Apollo\'s temple fly open. She goes into a trance and Apollo speaks through her.
War, I see,
Terrible war, and the river Tiber foaming
With streams of blood. There will be another Xanthus,
Another Simois, and Greek encampment,
Even another Achilles, born in Latium,
Himself a goddess\' son.
(VI. 86-90)
Poor Aeneas! He\'s come all this way to find out that he\'s headed for another war, a war that will be a replay of the Trojan War. (Xanthus and Simois were rivers near Troy.) He will even have to face another warrior as fierce as Achilles.
NOTE: It\'s important to keep this prediction in mind as you read Books VII-XII of the Aeneid. The war in Italy will parallel the Trojan War in many ways except that, as you already know, the Trojans will win. Why do the Trojans win this time? Is it because of fate or the gods, because their cause is just, or because the Trojans have changed since Troy? You\'ll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, note how this prediction fits in with the theme of death and rebirth. Troy died, but in a way it\'s going to live again. The Trojans are going to get a second chance.
If Aeneas is upset he doesn\'t show it, but he quickly changes the subject to his second reason for coming to the Sibyl. He needs her help to reach the underworld to visit his father, as Anchises told him to do in Book V.
The Sibyl tells Aeneas that in order to come back alive he must first bury one of his men, who has died without his knowing it, and second that he must find a golden bough of a tree. Aeneas finds the man and goes into the forest to cut wood for his funeral pyre. He\'s wondering how he can possibly find a golden bough, when Venus sends two white doves who show him where it is. (The golden bough is a famous symbol for resurrection. The Golden Bough is the title of a well-known book by James Frazer, which describes many different myths on this theme.)
Now, Aeneas and the Sibyl are ready for their journey. Aeneas follows her into a huge dark cave that the ancient Romans believed was the mouth of the underworld. (There really is a huge cave near Cumae.) Aeneas can hardly see where he\'s going. Strange shapes flit by him as he descends. He draws his sword, but the Sibyl warns him that they are only phantoms.
They reach the underworld river, Acheron, where a sour old man named Charon ferries across dead souls. He will only take souls who have been buried. Here Aeneas sees his former pilot, Palinurus, who tells him that his body is lying on the coast of Italy--unburied. He begs Aeneas to help him cross the river, but the Sibyl interrupts and hurries Aeneas on. We see the finality of death. Palinurus\' fate is sealed and Aeneas can no longer help him, even though Aeneas really wants to.
They cross the Acheron and come to the Fields of Mourning, where souls who were ruined by love stay. Aeneas has a shock when he sees Dido here. He reaches out to her and tries to talk to her and offer some consolation, but Dido turns her back and walks away. Remember, in Book IV, how Aeneas couldn\'t or wouldn\'t say anything to make Dido feel any better? This time the tables are turned and it is Dido who can\'t or won\'t say anything to make Aeneas feel any better. Here, again, we see how death ends everything. Aeneas would like to try to make things a little better between them. But Dido can\'t change. She\'s fixed in her sorrow and anger.
They pass other sad characters and avoid the place where people who led wicked lives are tortured forever. Included here are people who caused civil wars. Remember how much Virgil hated the civil wars in Rome before Augustus put an end to them? He gets his revenge by putting all those people in hell.
Finally they pass through some gates and leave the sad and dark part of the underworld behind. Aeneas sees a beautiful world of green fields, sunlight, and flowers. This is Elysium, the part of the underworld for those who have led good and productive lives. Anchises is here. Aeneas bursts into tears and tries to hug his father, but Anchises is only a shade and he flutters away. Aeneas must be content to talk.
Anchises points into the distance and shows Aeneas a group of shades who are ready to return to life. Aeneas can\'t believe that anyone would deliberately go back to the upper world with all its hardships. But Anchises explains that souls are purified in the underworld for 1000 years and then they drink the waters of forgetfulness so that they can return to life fresh and pure.
NOTE: Doesn\'t this sound a lot like reincarnation? This idea has been around a long time in many different cultures. Virgil gives us his own brand here, combining ideas from Plato, the Stoics, and other Greek philosophers. Note the parallel to what is going to happen to Aeneas. His short journey into the underworld is going to renew him, give him fresh strength, and make him forget his old Trojan life.
Finally Anchises shows Aeneas the parade of great Romans who will be born in the future. First, he points out the long line of early kings of Alba Longa (the city that Aeneas\' son, Ascanius, will build after Aeneas dies). Then he points out Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome itself. Next to Romulus is Augustus, the great rebuilder of Rome after the civil wars. (Note that by putting Augustus right next to Romulus, Virgil seems to be suggesting that Augustus is as great as the founder of Rome.) On the other side of the field, Anchises points to the great leaders of the Roman Republic before Augustus and the great generals, including Julius Caesar and Pompey.
Finally Anchises tells Aeneas that the Romans\' great gift will be for ruling.
To rule the people under law, to establish
The way of peace, to battle down the haughty,
To spare the meek. Our fine arts, these, forever.
(VI. 852-54)
Needless to say, Aeneas is inspired by this vision of the future and he returns to the upper world. There are two gates to leave by. One is only for real shades. The other is for false dreams. Aeneas leaves by the gate for false dreams.
What do you make of this exit? Does Aeneas leave by the gate for dreams just because he\'s not really dead? Or is Virgil telling us something about this vision of Rome\'s future? Is it just a dream? Will it be true or false depending on what Aeneas does with it? Virgil may be reminding us that though certain things are fated, they still depend on human effort to make them happen.
NOTE: This is a good example of how Virgil artfully blends the past, present, and future into his poem. By having Anchises predict the future, Virgil gives his readers a short course in Roman history down to the day he was writing. You can also see how much this description would have flattered Augustus. In having Anchises tell Aeneas that the Romans\' gift will be for ruling, Virgil is confirming Augustus\'--and the Roman people\'s--belief that their empire would last forever.
At this point, the first half of the Aeneid ends. From now on Aeneas will stay in Italy. What do the first six books all have in common? They each describe a kind of journey. Some of the journeys are actual geographical trips, particularly Books I, III, and V. Others are more abstract psychological or emotional journeys. For example, in Book II Aeneas has to leave home and in the process he loses a clear sense of who he is and what he\'s supposed to do. In Book IV, Aeneas takes a side-trip into his emotions with Dido, only to discover that that\'s not what the gods have planned for him. In Book VI, he takes a trip into the future in the underworld and discovers his new identity and purpose as a Roman.
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