This
paper examines
Book XII of Virgil's "Aeneid" and its appropriateness to the
rest of the
work. While the first eleven
books of Virgil's work seem to focus on Aeneas's pious nature, Book XII shows
readers a different side to his character and appears to be completely contradictory to the earlier books. However, the thesis of this paper argues that Book XII is appropriate to the rest of the "Aeneid" and forces readers to understand that Virgil uses this last book of his work to dispel the belief that Aeneas relies only on the decrees of fate from the gods to make his decisions.