Question

Why would Augustus commission an epic for Roman that has a Trojan, a Greek, as the hero?( pls explain it in one paragraph and its a humanity question, thank you. )

Answer 1

Emperor Octavian who was later known as Augustus commissioned Virgil to write an epic that would feature a Greek and a Trojan as heroes because Rome was founded by Aeneas a survivor of the Trojan War. He wanted to showcase the importance of founding of Rome to the people of Rome in order to bring more patriotic feel as Rome was just recovering from the civil war and turning into a monarch. Augustus wanted a back-up from history to prove his legitimacy to the throne, to prove his bravery and unite people under his kingdom. Although Virgil was never a stanch supporter of Augustus’ brutal civil war tactics, he made sure to portray Augustus as the most important emperor who would transform the fate of Rome forever. More than Augustus, Virgil needed Augustus in order to peacefully continue with his work thus entering the good books of Augustus because Virgil was too much disturbed by the civil war as he was not able to focus on his writings. Creating Aeneid was the need of the hour for both Augustus and Virgil.