Aeneas and Heroism

About the lecture

In this module, we think about the kind of hero that Aeneas is. Is he a red-blooded Homeric hero in the mould of Achilles or Odysseus, or is he a new kind of hero? In particular, we think about some of Aeneas’ more controversial actions in the poem – his human sacrifice at the beginning of Book 11, and his killing of Turnus at the end of Book 12.

About the lecturer

Richard Jenkyns was an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford. He was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, from 1972 to 1981, Lecturer in Classics, University of Bristol, 1978-81, and from 1981 to 2010 he was a Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Lady Margaret Hall.

He became Professor of the Classical Tradition in 1999 and the University’s Public Orator in 2004. He was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship 2007-10.