Tag Archives: Virgil

In the Face of Trump, Be Aeneas Strong

By Robin Bates | Published: December 17, 2019

Virgil’s “Aeneid” gives us images of a strong man standing up to enflamed passions. We need people to step up in the current impeachment debates.

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Will Odysseus Shape 2020 Election?

By Robin Bates | Published: April 14, 2019

Monday I won’t take credit for this but Washington Post’s Molly Roberts recently penned a very Better-Living-with Beowulf type column where she contrasted two Democratic presidential candidates by examining which version of the Odysseus/Ulysses story they prefer. Her piece gives me an excuse to apply other versions of the story to various 2020 contenders. Roberts […]

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Spirituality in Nature

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2018

John Gatta’s “Spirit of Place in American Literary Culture” explains why we find certain places, in nature and in civilization, to be infused with spirit.

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Camilla, the Woman Who Fights Back

By Robin Bates | Published: October 1, 2018

Camilla is a woman who fights back against Aeneas. It prove to be all in vain, which may be the case of those opposing rightwing justices on the Supreme Court.

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Aeneas, Kavanaugh, and Female Fury

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2018

As American female anger keeps rising, esp. with regard to Brett Kavanaugh, it’s worth looking at the vivid depictions in Virgil’s “Aeneid.

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Troy and California’s Fires

By Robin Bates | Published: September 10, 2018

Imagine Aeneas awaking to fires burning his city. Now imagine being a California resident in a fire-prone area.

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Poetry, the Road to Virtuous Action

By Robin Bates | Published: July 31, 2014

Sir Philip Sidney believed that poetry was the most powerful means of leading us to virtuous action.

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Dear Frustrated in Love: Read a Classic

By Robin Bates | Published: January 25, 2012

Literature is better than any self help book for relationship guidance.

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Fired by Happy Valley, JoPa Is No Aeneas

By Robin Bates | Published: November 29, 2011

Just as Rasselas questions Samuel Johnson’s Happy Valley, so do Penn State students find themselves questioning their own Happy Valley after the child abuse scandal. Coach Joe Paterno admired Aeneas, and many feel abandoned like Queen Dido.

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