Both the Aeneid and Saint Augustine’s Confessions share a central theme in the way parents and children interact with one another and how it reflects a greater message from each respective work. In the Aeneid the most important relationship between a parent and child is the relationship between Aeneas and his father Anchises. In the Confessions, the most important relationship is between Augustine and his mother Monica. In both cases, these relationships emphasize a sense of duty by the child toward their parent. These relationships differ in the wider issue they address; where Aeneas’s relationship with his father represents an emphasis on Roman lineage and national identity, Augustine’s relationship with his mother represents a mutual equality…show more content… Monica and Augustine have a conversation about what heaven, their souls, and the extent of God’s wisdom might be like, which finally fulfills Monica’s wish that Augustine may convert to a devoted Christian. She responds to this conversation by saying “God has granted me [this] in superabundance, in that now I see you (Augustine) His servant to the contempt of all worldly happiness” (Augustine, 9.10.26).This reflection by Monica emphasizes that the true duty for everyone should be achieving community with God, and that only this communion with God can bring worldly happiness. Augustine extends this sense of duty further as he prays for Monica’s salvation when he says “those who are to be fellow-citizens with me in the eternal Jerusalem, which Thy people sigh for in their pilgrimage from birth until they come there” (Augustine, 9.13.37). By referring to all Christians searching for life in heaven as fellow citizens of an eternal Jerusalem, Augustine has established a community in which all Christians, whether mother or son, are considered equal to one another in their quest for happiness with