Reading Journal 3

     I understood the dynamics of Juno’s character to a greater extent when I read the interpretive essay “Futile Action vs. Inevitable Fate in The Aeneid” in Ashlyn’s blog. In this essay, Ashlyn reveals the complexity of Juno’s character. First, we begin to realize that Juno has a reason for her anger against Aeneas, “They [her bitter sorrows] festered deep within her, galled her still:/ the judgment of Paris, the unjust slight to her beauty, the Trojan stock she loathed, the honors showered on Ganymede” (1.33-35). Juno is proven to be an angry antagonist in the beginning of the epic poem, but piteous aspects of her character are revealed as the poem progresses. One of these aspects is that Juno knows she is fighting a losing battle: “But she heard of a race of men, sprung of Trojan blood, / would one day topple down her Tyrian stronghold,” (1.23-24). However, one can sympathize with Juno’s valiant efforts to keep Aeneas from fulfilling his fate.