Let the Gods Decide

Virgil: Aeneid: Book 10

In this course, Professor Llewelyn Morgan (University of Oxford) explores Book 10 of Virgil's Aeneid. In the first module, we consider the council of gods that opens the books, a supremely impressive occasion, no doubt, but one in which precisely nothing is decided. After that, we turn to the presentation of Aeneas himself in Book 10—a highly ambiguous presentation that sees him engage in human sacrifice and be compared to the monster Aegaeon, but is he simply fulfilling his duty to Pallas? In the third module, we consider the presentation of some of the lesser figures of the poem—Pallas, Mezentius, Lausus and Turnus—before moving on in the fourth module to think about Italy and the status of Hercules. In the final module, we turn from exploring broader themes and ideas to doing a bit of close reading—in this case, lines 390-6, a description of two twins who are killed by Pallas.

Let the Gods Decide

In this module, we focus on the beginning of Book 10, a council of the gods where—despite the sublime poetry—precisely nothing is decided. Why does Virgil do this? And what are the implications for the remainder of the Aeneid?