Introduction to Ancient Cultures.

There are 8 writing prompts. Answer the questions according to the given link and instruction. Please answer accordingly.
https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Greek/Iliad2.php

Writing #5
Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae Herodotus 1
PROMPT: Describe the character of Queen Tomyris.

At this time the Massagetae were ruled by a queen, named Tomyris, who at the death of her
husband, the late king, had mounted the throne. To her Cyrus sent ambassadors, with
instructions to court her on his part, pretending that he wished to take her to wife. Tomyris,
however, aware that it was her kingdom, and not herself, that he courted, forbade the men to
approach. Cyrus, therefore, finding that he did not advance his designs by this deceit, marched
towards the Araxes, and openly displaying his hostile intentions; set to work to construct a
bridge on which his army might cross the river, and began building towers upon the boats which
were to be used in the passage.
While the Persian leader was occupied in these labours, Tomyris sent a herald to him, who
said, King of the Medes, cease to press this enterprise, for thou canst not know if what thou art
doing will be of real advantage to thee. Be content to rule in peace thy own kingdom, and bear to
see us reign over the countries that are ours to govern. As, however, I know thou wilt not choose
to hearken to this counsel, since there is nothing thou less desirest than peace and quietness,
come now, if thou art so mightily desirous of meeting the Massagetae in arms, leave thy useless
toil of bridge-making; let us retire three days march from the river bank, and do thou come
across with thy soldiers; or, if thou likest better to give us battle on thy side the stream, retire
thyself an equal distance. Cyrus, on this offer, called together the chiefs of the Persians, and laid
the matter before them, requesting them to advise him what he should do. All the votes were in
favour of his letting Tomyris cross the stream, and giving battle on Persian ground.
When Tomyris heard what had befallen her son and her army, she sent a herald to Cyrus,
who thus addressed the conqueror:Thou bloodthirsty Cyrus, pride not thyself on this poor
success: it was the grape-juice which, when ye drink it, makes you so mad, and as ye swallow
it down brings up to your lips such bold and wicked words it was this poison wherewith thou
didst ensnare my child, and so overcamest him, not in fair open fight. Now hearken what I
advise, and be sure I advise thee for thy good. Restore my son to me and get thee from the land
unharmed, triumphant over a third part of the host of the Massagetae. Refuse, and I swear by
the sun, the sovereign lord of the Massagetae, bloodthirsty as thou art, I will give thee thy fill of
blood. To the words of this message Cyrus paid no manner of regard. As for Spargapises, the son of
the queen, when the wine went off, and he saw the extent of his calamity, he made request to
Cyrus to release him from his bonds; then, when his prayer was granted, and the fetters were
taken from his limbs, as soon as his hands were free, he destroyed himself.
Tomyris, when she found that Cyrus paid no heed to her advice, collected all the forces of
her kingdom, and gave him battle. Of all the combats in which the barbarians have engaged
among themselves, I reckon this to have been the fiercest. The following, as I understand, was
the manner of it: First, the two armies stood apart and shot their arrows at each other; then,
when their quivers were empty, they closed and fought hand-to-hand with lances and daggers;
and thus they continued fighting for a length of time, neither choosing to give ground. At length
the Massagetae prevailed. The greater part of the army of the Persians was destroyed and Cyrus
himself fell, after reigning nine and twenty years. Search was made among the slain by order of
the queen for the body of Cyrus, and when it was found she took a skin, and, filling it full of
human blood, she dipped the head of Cyrus in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corse, I
live and have conquered thee in fight, and yet by thee am I ruined, for thou tookest my son with
guile; but thus I make good my threat, and give thee thy fill of blood. Of the many different
accounts which are given of the death of Cyrus, this which I have followed appears to me most
worthy of credit.

Writing #6
The following is Solon the Athenians description of the happiest people he knows to Croesus, the wealthy
king of Lydia.
PROMPT: What is your opinion of Solons idea of happiness, as illustrated in these stories?

