Research Paper on:
Fire as a Theme in Virgil's Aeneid

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
certain thematic material, such as heroism, piety, Junos revenge, the Roman sense of duty, and the passion of Dido. Fire and references to fire, i.e. burning, flames, smoldering, ashes, etc.,  are consistently used to Virgil to refer to and describe the danger inherent in uncontrolled passion, which can be in reference to action that is either erotic or heroic in  nature. However, in exploring the various ways in which Virgil employs this motif, it is also evident that the passion that it represents, while dangerous, often escaping rational control, is  also crucial to the fulfillment of Aeneas destiny. The Aeneid is, basically, the story of the founding of Rome by Aeneas, a Trojan, and his followers, all fugitives  from the Trojan War. Aeneas has been given the divine mission of founding a "new" Troy, a city that will eventually be Rome. Juno, the goddess who is the  wife of Jupiter, the highest god in the Roman pantheon, is the patron deity of Carthage, and she wishes her city to rule the world, rather than Rome. Therefore, she  wishes to keep the Trojans from reaching Italy. Also, Juno is angry that Paris, the Trojan prince, did not choose her as the most beautiful of the goddesses. Venus won  the contest because she bribed Paris by offering him Helen of Troy, the fairest of mortal women, which is the basis for the conflict that started the Trojan War.  Juno has Aeolius release the shrieking wind, which causes a storm that results in the destruction of Aeneas fleet. "Loud peals of thunder from the poles ensue; / Then flashing  fires the transient light renew/ The face of things a frightful image bears" (I, 131-133). As this quote illustrates, Virgil, by using fire metaphorically for lightning, connects the imagery of