What is Destiny?

The idea of destiny is introduced early on in the poem. “He came to Italy by destiny.” This refers to Aeneas’s epic journey from Troy to the new found land where he is “destined” to be. However, throughout the poem, Aeneas seems to be forced to go places due to the Gods wishes and orders. There’s this idea of following your destiny, yet it seems that it is already decided by the Gods. For example, Aeneas meets Dido and falls in love. Unfortunately, he cannot stay with her though since the Gods do not wish him to rebuild a new empire there. He is then forced to leave but again, this is not due to his own free will.

Destiny for many in this poem is something that happens after you make it happen. Therefore you have to be involved. Aeneas leads a difficult life in the sense that he abides to the Gods wishes and commands. This is also largely due to the fact that there is a stronger sense of religion in this poem opposed to The Odyssey and The Iliad. However, I still question this idea that it’s part of Aeneas’s destiny to rebuild an empire as part of his destiny when he’s constantly being told what to do by the Gods. Furthermore, you would think that the Gods would help him out a little and monitor Juno. Juno seems to be interrupting his quest for destiny at every corner; especially in book VII when she involves Allecto. In the end, Aeneas has no choice but to do what’s asked of him and that will ultimately determine his destiny.