Aeneas's Self-Focalizations and the Fractured Self

Brian F. Cherer (University of Toronto, Mississauga)

In the proposed paper, I intend to analyze and interpret some of the many instances in Virgil’s Aeneid where the main character, Aeneas, sees (focalizes) himself.  While we might well expect to find many instances of self-focalization scattered throughout Aeneas’s self-narration in Books 2 & 3, it is much more surprising to find instances of self-focalization scattered throughout the whole poem.  These indirect self-focalizations are also noteworthy in that they do not denote instances where we are told that some character merely sees himself, as in a mirror.  As effected in the Aeneid, the character, Aeneas, specifically sees himself as others see him, that is, through the eyes of other characters, mortal or divine.

Several examples of indirect self-focalization readily come to mind from the opening books of the poem.  In the famous ecphrastic scene of Book 1, Aeneas literally sees himself depicted in the mural that is painted on the wall of Juno’s temple situated on the edge of Carthage.  Less obvious, perhaps, is the fact that the self-image that Aeneas sees is not of his own making, but is the work of some unknown artist.  Although the narrative does not tell us who the artist is, Aeneas clearly believes that everyone has heard of the Trojan War:  ‘quis iam locus, Achate,’  inquit,  ‘Achate,/ quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?’.  Still, Aeneas unquestioningly accepts this anonymous self-image, as marked by his curious expression of grief mixed with joy:  sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi,/ sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.

Subsequent self-focalizations seem to produce equally instantaneous identification, as Aeneas repeatedly ‘puts on’ the self that he is presented with, no matter the circumstances.  Throughout Book 2, Aeneas repeatedly self-focalizes for the sake of his listeners, as when he describes his ultimately futile efforts to save his city.  Interspersed with these direct self-focalizations are those provided by others, first Hector, then his goddess mother, then his ‘lost’ wife.  Each of these instances provides Aeneas with an opportunity to see himself through the eyes of the other—and, as it turns out, in a more favorable light.  In Book 5, however, when his panic-stricken crew (or, at least, the female component of it) mutinies, Aeneas is again presented with a new self-image, though this time rather negative, as it casts him in the shadow of his now deceased father.

As mentioned earlier, such self-focalizations, both positive and negative, appear throughout the narrative, although they become increasingly imaginary, idealized and constraining over the second half of the poem.  By focusing my discussion upon select scenes from Books 7-12, I shall show how the narrative progressively shifts from internal to external focalizations of Aeneas, which, in turn, might suggest that the hero is being guided more and more by outside forces than by his own natural inclinations.  The end result of this complex focalization technique, especially when ‘read’ in light of the epic code, is to evoke in the reader a sense of the hero’s ‘fractured self’.  Thus, in the end, my presentation will offer yet another pessimistic reading of Virgil’s poem, though one that is hopefully more convincing by virtue of its being more theoretically grounded.  By way of conclusion, I shall point out those remaining interpretive and methodological issues that will need to be addressed in future studies.