30. On this account, as well as to see the world, Solon set out upon his travels, in the course of
which he went to Egypt to the court of Amasis, and also came on a visit to Croesus at Sardis.
Croesus received him as his guest, and lodged him in the royal palace. On the third or fourth day
after, he bade his servants conduct Solon over his treasuries, and show him all their greatness and
magnificence. When he had seen them all, and, so far as time allowed, inspected them, Croesus
addressed this question to him. “Stranger of Athens, we have heard much of thy wisdom and of thy
travels through many lands, from love of knowledge and a wish to see the world. I am curious
therefore to inquire of thee, whom, of all the men that thou hast seen, thou deemest the most
happy?” This he asked because he thought himself the happiest of mortals: but Solon answered him
without flattery, according to his true sentiments, “Tellus of Athens, sire.” Full of astonishment at
what he heard, Croesus demanded sharply, “And wherefore dost thou deem Tellus happiest?” To
which the other replied, “First, because his country was flourishing in his days, and he himself had
sons both beautiful and good, and he lived to see children born to each of them, and these children
all grew up; and further because, after a life spent in what our people look upon as comfort, his end
was surpassingly glorious. In a battle between the Athenians and their neighbours near Eleusis, he
came to the assistance of his countrymen, routed the foe, and died upon the field most gallantly. The
Athenians gave him a public funeral on the spot where he fell, and paid him the highest honours.”
31. Thus did Solon admonish Croesus by the example of Tellus, enumerating the manifold
particulars of his happiness. When he had ended, Croesus inquired a second time, who after Tellus
seemed to him the happiest, expecting that at any rate, he would be given the second place.
“Cleobis and Bito,” Solon answered; “they were of Argive race; their fortune was enough for their
wants, and they were besides endowed with so much bodily strength that they had both gained
prizes at the Games. Also this tale is told of them:There was a great festival in honour of the
goddess Juno at Argos, to which their mother must needs be taken in a car. Now the oxen did not
come home from the field in time: so the youths, fearful of being too late, put the yoke on their own
necks, and themselves drew the car in which their mother rode. Five and forty furlongs did they draw
her, and stopped before the temple. This deed of theirs was witnessed by the whole assembly of
worshippers, and then their life closed in the best possible way. Herein, too, God showed forth most
evidently, how much better a thing for man death is than life. For the Argive men, who stood around
the car, extolled the vast strength of the youths; and the Argive women extolled the mother who was
blessed with such a pair of sons; and the mother herself, overjoyed at the deed and at the praises it
had won, standing straight before the image, besought the goddess to bestow on Cleobis and Bito,
the sons who had so mightily honoured her, the highest blessing to which mortals can attain. Her
prayer ended, they offered sacrifice and partook of the holy banquet, after which the two youths fell
asleep in the temple. They never woke more, but so passed from the earth. The Argives, looking on
them as among the best of men, caused statues of them to be made, which they gave to the shrine
at Delphi.”

Writing #7
Herodotus Bk 3
PROMPT: Describe the nature of the Ethiopians and relate this to any of the material weve
already encountered in class.

