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Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Key Examples in The Aeneid
Metaphors
Explanation and Analysis—The Sibyl's Cavern:
When Aeneas visits the Sibyl of Cumae in Book 6, the narrator describes her cavern as "pierced by a hundred tunnels, a hundred mouths with as many voices rushing out, the Sibyl's rapt replies." In addition, the Sibyl herself describes the cavern as a house with a mouth of its own. By presenting the cavern as a sort of medium of the Sibyl's utterances and describing this cavern through personification and metaphor, Virgil adds to the mystery of the character's prophetic abilities.
Related Themes:
Book 1
Explanation and Analysis—Prophecies:
In line with The Aeneid's theme of fate, Virgil repeatedly underlines that Aeneas is destined to travel to Italy and found what will become Rome. Prophecies and omens delivered by various characters throughout the poem contribute to this underlying sense of fate, which Virgil metaphorically compares to a scroll. By giving the reader regular reminders of Aeneas's destiny, Virgil foreshadows the end of the poem. Even in suspenseful moments where his life is threatened, the reader is quite sure that Aeneas will survive in order to fulfill his destiny.
Related Themes:
Book 7
Explanation and Analysis—Fire and Fury:
In Book 7, Virgil uses a number of metaphors and similes relating to snakes to describe Allecto's possession of Amata and the Latin mothers. In addition to comparing the feverish, furious frenzy of the women to the fever caused by a snake's venom, he also likens it to the wild spinning of a top.
When Juno initially seeks out Allecto, Virgil describes the Fury as a "monster" whose "black snakes" of hair "coil so thickly." He sustains this snake association throughout Allecto's action in the poem. After Juno "whips her on with a challenge like a lash," Allecto uses one of the snakes from her hair to infect Amata with her Gorgon venom:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Allecto flings a snake from her black hair at the queen
and thrusts it down her breast, the very depths of her heart,
and the horror drives her mad to bring the whole house down.
It glides between her robes and her smooth breasts but she
feels nothing, no shudder of coils, senses nothing at all
as the viper breathes its fire through the frenzied queen.
The enormous snake becomes the gold choker around her throat,
the raveling end of a headband braiding through her hair,
writhing over her body.
Related Themes:
