Which scholar notes that the contradictions in Aeneas' actions make him difficult to like, but human?

• A. Cox - Homeric influence
• B. Bob Cowan - Homeric influence
• C. RD Williams - Roman heroism
• D. Richard Jenkyns - Aeneas' actions

Answer: (D)

The main idea tested is how Virgil shapes Aeneas as a morally complex leader who is both admirable and morally uneasy, so readers feel a pull toward him even when his choices are controversial. Richard Jenkyns is the scholar who draws attention to the tensions in Aeneas’s actions, showing that his duties to the gods and to Rome often collide with personal feelings and practical decisions. This tension makes him hard to like at moments—for instance, when he prioritizes fate and founding Rome over individual loyalties or the immediate suffering of others—but also reveals his humanity: a hero who acts under pressure, doubts, and moral struggle rather than a flawless exemplar.

Seeing Aeneas through this lens helps explain why the figure remains powerful and relatable. The contradictions are not simply flaws; they are what give depth to his character and illuminate the epic’s broader questions about duty, destiny, and humanity. Other scholars might emphasize Homeric influence or celebrate Roman heroism, but this reading foregrounds how Aeneas’s actions themselves generate a compelling, human ambiguity.