uld be wrong for him to give up that right, it would be impious.Although to remain pious and to remain loyal are virtues that every roman should possess, there are some costs that sometimes outweigh the rewards. By following his destiny, Aeneas was put in an enormous amount of danger, that he would not have been put in if he had not fled Troy, in search for Rome. When he first leaves Troy, he knows that he may have to put himself in dangerous positions, but he is willing to do whatever it takes to please the Gods. Also, Aeneas lost nearly everything that he once had during the course of the poem. He lost his father, his lover, and ultimately, he loses his identity. Losing your own identity is the greatest loss that anyone could suffer and Aeneas does experience that loss. These losses that Aeneas endures, greatly outweigh the rewards that Aeneas acquires in the end of the poem. Aeneas defeats Turnus and gains the Roman empire, but that is how the story is left. There are no celebrations, there is no wedding for Aeneas and Lavinia. It is just over. The reward is that he has accomplished what he set out to do, but the reader is not shown how or if Aeneas is rewarded in a physical way.In that way, it seems that Virgil agrees that the costs greatly outweigh the benefits. It would appear that if he were to disagree, he would have concentrated much more on the rewards rather than concentrating on all the hardships. The entire poem is based on the trouble that Aeneas must go through in order to remain pious and to remain loyal to the Romans. It is not until the very last page where we are shown the rewards that Aeneas gained from his quest. The last sentence states, Relentless, he sinks his sword into the chest of Turnus. His limbs fell slack with chill; and with a moan his life, resentful, fled to Shades below. (XII 1268-1271) This one defeat cannot offset all the trials and tribulations that Aeneas went through to get to that...
