Family

                  There is a scene in Aeneid where in Creusa asks Aeneas not to join the battle between the Greeks and just lead his family to safety has a bit of a similarity to the scene in Iliad and Odyssey. The scene in Iliad and Odyssey was when Andromache asks Hector not to join the battle and just think of what will happen to their family.

                The difference is that Aeneas agreed to Creusa and fled to safety. This does not show that he is a coward and did not care for his country but it showed that he cares enough for his family and will do anything so that they would be safe. Hector did the opposite of this. Hector refused to leave and wanted to fight for his country. It may show courage and bravery but it looks as if he didn’t care that much for his family. 

Sacrifices

                The theme ultimate victory through a terrible loss is one of the main themes of the epic, The Aeneid. Since, Aeneas has sailed through lots of hardships before he attained his victory.

                One of the terrible losses that he had been was when his city, Troy, was destroyed during the Trojan War and his comrades didn’t even know where to go. As the leader of the Trojans, he had to find a way for his people to be in a much secure and safer place.

                Another one was when his wife died. Imagine going through a very tough journey without the person you love? Well, that would be dreadful.

                Another was when his father died. His father was one of those people who fully understand Aeneas and he gives lots of advices that Aeneas really needs at that time.

                But even if there were many sacrifices and hardships, he stuck to his goal and this had made him the victor. 

The Trojan War

                                             Actually, I never thought that the Greeks had a bad side. I always thought that the Trojans are the enemies and they were the ones who did something wrong. That was before I read the Aeneid. I have such a big respect for the Greek people. Maybe it was because I read about them first and I thought of the Trojans as somewhat bad, self-centered people thirsty of power.

                                When I was reading the Aeneid, I was actually surprised when I read that the Greeks were the ones who started the whole fight in the book.  I never thought of them as war freaks and people that wanted to be number one or something like that. The book got me very confused and I didn’t know what to believe in.  The Greek’s level of understanding is really very high and I admire their wisdom and they’re contributions to our society today. But since, they waged war against the Trojans with such a small matter. I started to doubt that they actually cared for the people that will get hurt and the families that will be broken.

                                I felt great sympathy and pity. The Trojans didn’t deserve this faith. They did it because of their care and sympathy to the people and their respect to the gods that they believe in. 

The City of Hell

Hell

Hell

Hell

                Well, I never envisioned Hell as somewhat like in the story books that it is in flames. I envisioned it as a big city, somewhat like the old cities of Babylonia or Manchu Picchu for example. I thought of it as a city wherein at the side of it there lies the River Styx and connected to the River Styx is the sea of lost memories and lies.  Hell is really dark and very scary. You will not see even just the smallest ray of light. The souls there are dark and void. The souls would never remember their past lives so they wander helplessly in the dark abyss of Hell. At the center of Hell lies the palace of Hades or Pluto, the God of the Underworld.  There are lost souls also, souls that didn’t deserve to die but their past lives wasn’t good enough for them to go to Elysium. They wander around being tormented by the devils in this huge city.

               The River Styx is at the other end of Hell, it is closest to the mortal world. River Styx is where mortal’s lost dreams are thrown into. It is littered by so many lost dreams of mortals. And like Achilles, if you dive into the River Styx and stick to a memory that you will never forget even though you dived there, you will attain invulnerability. But there is a catch; you will have a weak spot that will instantly kill you by the slightest stab. This weak spot should have some sort of significance on that memory that you treasure the most. This connects to the Sea; this shows that mortal’s have so many lost dreams, dreams that were never recovered or attained.

                At the gates of Hell, there lies Thanatos, the God of Death. He judges the souls that come in and out of Hell. Thanatos is nothing like the reaper in the movies. His skin was the color of teakwood, dark and glistening. His eyes were colored just like honey. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair rolling down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in the shades of blue, black and purple. He looks almost like Eros. Death has more in common to Love than anything you could imagine.

                Farther in the city, there are different towers that represent a different category of the sins of mortals. For example, Tower of Major Sins, Tower of something like that. Each tower has seven levels. Each level of the towers represents a sin and there lies the sinners of such sin.

                Standing tall at the other end of the city lies the Tower Studiosum Peccatum. It is one of the closest towers to purgatory because it is not that big of a sin.

First level:

THE CUNCTANTIS

From the Latin word cunctantis which means tardy. Here lie the students that sinned of being late. They are punished by moving through one point or another in constant and lightning fast speed. They move like the clock hands. They follow a clockwise motion as they move from the 12^th position to the 3^rd position to the 6^th position and so on. Here, Chronos, the god of time is the one who manages the sinners here. He constantly whips them so that they will move faster.

Second Level:

THE PIGER

From the latin word piger which means lazy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being lazy at school.  They are turned into slaves by the demons. They are supposed to do the bidding of the demons that are their masters. 

Third level:

 The SOMNOLENTUS

From the latin word somnolentus which means sleepy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being very sleepy in class. They are being tortured by looking directly at the sun without blinking. Here lies the Greek God Hypnos. He manages the sinners there. Hypnos is the Greek God of Sleep.

Fourth Level:

THE SONANTIS

From the latin word sonantis which means noisy. Here lie the students that were sinned of being very noisy in class. Their vocal chords are removed and their mouth is sewn with heated iron. Here lies Echo, the nymph. She is known to have a very beautiful voice and even captivated Zeus himself. She fell inlove to Narcissus but he did not want her so she stabbed herself. 

Fifth Level:

THE IACTANTIOR

From the latin word iactantior which means boastful. Here lie the students that were sinned of being too boastful about what they achieve. They are forced to bow their heads and walk in fours. Here lies Agamemnon who was sinned of insulting Artemis. He boasted that he was a better hunter than the Goddess herself. He was assigned to lead the Greek ships to Troy where his brother, Menelaus, was currently king. Artemis did not let the ships to reach Greece. She commanded the winds to not let the ships to reach Greece.

Sixth Level:

THE SYCOPHANTA

From the latin word Sycophanta which means cheater. Here lie the students that were sinned of cheating. This is the last level of the tower and the highest point. They are forced to jump at the top of the tower.  They cannot stop jumping, if they do, the demons will incinerate them and their souls will go to Tartarus, the dark abyss of Hell. Sometimes, Hermes, the messenger of the Gods goes here to check on the souls. Hermes is also known to be the God of cheaters and thieves because of his impulse to steal everything he sees and cheat.

The City of Hell