by destroying Aeneas' fleet. Thanks to Neptune, though, they are only thrown off course, and Venus assures that they will not be harmed in Carthage. At times in the Aeneid, it seems as if the story is less about the deeds of the mortal characters than about the bickering of the gods, who continuously disrupt or manipulate events on Earth. The one common theme, though, is that fate always comes true. Aeneas is destined to settle in Italy, and nothing can prevent this. Jupiter sees to it that his overall plan will come to pass by helping out Venus.The fall of Troy was brought about because the god Minerva helped to fool the Trojans into accepting the wooden horse. Sinon tells the Greeks, "if your hands should harm Minerva's gift, / then vast destruction...would fall on Priam’s kingdom and the Phrygians; / but if it climbed by your hands into Troy, then Asia would repel the Greeks" (II.268-273). Minerva sends a strange sign to confirm this story: two giant serpents rise up from the sea, devour a priest and his two sons, and then slither up to the shrine of Minerva. The Trojans took this as a sign that they must appease the goddess, and so they wheeled the horse into the city of Troy. Throughout the book Aeneas is convinced that the gods are out to get him: "Had the outcome not / been fated by the gods...Troy, you would be standing yet" (II.75-79); "But oh, it is not right for anyone / to trust reluctant gods!" (II.540-541). Later on, Venus reaffirms this to him: she says, "it is the gods' relentlessness, the gods', / that overturns these riches, tumbles Troy / from its high pinnacle" (II.815-817). Thus, while Aeneas and the Trojans did lose a battle they could have won, in the end they had no choice but to follow the will of the gods anyway. On the other hand, if it were not for the help of the gods no one would have escaped from Troy; again, behind all the infighting on Olympus, fate is always fulfilled. The sufferings of Aeneas in...