Cambyses decides to invade Ethiopia, so he sends this message with his messengers, the Fish-Eaters
(Ichthyophagi):
Cambyses, king of the Persians, anxiously desiring to become your ally and sworn friend, has sent us to
hold a conversation with you, and to bring you the gifts you see, which are the things in which the king of
Persia himself finds the most pleasure. Here the Ethiopian king, who knew that they came as spies, made
this answer:The king of the Persians sent you with these gifts not because he very much desired to
become my sworn friend nor is the story which you give of yourselves true, for you have come to spy on
my kingdom. Also, your king is not a just man if he were, he would not desire to invade a land which is
not his own, and would not bring slavery on a people who never did him any wrong. Bring him this bow,
and say The king of the Ethiopians advises the king of the Persians in this way: when the Persians can
pull a bow of this strength as easily as I can, then let him come with an army of superior strength against
the long-lived Ethiopians until then, let him be thankful that the gods have not put it into the heart of the
Ethiopians to desire countries which do not belong to them.
So speaking, the Ethiopian king unstrung the bow, and gave it to the messengers. Then, taking the next
gift, a purple robe, he asked them what it was, and how it had been made. The Persians answered truly,
telling him about the manufacture of the purple dye, and the art of the dyer the Ethiopian king observed
that the men were deceitful, and their garments also. Next, the Ethiopian king took the neck-chain and
the arm bracelets, and asked about them. So the messengers explained their use as ornaments. Then the
king laughed, and imagining they were shackles, said, the Ethiopians had much stronger ones. Third, he
inquired about the myrrh, and when they told him how it was made and rubbed upon the limbs, he said the
same as he had said about the robe. Last of all he came to the wine, and having learned their way of making
it, he drank a cup, which greatly delighted him; next he asked what the Persian king was accustomed to eat,
and to what age the oldest of the Persians had been known to survive. They told him that the king ate bread,
and described the nature of wheat adding that eighty years was the longest term of mans life among the
Persians. Hereat he remarked, It did not surprise him, if they fed on dirt, that they died so soon; indeed he
was sure they never would have lived as long as eighty years, except for the refreshment they got from that
drink (meaning the wine), and on this point he confessed the Persians surpassed the Ethiopians.

Writing #8
Hdt. Bk 7
PROMPT: Here is a story about Xerxes, the Persian King after 480 BCE, and his subordinate,
Pythius of Lydia. How would you describe his (Xerxes) character?

7.27
In this city Pythius son of Atys, a Lydian, sat awaiting them; he entertained Xerxes himself and all the
king’s army with the greatest hospitality, and declared himself willing to provide money for the war.
When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians present who this Pythius was and how
much wealth he possessed in making the offer. They said, O king, this is the one who gave your
father Darius the gift of a golden plane-tree and vine; he is now the richest man we know of after
you. Xerxes marvelled at this last saying and next himself asked Pythius how much wealth he had.
O king, said Pythius, I will not conceal the quantity of my property from you, nor pretend that I do
not know; I know and will tell you the exact truth. As soon as I learned that you were coming down to
the Greek sea, I wanted to give you money for the war, so I inquired into the matter, and my
reckoning showed me that I had two thousand talents of silver, and four million Daric staters of gold,
lacking seven thousand. All this I freely give to you; for myself, I have a sufficient livelihood from my
slaves and my farms.
Thus he spoke. Xerxes was pleased with what he said and replied: My Lydian friend, since I came
out of Persia I have so far met with no man who was willing to give hospitality to my army, nor who
came into my presence unsummoned and offered to furnish money for the war, besides you. But you
have entertained my army nobly and offer me great sums. In return for this I give you these
privileges: I make you my friend, and out of my own wealth I give you the seven thousand staters
which will complete your total of four million, so that your four million not lack the seven thousand and
the even number be reached by my completing it. Remain in possession of what you now possess,
and be mindful to be always such as you are; neither for the present nor in time will you regret what
you now do……..
7.39 As Xerxes led his army away, Pythius the Lydian, frightened by the heavenly vision and
encouraged by the gifts that he had received, came to Xerxes and said, Master, I have a favor to ask
that I desire of you, easy for you to grant and precious for me to receive. [2]
Xerxes supposed that Pythius would demand anything rather than what he did ask and answered that
he would grant the request, bidding him declare what he desired. When Pythius heard this, he took
courage and said: Master, I have five sons, and all of them are constrained to march with you against
Hellas. [3] I pray you, O king, take pity on me in my advanced age, and release one of my sons, the
eldest, from service, so that he may take care of me and of my possessions; take the four others with
you, and may you return back with all your plans accomplished. Xerxes became very angry and thus
replied: Villain, you see me marching against Hellas myself, and taking with me my sons and
brothers and relations and friends; do you, my slave, who should have followed me with all your
household and your very wife, speak to me of your son? Be well assured of this, that a man’s spirit
dwells in his ears; when it hears good words it fills the whole body with delight, but when it hears the
opposite it swells with anger. [2] When you did me good service and promised more, you will never
boast that you outdid your king in the matter of benefits; and now that you have turned aside to the
way of shamelessness, you will receive a lesser requital than you merit. You and four of your sons are
saved by your hospitality; but you shall be punished by the life of that one you most desire to keep.
With that reply, he immediately ordered those who were assigned to do these things to find the eldest
of Pythius sons and cut him in half, then to set one half of his body on the right side of the road and
the other on the left, so that the army would pass between them.
Writing #9 Read the following section of Pericles Funeral Oration (Thuc. 2. 39-41) where he praises the
greatness of Athens.

