Aeneas tells his comrades to recall their courage and banish fear. He also gives them an optimistic framework for how to think about sad times in the future. The book was so embraced when it originally appeared. It had this ripple effect of saying if Aeneas's sacrifices were worth it for him to get here for us, then our sacrifices are also maybe worth it for us to get to a better place.
In Virgil's epic poem, The Aeneid, few Trojans survive the destruction of their city at the hands of their Greek enemies. A prince, Aeneas, leads a band of those fleeing Troy - but the journey is fraught with deadly storms and hungry monsters.
But Aeneas takes a positive view of the struggles he and the other Trojans face, telling them to be proud of their resilience and courage. With the help of MIT classics professor Stephanie Frampton, Dr Laurie Santos explores how The Aeneid can be read as a tale of post-traumatic growth and how we can sometimes emerge happier and stronger from tragic events.
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