Virgil’s Hercules: Echoes of Civil Strife and Duality

Hercules is cited relatively frequently in Virgil’s Aeneid, especially in the second, Italian half of the epic. Close consideration of the progression of the references to Hercules in the poem reveals a deliberate arrangement of passages that relate typologically to the characterization of both Aeneas and Augustus, in particular with respect literarily to the decision of the Trojan hero to slay his foe Turnus, and historically to the civil war with Mark Antony, in which the victor would surpass the deeds of the storied ancient hero from whom his rival claimed descent. Hercules is shown to have diverse associations for Virgil, and to serve as a cautionary mythological exemplum of the hazards of surrender to fury. The association of the demigod with the dichromatic poplar is interpreted as a symbol of the polar opposite facets of Hercules’ nature.