Writing #9
PROMPT: What aspects of life in ancient Athens would you consider most appealing? (Please make
specific references to the text).

“Nor are these the only points in which our city is worthy of admiration. 40We cultivate refinement
without extravagance and knowledge without effeminacy; wealth we employ more for use than for
show, and place the real disgrace of poverty not in owning to the fact but in declining the struggle
against it. Our public men have, besides politics, their private affairs to attend to, and our ordinary
citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters; for,
unlike any other nation, regarding him who takes no part in these duties not as unambitious but as
useless, we Athenians are able to judge at all events if we cannot originate, and, instead of looking
on discussion as a stumbling-block in the way of action, we think it an indispensable preliminary to
any wise action at all. Again, in our enterprises we present the singular spectacle of daring and
deliberation, each carried to its highest point, and both united in the same persons; although usually
decision is the fruit of ignorance, hesitation of reflection. But the palm of courage will surely be
adjudged most justly to those, who best know the difference between hardship and pleasure and yet
are never tempted to shrink from danger. In generosity we are equally singular, acquiring our friends
by conferring, not by receiving, favours. Yet, of course, the doer of the favour is the firmer friend of
the two, in order by continued kindness to keep the recipient in his debt; while the debtor feels less
keenly from the very consciousness that the return he makes will be a payment, not a free gift. And it
is only the Athenians, who, fearless of consequences, confer their benefits not from calculations of
expediency, but in the confidence of liberality.
41″In short, I say that as a city we are the school of Hellas, while I doubt if the world can produce a
man who, where he has only himself to depend upon, is equal to so many emergencies, and graced
by so happy a versatility, as the Athenian. And that this is no mere boast thrown out for the occasion,
but plain matter of fact, the power of the state acquired by these habits proves. For Athens alone of
her contemporaries is found when tested to be greater than her reputation, and alone gives no
occasion to her assailants to blush at the antagonist by whom they have been worsted, or to her
subjects to question her title by merit to rule. Rather, the admiration of the present and succeeding
ages will be ours, since we have not left our power without witness, but have shown it by mighty
proofs; and far from needing a Homer for our panegyrist, or other of his craft whose verses might
charm for the moment only for the impression which they gave to melt at the touch of fact, we have
forced every sea and land to be the highway of our daring, and everywhere, whether for evil or for
good, have left imperishable monuments behind us. Such is the Athens for which these men, in the
assertion of their resolve not to lose her, nobly fought and died; and well may every one of their
survivors be ready to suffer in her cause.

Writing #10 Civil War in Corcyra – Political Speech (Thucydides 3.82)
PROMPT: Describe the political environment here during the civil war in Corcyra and state
whether you think it is a credible account, and why (or why not).

