Human history is built of choices, in which the different choices individuals and groups take can lead them to greatness or cause them to suffer. Psychomachia is an internal struggle, where people must choose between two or more morally or socially significant choices. The choice one makes in regard to the path and worldview that they follow can shape one’s life. The concept of psychomachia has been explored within fictional and real individuals, such as Aeneas’ leaving Dido and killing Turnu from the Aeneid and Saint Augustine’s initial realization of the emptiness of his career goals and the conversion process from his autobiography, Confessions. Psychomachia is still relevant today, and the choice of placing emotion over morality, and taking a leap of faith can help explain how Donald Trump has become the President Elect of the United States. However, before psychomachia can be examined in current politics, it must be explored in the context of fictional literature and human emotion.
The hero of the Aeneid, …show more content…
The Aeneid is essentially a work of propaganda, written in order to please Emperor Augustus, and so the novels ends with Aeneas as the victor, a larger than life figure who has slayed the opposition. Since Virgil died before the Aeneid was finished, his final vision for Aeneid can only be speculated. Confessions by Augustine, on the other hand, is an autobiography that was supposed to document his internal struggle, how he was a sinner and then converted. By showing how his conversion was an arduous process, as well as showing that he found great joy once he converted, Confessions simultaneously sends the message to others who wish to convert that while the process might be arduous, the reward of joy and authentic happiness is worth it. - May be irrelevant, unless I can mention more