Virgil doesn't just tell a storyâhe uses sophisticated literary techniques to create emotional effects, develop themes, and guide reader response. Understanding HOW he writes is as important as understanding WHAT he writes.
Why Techniques Matter for Exams
The specification asks you to analyze "how Virgil's literary techniques create meaning." Identify the technique (simile, imagery, foreshadowing), explain how it works, and analyze its effect on meaning and reader response.
Epic similes are extended comparisons (unlike brief metaphors). Virgil uses them to create meaning beyond simple descriptionâthey characterize, establish themes, and elevate narrative to cosmic significance.
Neptune as Statesman (1.148-156)
Neptune calms the storm that Juno sent. Virgil compares this to a statesman calming a rioting mob.
Reverses normal pattern: Usually human action compared to natureâhere natural force compared to human politics
Elevates Roman politics: Political order becomes cosmic principle
Shows order defeating chaos: Rational control (pietas) overcomes passion (furor)
Dido as Diana (1.498-504)
Dido appears surrounded by attendants. Virgil compares her to goddess Diana leading nymphs.
Diana = virgin huntress: Emphasizes Dido's vowed chastity to dead husband
"Outshines all goddesses": Elevates her to divine beauty and status
Tragic irony: Virgin goddess comparison makes coming violation by love more painful
Peak before fall: Shows what she IS before love destroys her
Laocoon as Sacrificial Bull (2.223-224)
Laocoon screams while being crushed by serpents, "like a bull's bellowing when it flees the altar."
Role reversal: Priest performing sacrifice BECOMES the sacrifice
Ironic escape: Bull escapes but woundedâLaocoon doesn't escape at all
Divine violence: Gods kill him to ensure Troy fallsâshows their ruthlessness
How to Analyze Similes in Exams
1. IDENTIFY: What is compared to what?
2. ANALYZE: What qualities are transferred? What associations?
3. EFFECT: How does this shape our view of the character/event?
4. THEME: How does this connect to pietas, fate, furor, etc.?
Fire Imagery
Fire appears throughout Books 1-2 with changing meaningsâdestructive, prophetic, passionate. Tracking how Virgil uses the SAME image differently reveals thematic development.
Fire Through Books 1-2
Book 2: Troy burning: DESTRUCTIVE fireâcivilization consumed, chaos and death
Book 2: Flame on Ascanius: PROPHETIC fireâharmless, divine favor, future kingship
Book 1: Dido "feeding the wound": PASSIONATE fireâlove as burning, consuming desire
Contrast: Same element = death for Troy, life for Romeâtransformation through fire
Wound/Disease Imagery
Love described as INJURY and INFECTIONânot romantic but pathological.
"Feeding the wound" (1.712): Dido nurtures what will kill her
"Warmssherself at the fire": Seeks comfort in dangerous heat
Cupid "erases Sychaeus": Divine manipulation as disease replacing health
Effect: Love becomes PATHOLOGY not choiceâDido is victim not agent
Serpent Imagery
Snakes represent deception, divine violence, and fate's instruments.
Pyrrhus as serpent (2.471-475): Greek "hero" as monstrous predator renewing through violence
Forked tongue: Deception imageryâSinon's lies
Pattern: Serpents destroy through cunning not strengthâintelligent malice
Narrative Structure Techniques
Virgil manipulates WHEN and HOW we learn information to create specific effects.
In Medias Res
Begins seven years AFTER Troy's fallânot chronologically.
Immediate drama: Opens with storm and crisis, not slow buildup
Mystery: WHY is Aeneas suffering? Flashback reveals
Emphasizes suffering: We meet him at low point before understanding past
Homer echo: Follows Odyssey structure
First-Person Narration (Book 2)
Entire Book 2 is Aeneas speaking to Dido's court.
Subjective perspective: We see events through HIS eyesâfiltered by trauma
Self-justification: Emphasizes his pietas, bravery, divine compulsion
Emotional immediacy: "I saw," "I felt"âcreates sympathy
Unreliable narrator: May omit unflattering details
Foreshadowing and Prophecy
Virgil constantly tells us what WILL happen before it occurs.
Jupiter's prophecy (1.257-296): Reveals Rome WILL existâcreates dramatic irony
"Infelix Dido" (1.712): Narrator calls her "doomed" before tragedy develops
Creusa's ghost (2.776-789): Prophesies Italian kingdom
Effect: We know outcomes characters don'tâshifts focus from "what?" to "how?"
Ekphrasis (Temple Murals, 1.450-463)
Narrative pauses for extended description of visual art.
Characterizes Aeneas: He weepsâtrauma still raw
Theme: Art preserves memoryâstories survive
Irony: In Juno's templeâgoddess who caused suffering
"Sunt lacrimae rerum": Universal empathy for suffering
Exam Strategy: Linking Technique to Effect
Don't just identifyâANALYZE. Weak: "Virgil uses a simile." Strong: "Virgil compares Dido to Diana (1.498), emphasizing her virginal independence through association with the chaste goddess. This tragic irony heightens Book 4's impactâwe measure how far love makes her fall from this divine peak."