82So bloody was the march of the revolution, and the impression which it made was the greater as it
was one of the first to occur. Later on, one may say, the whole Hellenic world was convulsed;
struggles being everywhere made by the popular chiefs to bring in the Athenians, and by the
oligarchs to introduce the Lacedaemonians. In peace there would have been neither the pretext nor
the wish to make such an invitation; but in war, with an alliance always at the command of either
faction for the hurt of their adversaries and their own corresponding advantage, opportunities for
bringing in the foreigner were never wanting to the revolutionary parties. The sufferings which
revolution entailed upon the cities were many and terrible, such as have occurred and always will
occur, as long as the nature of mankind remains the same; though in a more severe or milder form,
and varying in their symptoms, according to the variety of the particular cases. In peace and
prosperity, states and individuals have better sentiments, because they do not find themselves
suddenly confronted with imperious necessities; but war takes away the easy supply of daily wants,
and so proves a rough master, that brings most men’s characters to a level with their fortunes.
Revolution thus ran its course from city to city, and the places which it arrived at last, from having
heard what had been done before, carried to a still greater excess the refinement of their inventions,
as manifested in the cunning of their enterprises and the atrocity of their reprisals. Words had to
change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came
to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice; moderation was
held to be a cloak for unmanliness; ability to see all sides of a question, inaptness to act on any.
Frantic violence became the attribute of manliness; cautious plotting, a justifiable means of
self-defence. The advocate of extreme measures was always trustworthy; his opponent a man to be
suspected. To succeed in a plot was to have a shrewd head, to divine a plot a still shrewder; but to
try to provide against having to do either was to break up your party and to be afraid of your
adversaries. In fine, to forestall an intending criminal, or to suggest the idea of a crime where it was
wanting, was equally commended until even blood became a weaker tie than party, from the
superior readiness of those united by the latter to dare everything without reserve; for such
associations had not in view the blessings derivable from established institutions but were formed by
ambition for their overthrow; and the confidence of their members in each other rested less on any
religious sanction than upon complicity in crime. The fair proposals of an adversary were met with
jealous precautions by the stronger of the two, and not with a generous confidence. Revenge also
was held of more account than self-preservation. Oaths of reconciliation, being only proffered on
either side to meet an immediate difficulty, only held good so long as no other weapon was at hand;
but when opportunity offered, he who first ventured to seize it and to take his enemy off his guard,
thought this perfidious vengeance sweeter than an open one, since, considerations of safety apart,
success by treachery won him the palm of superior intelligence. Indeed it is generally the case that
men are readier to call rogues clever than simpletons honest, and are as ashamed of being the
second as they are proud of being the first. The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising
from greed and ambition; and from these passions proceeded the violence of parties once engaged
in contention. The leaders in the cities, each provided with the fairest professions, on the one side
with the cry of political equality of the people, on the other of a moderate aristocracy, sought prizes
for themselves in those public interests which they pretended to cherish, and, recoiling from no
means in their struggles for ascendancy engaged in the direst excesses; in their acts of vengeance
they went to even greater lengths, not stopping at what justice or the good of the state demanded,
but making the party caprice of the moment their only standard, and invoking with equal readiness
the condemnation of an unjust verdict or the authority of the strong arm to glut the animosities of the
hour. Thus religion was in honour with neither party; but the use of fair phrases to arrive at guilty
ends was in high reputation. Meanwhile the moderate part of the citizens perished between the two,
either for not joining in the quarrel, or because envy would not suffer them to escape. 83Thus every
form of iniquity took root in the Hellenic countries by reason of the troubles. The ancient simplicity
into which honour so largely entered was laughed down and disappeared; and society became
divided into camps in which no man trusted his fellow. To put an end to this, there was neither
promise to be depended upon, nor oath that could command respect; but all parties dwelling rather
in their calculation upon the hopelessness of a permanent state of things, were more intent upon
self-defence than capable of confidence. In this contest the blunter wits were most successful.
Apprehensive of their own deficiencies and of the cleverness of their antagonists, they feared to be
worsted in debate and to be surprised by the combinations of their more versatile opponents, and so
at once boldly had recourse to action: while their adversaries, arrogantly thinking that they should
know in time, and that it was unnecessary to secure by action what policy afforded, often fell victims
to their want of precaution.

