#4.3: Family or country?

In both novels, Aeneid and Illiad, the main characters, Aeneas and Hector, are being pleaded by their wives not to proceed to fight at the war. Both of their wives, Creusa (wife of Aeneas) and Andromache (wife of Hector), cared for them and they even think of what would happen to their sons if something bad and unexpected things happen to them. Their wives also tried to sway their conscience and decision by telling them of their faith as a widow if ever they would fail and die. They both begged to consider them first.

In the point of views of both Hector and Aeneas, it is hard for them to choose what to prioritize first, is it their family or his own country?. Hector and Aeneas made different decisions. In the Iliad, Hector chose military glory over family life while in the Aeneid, Aeneas chose the safety of his family first and foremost. In the Iliad it is Hector died while his wife Andromache lived and married Helenus and in the Aeneid it is Aeneas who lived while Creusa died.

 As what Creusa and Andromache did, they showed their husbands how much they love them. They don't want their love ones get hurt. They are begging them not to show selfishness but to show love and care. They also show concern and they made their husbands notice how important they are to their wives and sons.

#4.2: Failing is the start of something new.

"We can't really accomplish our goals and succeed at the very first step"

This line means everything to Aeneas especially at his first move of surviving the tragic past. He struggles a lot, just as what a hero and a leader should do. He know that he have the abilities to protect and defend his territory from the destroyers but he's mature enough to accept everything and to flee to other country instead of making revenge even though he really want to. In his journey, he had encountered a bunch of problems on their way. Monsters and mortal enemies had passed them and disturbed their journey. But with the help of her mother, Venus, and his fellow countrymen, they win sometimes and with that, the unity among them become stronger. They also fall down sometimes but in life, it's just so normal. We don't really accomplish any goal at our very first step.

Their unity helped themselves to conquer all of their problems in life. Aeneas, too, became a better hero. Being brave, mature, responsible, obedient, wise, and self reliant are the characteristics of a good leader and a fighter. Aeneas possessed all of these. Having those characteristics helped him to achieve their ultimate victory. They deserve to live in peace and witty because of their perseverance and sacrifices.

Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose. That's life; it is intended to be full of ups and downs for us to become a better person. Failing is not a sign of weakness; it is a proof that you are not afraid to try new things in your life.

#4.1: Everything happens for a reason.

Imagine that you are on your way home and you realized that your hometown was crushed into a million pieces or you found out that it was destroyed, what would you feel? What a nice surprise! take note of the sarcasm. Maybe some would go crazy and be depressed seeing that their hometown was destroyed. I do believe that all of us would feel the same way, but make Aeneas as an exception.

In the case of Aeneas, he just suffered a great lost. To lose your own hometown or your mother land is very tragic and depressing. Some needs comfort for them to ease the pain, but Aeneas himself kept his own pain and learn to be brave to let go of the past. In my opinion, I believe that his decision was correct. He find his way out to forget the past. Yes, it's hard to accept the fact that you lose your hometown, but that was just the first case. At first, we would cry and be depressed, that's alright because crying is one way of letting your feelings be expressed. But sooner or later, we must be brave enough, like Aeneas, to accept everything. Do you think he would found Rome if he just sat around the corner crying? of course not. Everything happens for a reason. His decision of accepting the past is very great because if he didn't let go of the past, he would not found Rome.

Even with the knowledge that Aeneas had a better future than his sad past, it doesn't mean he had easily let go of his tragic past. He loved his hometown, Troy. But little by little, these memories would be just a part of his past, and whether it is good or not, we must thank God for having it since it is one way of making our lives change for the better.