There are three bee similes in Vergil’s Aeneid: Book 1.430-36 (p.16), Book 6.706-09 (p. 144), and Book 12.586-90 (p. 295). Develop an argument about how these similes work in the poem and what their effect is on the poem’s interpretation. When constructing your argument, consider, first, the simile “equation:” who in the story equals what in the simile. Then consider the effect on the reader of the simile: what does Vergil seem to want us to feel, by comparing human beings, or human spirits (in Book 6), to bees? What ideas is he trying to develop in each simile? Finally, consider why we have three bee similes, spaced at the beginning, middle, and end of the poem. Why have similes that recall each other so directly? How are they different from one another? What stages of bee life do they represent? What ideas does Vergil seem to be developing by linking these three parts of the poem together with similes that echo each .