Writing # 11
Prompt: Which elements of this vision do you, personally, find believable?

When the Interpreter had thus spoken he scattered lots indifferently among them all, and each of them took up the
lot which fell near him, all but Er himself (he was not allowed), and each as he took his lot perceived the number
which he had obtained. Then the Interpreter placed on the ground before them the samples of lives; and there were
many more lives than the souls present, and they were of all sorts. There were lives of every animal and of man in
every condition. And there were tyrannies among them, some lasting out the tyrant’s life, others which broke off in
the middle and came to an end in poverty and exile and beggary; and there were lives of famous men, some who
were famous for their form and beauty as well as for their strength and success in games, or, again, for their birth
and the qualities of their ancestors; and some who were the reverse of famous for the opposite qualities. And of
women likewise; there was not, however, any definite character them, because the soul, when choosing a new life,
must of necessity become different. But there was every other quality, and the all mingled with one another, and
also with elements of wealth and poverty, and disease and health; and there were mean states also. And here, my
dear Glaucon, is the supreme peril of our human state; and therefore the utmost care should be taken. Let each
one of us leave every other kind of knowledge and seek and follow one thing only, if peradventure he may be able
to learn and may find someone who will make him able to learn and discern between good and evil, and so to
choose always and everywhere the better life as he has opportunity. He should consider the bearing of all these
things which have been mentioned severally and collectively upon virtue; he should know what the effect of beauty
is when combined with poverty or wealth in a particular soul, and what are the good and evil consequences of noble
and humble birth, of private and public station, of strength and weakness, of cleverness and dullness, and of all the
soul, and the operation of them when conjoined; he will then look at the nature of the soul, and from the
consideration of all these qualities he will be able to determine which is the better and which is the worse; and so he
will choose, giving the name of evil to the life which will make his soul more unjust, and good to the life which will
make his soul more just; all else he will disregard. For we have seen and know that this is the best choice both in
life and after death. A man must take with him into the world below an adamantine faith in truth and right, that there
too he may be undazzled by the desire of wealth or the other allurements of evil, lest, coming upon tyrannies and
similar villainies, he do irremediable wrongs to others and suffer yet worse himself; but let him know how to choose
the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible, not only in this life but in all that which is to
come. For this is the way of happiness.
And according to the report of the messenger from the other world this was what the prophet said at the time:
`Even for the last comer, if he chooses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a happy and not undesirable
existence. Let not him who chooses first be careless, and let not the last despair.’ And hen he had spoken, he who
had the first choice came forward and in a moment
chose the greatest tyranny; his mind having been darkened by folly and sensuality, he had not thought out the whole
matter before he chose, and did not at first sight perceive that he was fated, among other evils, to devour his own
children. But when he had time to reflect, and saw what was in the lot, he began to beat his breast and lament over
his choice, forgetting the proclamation of the prophet; for, instead of throwing the blame of his misfortune on himself,
he accused chance and the gods, and everything rather than himself. Now he was one of those who came from
heaven, and in a former life had dwelt in a well-ordered State, but his virtue was a matter of habit only, and he had
no philosophy. And it was true of others who were similarly overtaken, that the greater number of them came from
heaven and therefore they had never been schooled by trial, whereas the pilgrims who came from earth, having
themselves suffered and seen others suffer, were not in a hurry to choose. And owing to this inexperience of theirs,
and also because the lot was a chance, many of the souls exchanged a good destiny for an evil or an evil for a
good. For if a man had always on his arrival in this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and
had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as the messenger reported, be happy here, and
also his journey to another life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would be smooth and
heavenly. Most curious, he said, was the spectacle–sad and laughable and strange; for the choice of the souls was
in most cases based on their experience of a previous life. There he saw the soul which had once been Orpheus
choosing the life of a swan out of enmity to the race of women, hating to be born of a woman because they had
been his murderers; he beheld also the soul of Thamyras choosing the life of a nightingale; birds, on the other hand,
like the swan and other musicians, wanting to be men. The soul which obtained the twentieth lot chose the life of a
lion, and this was the soul of Ajax the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the injustice which
was done him the judgment about the arms. The next was Agamemnon, who took the life of an eagle, because, like
Ajax, he hated human nature by reason of his sufferings. About the middle came the lot of Atalanta; she, seeing the
great fame of an athlete, was unable to resist the temptation: and after her there followed the soul of Epeus the son
of Panopeus passing into the nature of a woman cunning in the arts; and far away among the last who chose, the
soul of the jester Thersites was putting on the form of a monkey. There came also the soul of Odysseus having yet
to make a choice, and his lot happened to be the last of them all. Now the recollection of former tolls had
disenchanted him of ambition, and he went about for a considerable time in search of the life of a private man who
had no cares; he had some difficulty in finding this, which was lying about and had been neglected by everybody
else; and when he saw it, he said that he would have done the had his lot been first instead of last, and that he was
delighted to have it. And not only did men pass into animals, but I must also mention that there were animals tame
and wild who changed into one another and into corresponding human natures– the good into the gentle and the
evil into the savage, in all sorts of combinations.

