Was Pietas Successful in Roman Society?

334-82-2140
Dr. Esolen
11/19/03

Was Pietas Successful in Roman Society?

Though it seems in Roman society , the principle of virtue or pietas provides the ideal way to live (devotion to your father, state, and Gods), both Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” and Virgil’s The Aeneid contradict the success of piety. In The Aeneid, the protagonist, Aeneas, is a Trojan prince who flees the ruins of Troy in search for his new fatherland. In his voyage, he encounters many obstacles set by the God’s, and eventually reaches the coast of Lavinium, where Rome will be founded . Fundamentally, The Aeneid unknowingly sets the stage in refuting the success of the theme pietas, when Aeneas decides to take the life of the innocent warrior Turnus. After this event, all paganism ends in a state of absolute hopelessness, despair, and failure with no justification for his death. In Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus creates the Beatitudes. When one follows these new vi...