Which scholar argues that Aeneas is a pious hero?

Which scholar argues that Aeneas is a pious hero?

• A. Isabel Paintin
• B. Edith Hall
• C. Camps
• D. Richard Rutherford

Answer: (B)

The question tests how scholars interpret Aeneas's defining virtue in the epic. Edith Hall argues that Aeneas is a pious hero, meaning her reading centers on pietas as a guiding, public-duty-driven virtue. In Hall’s view, Aeneas consistently acts with reverence for the gods, fidelity to his divine mission, and care for his people and group’s future. His decisions—obeying oracles, safeguarding his father Anchises, and prioritizing the destined founding of Rome over personal desire—embody this piety in action. This focus on how duty to the gods and to Rome shapes Aeneas’s behavior is what makes her the scholar associated with the claim that he is a pious hero. Other scholars discuss different aspects of the character or Virgil’s portrayal, but Hall is the one who foregrounds pietas as central to Aeneas’s heroism.

The question tests how scholars interpret Aeneas's defining virtue in the epic. Edith Hall argues that Aeneas is a pious hero, meaning her reading centers on pietas as a guiding, public-duty-driven virtue. In Hall’s view, Aeneas consistently acts with reverence for the gods, fidelity to his divine mission, and care for his people and group’s future. His decisions—obeying oracles, safeguarding his father Anchises, and prioritizing the destined founding of Rome over personal desire—embody this piety in action. This focus on how duty to the gods and to Rome shapes Aeneas’s behavior is what makes her the scholar associated with the claim that he is a pious hero. Other scholars discuss different aspects of the character or Virgil’s portrayal, but Hall is the one who foregrounds pietas as central to Aeneas’s heroism.