Book V: The Wake

For many readers, Book Five may be the dullest book of the Aeneid, but like all the others it serves a distinct purpose, even if that service halts the action of the poem. The funeral games to celebrate the anniversary of Anchises' death fulfill a tradition of epic poetry begun by Homer. They also lend occasion to the poet to remind the Roman aristocracy (to whom much of this poem is directed) of some of their supposed ancestry. They further shed a dignified light upon Roman customs which until te Augustan Age had rather dim origins.

It is worth noting the irony that leaving the light of Dido's pyre, we nearly immediately arrive at funeral games for Anchises. Though hardly subtle, there is much to consider there.

I called this book "The Wake" to play on two senses of the word; meaning 1) a ritual to celebrate the passing of the deceased, but also 2) the track of a moving body through a fluid. The first sense I described in the previous pararaph, but in the second sense, there has to be some calming after the tumult of the Dido tragedy in Book Four. Some critics lay a heavy hand upon Books Three and Five (as I myself sometimes do), but these books do serve their respective purposes quite well.

Besides, what could possibly be an appropriate encore to the terrible destruction of Troy or to the magnificent demise of Dido?