Which scholar argues that the future destiny of Rome strengthens Aeneas to be successful in his mission in Book 6?

• A. Ian Du Quesney
• B. Deryck Williams
• C. Jenkyns
• D. Desmond M

Answer: (B)

In Book 6, Aeneas’ perseverance is shaped by a prophecy about Rome’s future greatness, which provides a long-range motive beyond immediate personal obligation. Deryck Williams argues that this vision of Rome’s destiny strengthens Aeneas to carry out his mission, because knowing what Rome will become gives his trials—especially the journey to the underworld and the burden of founding a city—meaning and purpose. Anchises presents a chain of future glory for Rome, tying Aeneas’s present acts to a grand national outcome, and Williams reads this as a deliberate, binding motivation that motivates success in establishing the city and, by extension, the empire.

This reading highlights how Virgil uses the underworld visit to connect personal duty with imperial destiny, reinforcing the notion that Rome’s future triumph justifies the hardships of the present. Other scholars may foreground different factors—pietas in the individual, aesthetic or stylistic considerations, or alternate political readings—but Williams’ point centers on the explicit link between Rome’s destiny and Aeneas’s determination in Book 6.