Aeneas as a Leader

On meeting Aeneas for the first time, he appears to be in a very vulnerable situation as he is in the middle of a storm. Virgil writes, "his limbs grew weak," projecting the fact that Aeneas, despite his power and status, is like every other normal human being. When reasoning whether Aeneas was a good leader or not, what caught my eye was the use of the word "I". In his first speech he says, "Why could I not have fallen to your right hand and breathed out my life on the plains of Troy". Here, although Aeneas is in suffering with all his men, he is regretting not dying a heroic death in the battle of Troy, as it would lead to him becoming a great historic character. To me this doesn't make Aeneas a good leader, more along the lines of narcissistic. Aeneas can be seen as a bad leader but sometimes he exhibits the qualities of a good leader.

On the other hand, Aeneas, has a sense of dedication. Through this, leadership is presented to us on his arrival "on the coast of Libya". Here, he chooses to make it his duty to search for the missing men. "Aeneas climbed a rock to see if there was any trace of the storm-tossed Antheus". Virgil emphasizes Aeneas' concern to find his men and his great sympathy by using the word perhaps in the sense that Aeneas is trying to be strong and come off as rock solid but in reality his concern is for his men. Aeneas proves himself to be a very hopeful and confident character to his men in times of loss.

Also, though he was suffering himself, he makes it his duty to look after all his men by finding food for them. "He did see three stags wandering; he stopped in his tracks and snatched his bow" and then "he took down three leaders" (book one). Aeneas' quick thinking is made evident here by the use of the verb, "snatched," as it conveys his abilities to make quick logical decisions, a quality which makes him stand out over others. Virgil goes further on to tell us that Aeneas killed "seven huge carcasses, one for each ship" (book one). This tells the reader, in more detail that Aeneas had a great sense of organization and structure.

Self- sacrifice, which is also a trait of a good leader, is another quality that was built into Aeneas' character by Virgil, "He showed them the face of home and kept his misery deep in his heart" (book two). Here Aeneas shows great strength and good composition by putting his men's emotions first at the expense of himself as he is aware of their needs at this moment. He later steps aside and has to get away from his men to mourn "the loss of eager Orontes and Amycus". Through this, Aeneas shows great Pietas and his devotion to his men and Virgil stresses this by continually referring to him as dutiful.

In Jupiter's speech about the destiny for Aeneas, his Pietas is further expanded, as he is destined to "build walls for his people" (book one). This makes Aeneas' loyalty to his homeland and to the men known. The language used in this speech reveals Aeneas as a classic hero, similar to other great warriors, such as Achilles. "He would wage a great war in Italy and crush the fierce tribes" (book one). The use of the word, crush, emphasizes the power that Aeneas has, and the fearlessness over his enemies. Considering the time in which this poem was written, Aeneas would have been a figure of great recognition due to the fact that he is the preserver of the Trojan race. One can argue that the clearing out of this so-called "fierce tribes" is unfavorable of Aeneas' character as it presents him as selfish.. In the reflection of the troubles that he has faced,