Writing #12 Vergil, Aeneid
Question: What emotions do you think the statue is supposed to evoke in the observer? Also, do you feel there are elements which are missing in the statue, which might have
made it more compelling?

On the link below is the famous staute by Bernini of Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius fleeing Troy. Here is
the first part of the Wikipedia.com entry for the statue:
Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius is a sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini created c.
1618-19. Housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome, the sculpture depicts a scene from the Aeneid , where
the hero Aeneas leads his family from burning Troy.[1]
The statue was made by the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini (and it is often thought that he had help from his
father, Pietro Bernini [2]) when he was twenty years old. Through his father Pietro, Giancarlo Bernini was
becoming renown in the higher circles of Rome. Pietros famous Mannerist sculptures were even
commissioned by the Pope (see figure 2c). Through some minor commissions for Pope Paul V, he was being
able to get recognized as a very promising sculptor. The Pope couldnt believe that a young boy could actually
sculpt this kind of art works. Those sculptures, especially the antique ones caught eventually Scipione
Borgheses attention. Cardinal Scipione Borghese was next to the Pope, the most powerful man in Rome.
Scipione loved also arts, money and male physical beauty. [6] It is also thought that the sculpture is influenced
by earlier works of other artists. The figure of Christ (Santa Maria sopra Minerva), made by Michelangelo, has
served as example for the figure of Aeneas. Also, the head of Aeneas corresponds with Pietro Bernini’s John
the Baptist (Cappella Barberini in SantA ndrea della Valle). It is generally thought, that it has also elements
derived from Raphaels Fire at the Borgo (Vatican Museum, Stanze di Borgo) and Baroccis own interpretation
of the Flight of Aeneas (Villa Borghese)[2]. Also, the stance of the Bernini sculpture looks a lot like a work that
his father created, the Saint Matthew with Angel. Aeneas left foot and Ascanius right foot are standing forward,
whereas in Pietros sculpture of Saint Matthew the stance is the same, but mirrored[2].
The life-sized group shows three generations of the Aeneas family. The young man holding an older man on
his shoulder is Aeneas (see figure 3a). He gazes down to the side with a strong determination. Aeneas lineage
from the gods, his mother is Aphrodite, is emphasized through the lion skin draped around his body. A lion skin
stands commonly for power and is often related to Hercules, a descendant from Zeus[2].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeneas,_Anchises,_and_Ascanius#/media/File:Aeneas,_Anchises,_a
nd_Ascanius_by_Bernini.jpg

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