In his speech Jupiter instructs Mercury to remind Aeneas of his future and outlines a grand speech which Mercury should repeat. In this passage Jupiter asserts his authority as King of the Gods both through the power paragon created by his instructions and through the grand language and elaborate descriptions he uses.
Jupiter’s power is clearly illustrated in the opening lines of his speech. He is portrayed by Virgil as officious in the imperatives vade, age, voca and labere (meaning ‘go’, ‘perform’, ‘call’ and ‘glide’) all of which fall in the first line. The effect of these imperatives demonstrates that Jupiter has supreme power over Mercury. The language used by Jupiter also makes the gods sound ethereal: the words labere pennis (glide on your wings!) make Mercury’s descent to Carthage seem more vivid. Similarly using the words defer mea dicta per auras (carry my words through the sky) Virgil uses a chiastic structure of assonance ‘-er’, ‘-a’, ‘-a’, ‘er’ to make the words seem light, especially with the iambs which fall on the middle ‘-a’s. Virgil also includes a large hyperbaton between the verb adloquere (speak/address) and its object Dardanium ducem (Dardanian leader) which alludes to the large journey Mercury is about to make but also symbolises the distance between men and the gods and adds a mysterious tone to the writing.
Virgil’s descriptions of Aeneas in Jupiter’s speech depict Aeneas as the bearer of fate and therefore confer on him the responsibility for the founding of the Roman race. There is no mention in this passage of either Dido or Iarbas; it would seem that Virgil has used Iarbas’ speech as a wake-up-call for Jupiter of Aeneas’ marriage to Dido. When Jupiter muses on his actions in Carthage he says ‘non illum nobis genetrix pulcherrima talem promisit’; therefore Aeneas’ only purpose in the eyes of Jupiter is to act as a vessel for the enactment of fate. Virgil’s choice of ‘gravidam’ (pregnant) to describe Aeneas is particularly symbolic as it conveys Aeneas’ role: to father the Roman race. Virgil uses grand descriptions of the future glory of Rome to underpin his speech and persuade Aeneas that he should continue on his voyage. The description of what Jupiter expects of Aeneas uses a chiastic word structure of nouns and attributes to make his personal qualities stand out and appear more vivid. At the end of his description, the pinnacle is the revelation that the Romans will conquer the entire world: the word ‘orbem’ (world) is delayed to the very end of the line to create a tense build-up to this revelation.
Following this Jupiter goes on to say that Aeneas should not deny Ascanius the future glory of the Roman race, even if he isn’t keen to win himself glory. Virgil’s writing continues to create vivid descriptions: Jupiter uses the word accendit to describe how Aeneas should be ‘inflamed’ by these prospects, which coupled with the homeoteleuton of tantarum… rerum (such [great] things) creates a passionate image of the gloria (glory) of Rome. Jupiter speaks of Latium and Italy at the end of his speech: the positioning of Latium at the end of the speech compared to Carthage at the beginning represents Aeneas’ impending journey.
In conclusion, Virgil uses rich and vivid descriptions to emphasise Jupiter’s grandeur. Jupiter’s focus within the speech is clearly meant to be on the future of Rome and its significance, not on Aeneas personally. The absence of Dido and Iarbas in the speech shows their trivialness in comparison with Aeneas’ mission, the Carthaginians receive the description of inimica (alien) which reinforces their incompatibility with the future of Rome. The speech also confirms the hierarchy of classical mythology. Aeneas is leader of the Trojans and ‘married’ to the Queen of Carthage; the fact that the gods can exert such power over someone who by mortal standards represents the pinnacle of all power amongst the Trojans shows clearly how much stronger than mortals the gods are.