Virgil's Aeneid In Virgil's famous text The Aeneid he writes the story of the coming of Rome and the journey of its Trojan founder, Aeneas, from the ruins of his old home in Troy . While this text is extremely supportive of the greatness of the Roman Empire, it also has a distinctly private second voice that speaks of loss. We also find that in the Confessions of Saint Augustine the author sometimes addresses God in a very personal way, other times he does not refer to him at all. The private tones of these two texts contrast in that Augustine's is generally positive, while the corresponding entry in Virgil describes loss. Virgil begins the Aeneid with a general summary of the story he is about to tell and, while the great rise of Rome is foretold, the suffering of its founder is also intertwined. That the greatness of Rome is mentioned so early is not surprising, because the purpose of this text is to glorify Rome, its people and its history. Virgil begins his text with: “Song of war and of a man at war. / From the maritime coasts of Troy in the early times / He came to Italy by destiny,... / [There] he was able to found a city and bring home / His gods to Lazio, a land of Latin lineage, / The Alban lords, and the high walls of Rome". (Virgil, 3) These first lines appear very optimistic and boastful. Aeneas is destined by fate to found Rome, and also to bring with him the favor of his gods. If read in this form, these lines are positive; however, Virgil also predicts bad luck for Aeneas. Many of the first lines also contain prospects of Aeneas suffering losses. In the lines of the previous paragraph, the first ellipsis reads as follows: “…A fugitive……center of the paper……der's attention to important issues within the text without compromising the author's style or message . The main differences between the two are that it is more accurate to characterize Augustine's writing as having a single voice speaking to God in a private, direct tone when he has something important to say and in a general, relaxed tone at other times. In contrast, Virgil writes in a private voice to pity the great amount Aeneas suffered against his will to found Rome while the public voice urges propaganda for Rome. However, both authors successfully use their styles to convey important ideas that we continue to see and hear today. Works Cited Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1990. St. Augustine. Confessions. Trans. Henry Chadwick. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.