In Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s Iliad, a picture of the supernatural and its workings was created. In both works, there is a concept of a fixed order of events which is called fate. Fate involves two parts. First, there are laws that govern certain parts of mens’ lives, such as human mortality and an afterlife. Second, fate deals with the inevitable outcome of certain events, outcomes that cannot be changed by men or gods. Both Homer and Virgil allude to the existence of unchangeable laws, one of which is the mortality of human beings. This can be seen by the fact that character after character dies during war.
In Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas journeys to Hades to visit his father. During his stay, he talks to a large number of the warriors that have died in the Trojan War. The death of these warriors shows the mortality of human beings (Forman 2015). Another unchangeable law is the period of limbo that is said to await the souls of the unburied after death. Homer indicates this law by writing of Patroklos’ spirit’s return to remind Achilles that, until he has been properly buried, he must wander the earth. These events show Virgil’s and Homer’s belief in laws that cannot be changed (Strong 62).
The second element of Fate deals with the unalterable predestined occurrence of certain events. One example of such an event is the fall of Troy. According to Homer, the destruction of Troy was foretold in Hekuba’s dream that her son, Paris, would be the cause. This prophecy was confirmed by a seer. Although Hekuba tried to avert the disaster by attempting to have Paris killed, fate overcame and Troy was destroyed as a result of Paris’ judgment concerning the golden apple of discord (Strong 15-16). Virgil also writes about a similar situation when Venus pleads with Jupiter to help Aeneas with his journey.
Meanwhile, on Olympus, Venus, the mother of Aeneas, berates Jupiter for allowing her son to be persecuted in such a manner. Jupiter calms her and reminds her of the many prophecies concerning her son and his progeny: how he will found the city of Lavinium in Latium and win a great war; how his son Acanius will build the city of Alba Longa; how the twins Romulus and Remus, his descendants, will be born in this town and how they will found the city of Rome (Milch 22). The union of the Trojans and Latins to form a new race is another example of a predestined event found in the Aeneid.
This illustrates the unchangeable will of Fate, even to the degree that the gods believe what is foretold must happen (Camp 42). Even though certain events are ordained by Fate, the time tables for these events are flexible. Since Achilles was mortal, he was ordained by fate to die during the Trojan War. This can be seen in the Iliad when Homer writes about Achilles. Though his death was inevitable, it was postponed as a result of being dipped in the River Styx. “… at birth, his mother dipped him in the River Styx, rendering him immortal everywhere except in the heel, where she had held him… Fate finally ruled when Paris shot him in the heel with a poisoned arrow, causing his demise (Strong 17).
Virgil also shows that Fate may be delayed when he writes about Juno’s attempt to stop Aeneas from founding Rome. When Juno sees Aeneas coming close to his goal she asks Aeolus, god of winds, to blow the Trojans off course. Their ships are destroyed and they wash up on the shores of Africa, close to the city of Carthage. Once in Carthage, the shipwrecked survivors are welcomed by Dido, queen of Carthage. Juno and Venus collaborate about Aeneas’ marriage to Dido.
She [Venus] agrees to the marriage, knowing that it cannot meet Juipiter’s or fate’s approval – as Juno, where she less irrational, should also know. ” (Anderson 44). At the request of Venus, Cupid, in the form of Acanius, casts a spell on Dido causing her to fall in love with Aeneas. Taking advantage of these events in a further attempt to detain Aeneas far from his Italian goal, Juno, with the complicity of Venus, thrusts the unfortunate Dido into the arms of her Trojan guest. Surrendering himself to the delights of a mad passion, the Trojan hero forgets his predestined mission for twelve long months.
When Jupiter imperiously takes him to task, however, he remembers the duty fate has laid upon him and leaves Carthage and the delights of love, setting sail to the light of the funeral pyre in which the despairing Dido has thrown herself (Brisson 23-24). Aeneas and Dido’s relationship and the destruction of Dido parallels Rome’s destruction of Carthage. It is a repetition of fate in which Dido represents Carthage and Aeneas represents Rome. The fall of Troy to the Greeks was ordained by Fate, but could have taken place as much as ten years later than it did.
These events reflect Homer’s and Virgil’s belief in the existence of Fate as inevitable, yet, at the same time, general and imprecise (Camp 42). The works of Homer and Virgil show their belief in the reality of Fate being composed of two parts. Both parts describe the existence of fate’s unchangeable laws. Both authors are successful in depicting predestined events that cannot be changed by the powers of gods or prayers of men. Although fate is not predominant in the writings of our modern world, in the works of the ancient world; especially in Homer and Virgil, fate must be present for the heroes to accomplish their destiny.