Aeneas Leadership

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To what extent is Aeneas a good leader in Books 1+2 Aeneas is the protagonist of Virgil’s Aenid, a story of Aeneas’ journey to found a city of foretold greatness and the difficulties along the way. Aeneas himself in Book One and Two demonstrates qualities of leadership, both Homeric and proto-Roman which highlight different values of the ancient world. Aeneas’ is a strong leader who cares for his men but sometimes the Homeric Hero in him causes a selfish aspect that removes his good leadership momentarily. Aeneas first demonstrates the qualities of a good leader when they have arrived at Libya, exhausted after the storm whilst the others get settled in Aeneas goes off and “climbed a high rock to get a view over the whole breadth of the ocean…show more content…
The noun ‘trace’ illuminates his compassion as he is frantic to catch sight of any hint that his men are well and not killed by the harsh storm. Aeneas doesn’t see any ships but he does spot “three stags” and automatically “snatched his bow” this presents Aeneas as quick thinking that is important for a leader as it allows them to lead their men out of trouble and find a solution to problems. Aeneas after shooting these stags carries “seven huge carcasses” back to the ships to feed his men, this again shows his dedication in providing for them and making sure they are in good health, but it also shows his quality of great physical strength which is a key aspect of a Homeric Leader which is what he is currently. Aenas’ great strength and warrior skills are shown in Book Two when he and a group of men are fighting desperately to bring down as many Greeks as possible and avenge Troy and “many a Greek did [they] send down to Orcus”. When Aeneas speaks to his men he encourages them and puts on a brave front to convey his hope for the future when really he has “misery deep in his heart.” This allows me to believe Aeneas is a good leader as he…show more content…
This self-centred aspect whilst making him a typical Homeric Hero is not a quality of a good leader, and certainly not a Roman one. Despite Aeneas’ intuition and military attics, he can often be ignorant as with Sinon’s lies they “carried on and paid no heed” and he like the others fell victim of the Greeks trickery and cunning. Aeneas also ignores Laocoon’s cries of the actuality of the Trojan Horse and what hides within its “womb”, and Cassandra’s desperate screams of prophesied truth. This diminishes Aeneas’ capability of a good leader as to naively trust your enemy often can cause one’s downfall, and in this instant it leads to Troy’s fated one. When Hektor comes and tells Aeneas he must escape Troy and “Look for a great city to establish” however Aeneas when he wakes disregards this showing his obliviousness into the bigger picture, as “mindlessly [he] puts on [his] armour” as “suddenly it seemed a noble thing to die in arms” this need to die a great death and be remembered marks Aeneas as a Homeric Hero and not a leader who

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