ENG 208—Baker
Aeneid
Structure/Action of Book VI
Precursors—the
Sibyl prophesies Aeneas’ voyage and he searches for the Golden Bough.
1 –6, The poet asks for permission to describe what he has seen
7 – 22, Aeneas and the Sibyl wander through Dis,
a hateful place filled with Care, Disease, Age, Fear, and Hunger, etc., all the
things that are hateful to mankind, culminating in the Furies.
23-39, under a
giant elm tree, shades gather with various monsters against which Virgil arms
himself until the Sibyl informs him that they are insubstantial
40-51, he
approaches the Acheron, which feeds Cocytus, over
which he must be ferried by Charon.
52-70, on the banks of the Acheron, the souls of the unburied
dead gather, waiting for their bodies to be buried or 100 years to pass before Charon will ferry them.
71-83, Sibyl
explains the waters and the souls to him
83-146, Aeneas
encounters among the unburied dead one of his crew, Palinurus
who did not die at sea but was killed on land by savages. That region of the world will be named for
him and his soul will be eased when his body is entombed by its inhabitants.
147-181, Charon challenges them, but the Sibyl declares that he is
allowed to pass and produces the golden bough
182-189, Charon, appeased, ferries them across the river Acheron,
the pool Cocytus, and the swampy
190-200, Cerberus,
the guard dog of Hades, barks and growls until the Sibyl drugs him to sleep.
201-219, to the
sound of infant souls wailing for their lost lives, Minos
judges the suicides, imprisoned in the
220-264, in the
Fields of Mourning, Aeneas encounters those who suffered at the hands of love,
including Dido. He begs her to speak to
him, but she refuses and returns to her first husband.
265-287, Aeneas
witnesses the Trojan heroes with whom he had fought,
still caught in images of warfare.
288-338, among
them, he meets a mutilated Deiphobus, who describes
how he was betrayed by Helen and murdered by Menelaus
339-355, the Sibyl
reminds Aeneas of the passage of time and their need to move on.
356-371, Aeneas
sees a city under a cliff surrounded by three walls and the Pyriphlegethon
(
372-455, Aeneas
asks for an explanation. The Sibyl
complies with a description of Rhadamanthus who
forces evil souls to confess their sins and then be punished by the furies in Tartarus. She
provides some examples, including the Titans and other famous evildoers, but
there are so many she cannot describe them all.
456-505, the Sibyl
encourages him to the gates where he must offer the Golden Bough, after which
they pass into the Elysian Fields (Blessed Groves) where happy souls engage in
the pleasures they enjoyed on earth.
506-528, the Sibyl
asks a shade where they can find Anchises and they
are guided to him in a lovely valley watching his descendants.
528-550, Anchises, Aeneas’ father who died on the sea voyage to
551-618, Aeneas
and his father stand and watch the dead souls waiting to drink the water of the
Lethe, forget their former lives, and be reborn in
human form again. Our hero asks his
father for an explanation, and so Anchises describes
how the world is energized by Spirit and Mind, but physical form remains
attractive to those who remain impure.
These souls pay for their sins in a wide variety of ways, and some are
thus purified of their dependence upon physical perception. Others must be reborn until they reach such a
state.
618-800, Anchises shows his son the
souls that will be reborn as the many leaders of
801-819, Anchises guides the Sibyl and Aeneas to the Gates of Ivory,
from which they exit the underworld and return to