Which scholar asserts that Book 6 displays a profound sense of religious awe?

• A. Isabel Paintin
• B. Harrison
• C. Galinsky
• D. Fiachra Mac Gorain

Answer: (D)

Religious awe in Book 6 arises from Virgil making the descent into the underworld a sacred, liminal experience rather than a simple adventure. Fiachra Mac Gorain argues that this mood of reverence comes from how the poem builds a ritualistic frame around the journey: the authority of the Sibyl as guide, the deliberate signs and offerings that mark sacred space, and the careful choreography of entering and crossing the threshold between worlds. As Aeneas and the Sibyl move deeper, they encounter not just dangers but a numinous order governed by fate and the gods, which heightens the sense that they are participating in a ceremony larger than themselves.

A key part of this religious awe is the revelation of Rome’s future and the gods’ plan, presented in a way that casts the present moment as part of a grand, cosmic design. The mood is reinforced by elevated language, ritualized speech, and vivid, otherworldly imagery that together remind readers of the sacred authority at work behind human action. This combination—ritual structure, divine signs, and prophetic vision—produces a distinctive atmosphere of reverence that Mac Gorain identifies as the central feeling in Book 6.

Other scholars might emphasize different strands, such as piety toward the gods in general or the political implications of Rome’s destiny, but Mac Gorain’s emphasis is specifically on how the text induces a profound sense of religious awe through its sacred framework and vision.