Essay On Plato's Portrayal Of The Gods In The Aeneid

As Socrates develops his city with the help of his interlocutors, music becomes an important part of the education of the guardians. Poetry is included in the musical education, but Socrates is wary of allowing all forms of poetry into the city. He instead develops several requirements that poetry must meet to be allowed into the city. These stipulations deal with the portrayal of the gods, tragedy, the afterlife, and others. Out of all the categories, Plato’s Socrates considered the gods to be most important. Based on Plato’s requirements in the Republic, Virgil’s Aeneid would not be allowed into Kallipolis dues to its portrayal of the gods. Not only are the gods the source of bad things, but they disguise themselves and willfully mislead other gods and humans throughout the story. Socrates begins his attack on poetry’s portrayal of the gods by explaining how the young are susceptible to corruption. These misguided beliefs would eventually pose a threat to the morals and foundation of the …show more content…
The first instance of a god disguising himself is when Aeneas comes across his mother Venus looking “like a young girl” with “a bow that fit her grip, a huntress for all the world” (Aen.1.380, 384-5). Aeneas recognizes that she is not a mortal, but Venus lies and denies it saying, “Now there’s an honor I really don’t deserve” (Aen.1.408). The messengers of Juno also use disguises throughout the Aeneid. Iris, a lesser goddess, disguises herself as an old Trojan woman when she attempts to convince the Trojan woman to burn the ships. Although both Venus and Iris disguise themselves, they later reveal their true identities. In spite of the fact that the truth eventually came out, their original intent was to deceive, therefore making their action unsuitable for a god in the