The Meaning Of Suffering In Job And The Aeneid Essay, Research Paper

The Meaning of Suffering in Job and The Aeneid

Chris Phillips

Dr. Whalen

Throughout Virgil’s Aeneid and Job from the Old Testament, great

obstacles block the paths of the protagonists. Mental and physical, anguish is

placed upon Job and Aeneas. Though both men suffer extreme pain, the extent and

content of the tribulations are different.

Job’s suffering is placed upon him without provocation. Aeneas also

believes his ?pain [is] so great and unmerited!? (Virgil 2.89). Juno’s hatred

towards the Trojans, however, is fueled by many things such as the descent of

the Trojans from Jupiter’s illegitimate son and the fact that the Trojan people

are fated to destroy Carthage, her favorite city.

God takes away everone deat to Job. He is physically alone except for

Eliphaz, Bilad, Zophar and Elihu. These men, although they are the only people

to speak to Job, offer very little sympathy. They blame him for his misfortune

and tell Job that he has probably angered God to an extent that his punishment

is deserved. Aeneas, though, has the companionship of his men and other

friends which help him along his journey. Not only are his men friendly and

admiring of Aeneas, they are on his side. They help him on his journey. They

are all fighting for the same cause. This fact alone makes Job’s misfortune

more taxing.

Their mental anguish is not limited to matters of this world. Each man

is faced with dillemas concerning their spiritual beliefs. Though he begs and

calls to God for an explanation, Job receives nothing. This causes alone causes

more mental anguish than anything else that happens in either work. Job’s

family is exterminated, he is pile of fermenting flesh, and he has no sign from

God as to why this is happening. Job does not even get omens or other

supernatural signals to assure him of God existence. Aeneas, though, receives

security not only of the existence of higher powers, but that they are actually

aiding him. These incidents such as the omen of the flame on his son’s head,

Jupiter sending Mercury to remind Aeneas to stay on task, and Venus predicting

the safety of his ships to him allow Aeneas to be comforted that there are gods

looking out for him. Satan’s relentlessness combined with God’s confidence in

Job take Job to a degree of suffering that Aeneas could only imagine.

Though both men suffer physically, the way in which they suffer is

extremely different. Job absorbs a greater amonut of pain without leaving his

home. Socially, Aeneas is an outcast. His teeth are rotting. He has boils,

lesions, and scabs covering his skin. His senses of sight and hearing are

severly impared. His putrid breath and horrendous appearance virtually exclude

him from functioning with other people. Aeneas, however, finds his pain on a

physical journey which takes him to many different lands. He has the physical

burdens of travel, which in his time is quite a bit more than jet lag, but his

physical and social battles are quite the opposite of Job. He is made even more

attractive by the gods. He even has a queen fall in love with him, and were it

not for Jupiter and Mercury’s intervention, he would have conceivably fallen in

love and stayed with Dido.

Though lesions and scabs cover his body, his senses are impaired, and

his teeth are rotting, Job’s biggest burden is not of the flesh. It is of the

spirit, mind, and soul. Aeneas believes the gods are evil, ?If the gods’ will

had not been sinister. . . ? (Virgil 2.74). Job, however, questions God’s

nature, but always has faith that God is loving. His biggest concern is not

what has happened to him, but why.

Except for Eliphaz, Bilad, Zophar and Elihu, he is physically alone. He

begins to wonder if he is spiritually alone as well. The three comforters try

to rationalize Job’s suffering after they become mute at his horrid appearance.

Aeneas always knows the gods are with him. He knows what his destiny is and

what he must do to fulfill it. Even if Aeneas’s destiny would have been for him

to die a terrible death in battle, it would have been easier on his mind than to

have no knowledge of his future as was the case for Job.

Each man during his suffering wishes for death. Job calls out, ?may it

turn to darkness? (3:4). Aeneas, while on the ship, wishes he would have died

in battle rather than face his future. Job and Aeneas feel that their suffering

is so great that death would be a better alternative. While Job’s pain may seem

greater, death is death, and both men were prepared to accept it with open arms

to avoid any more strife.

The degree which each man suffers is rewarded accordingly at the end.

Job is rewarded with his family and friends. He gains an abundance of wealth

and social stature, as well as God’s gift of longevity. He doubles the size of

his family when you consider that he fathers ten new children and still has the

ten others waiting in heaven for him. When he arrives there, he will see the

true gifts of God. Aeneas, on the other hand, simply fulfills fate. He builds

a city with the help of the gods. Though building a city is a great feat,

Aeneas is hardly alone in his struggle. He has thousands of mortals working

with him, not to mention the fact that he has the gods working to protect him

too.

The proportionate level of suffering weighs heavily on Job’s side.

Aeneas has some tough times, but Job suffers almost beyond human capabilities.

Aeneas had moments of excitement and adventure along his path, while Job had

utter misery. Aeneas had far from a pain free voyage, but he was also worlds

away from feeling the desperation and unheralded torture of Job.