La mors immatura en la Eneida

Abstract

The death of young people in the Aeneid derives from a transgressive act of appropriation (whether literal or figured) of someone else’s weapons. This situation represents, as a metonymy, a warrior’s premature insertion in war. Virgil presents this event as a sacrifice for a bigger gain: the establishment of empire. However, all scenes involved carry a tragic overtone that portrays an alternative interpretation: the loss of the future that ought to guarantee the survival of Aeneas’ heroic task. As a result, the representation of mortes immaturae becomes an expression of a dissident voice inside Virgil’s work.