In lines 2.730-2.742 of Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas describes the terror he felt when he finally realized that Troy was falling to the Greeks. In these ten lines, Virgil uses careful diction to create the image of a lonely Aeneas stopping for a brief moment to observe the disappearance of his city. By painstakingly detailing each of Aeneas' thoughts, Virgil achieves a time-slowing effect: to the reader, it seems as if the frenetic action of a city on its knees is being slowed while a man collects his thoughts. On another level, Aeneas describes his terror to Queen Dido and her court, and he attempts to arouse a strong feeling of pity in his listeners, the Carthaginians, whom he will soon need to help him build ships. In this passage, Virgil's words, images, and subtle parallel meanings help him create a passage that can be appreciated for the tremendous mental image it provokes as well as for the many interpretations that can be found within it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Virgil's precise choice of words greatly accommodates the metaphorical meanings of the passage. In the first line, Aeneas says that for the "first time that night" he began to realize the dire situation that had befallen Troy. The words “first time” indicate that Aeneas was in a sort of dream state during the events that had previously occurred. Since Aeneas tells this story to a crowd stating that it is "the first time" he has felt fear or "inhuman shudders", it seems that he is boasting of his courage; in other words, neither the serpent's ominous signs from the day before, nor his nightmare of Hector, nor waking up to find his city in flames, nor his dangerous skirmishes with the Greeks were enough to frighten the courageous Aeneas. In fact, if "night" is interpreted to mean the bad luck of the war that has befallen Troy over the past ten years, Aeneas tells the crowd that he was never afraid during the entire war against the Greeks! Regardless, Aeneas was not afraid and did not even realize the hopelessness of his situation until he saw King Priam killed. It was only then that the “inhuman shudder” took hold of him “from head to toe”. Virgil's description of Aeneas' thrill as "inhuman" is interesting because it leads the reader to ask: What is inhuman? This adjective lends itself to a few different interpretations. If “inhuman” is read as “non-human” – divine – then the reader can assume that the gods filled Aeneas with fear for some reason, perhaps to scare him away and save his life. If “inhuman” is read as “non-human,” then it is possible that Virgil is emphasizing that the Greeks are acting inhumanly and therefore creating an atmosphere in which Aeneas trembles with “inhuman shudders.” Finally, it should be noted that Aeneas does not shudder voluntarily. In a brilliant use of a verb, Virgil has Aeneas say that "inhuman chills seized me", implying that Aeneas played a passive role in the experience of fear: Aeneas had not fear, fear took Aeneas. Virgil's careful choice of words is evident again when Aeneas describes himself standing. unmanned" - a word that has several different connotations. On the one hand, "unmanned" can be interpreted to mean that Aeneas is alone, with no one to help him as he watches the blazing fire of Troy. On another level, "unmanned" may mean that Aeneas himself has been "unmanned", that is, he is helpless and no amount of manly bravery will get him out of this disaster. following lines, Aeneas.