CAMILLA

By J.Owen
 CAMILLA-CONTEXT
• Legendary Volscian maiden, favourite of Diana.
• Daughter of Metabus,
• While fleeing his enemies, Metabus was stopped by the Amisenus river, where he fastened
Camilla to his spear and, after dedicating her to Diana, threw the spear across the river before
swimming himself,
• While living among shepherds, Camilla became a skilled hunter and warrior while under her
father’s tutelage.
• Became the leader of a band of warriors, including other warrior maidens.
• Fought against the Trojans forces, and was killed by Arruns after chasing a retreating soldier
who was dressed in gold armour. Arruns was quickly killed afterwards by Opis under the
orders of Diana.
 WHAT OTHER WOMEN DO WE SEE
IN THE AENEID?
• Dido – Cleopatra figure, infected with love and eventually kills herself after Aeneas leaves, and on meeting him in the underworld
runs back to her late husband Sychaeus. - hinderance
• Creusa – Aeneas’ first wife, but killed during the fall of Troy so Aeneas can remarry
• Anna – Dido’s sister, she acts as the messenger between Dido and Aeneas as a last option before Dido’s suicide. She mourns her
sister. - hinderance
• Trojan women (collective) – Tired of sailing, they are influenced by Juno to set fire to the ships, then stay while the fit Trojans leave.
- hinderance
• Lavinia – Daughter of Latinus, she will eventually marry Aeneas and says nothing over the entire epic, and only blushes (the perfect
Roman woman)
• Amata – Wife of Latinus and mother of Lavinia, she opposes the marriage of Lavinia and Aeneas after being infected by Allecto and
takes Lavinia to the woods to be a follower of Bacchus. - hinderrance
• Euryalus’ mother – The only woman to go with the Trojan strong with her son Euryalus, when he dies in the night attack she mourns
dramatically, being taken away under the orders of Iulus.
• Sybil – The spirit which in book 7 gave the prophecy of Aeneas’ hardship.
• Cassandra – Only there briefly during book 2, the fall of troy. She says to not let the horse in, and her husband is involved in the war.
 WHAT FUNCTION DO THEY SERVE?
• Enemies to Rome (e.g Dido, Trojan women, Amata, Camilla)
• Necessary sacrifices (e.g Creusa)
• Prizes – (e.g Lavinia)
• Increase Pathos – (e.g Euryalus’ mother, Anna)
• Reinstate Roman values – (e.g Dido, Camilla, Lavinia)
• Highlight Piety – (e.g Dido, Creusa, Camilla)
• Virgil’s tragic art (dramatic flaw of characters to see the future) – (e.g Dido, Creusa, Trojan women, Amata)
• Reflects Roman society (women were a part of that society)
• Warrior maiden – (Camilla)
• Protect Aeneas/ hinders his journey – (Dido)
• End the journey – (Lavinia)
• Sets Aeneas on the journey – (Creusa)
• Guide to the underworld, helps with journey – (Sybil)
• Catalyse for Dido+Aeneas – (Anna)
• Helps start the war – (Amata)
• Cost of the journey (Pathos) – (E’s mother)
• Theme (prophecy) – (Cassandra)
 DO THEY CONFORM TO A
STEREOTYPE?
• Yes
• Mad - Dido (Is unwilling to help save Rome and would rather die than let Rome develop)
• Virtuous – Lavinia (says and does nothing that Roman reader would look down upon, just blushes)
• Nearly equals, but still weaker than men - Camilla (strong warrior but is defeated because of something unheroic)
• Emotional/hysterical – Amata, Anna, Trojan women and Euryalus’ mother (They are only allowed to mourn, and so
it is acceptable but highlights the low position of women in society)
• Mothers – Amata, Euryalus’ mother (less sexual than other women, they are respected for their motherhood but are
deeply wounded when their children are injured/killed)
• Single women – Dido (looking desperately for a husband, and feeling the grief for not having it)
• No
• Individual characteristics
• Dido – before infection seems cool and collected, powerful and a leader. Even in death she is respectable, not just the mad
woman who killed herself because of a man,
• Camilla – She is a strong warrior and takes down many heroes before her death. Her death was due to fate, not her own
failings.
 DO THEY CONFORM TO A
STEREOTYPE? PT 2
• Euryalus’ mother – mum
• Lavinia – Roman Ideal
• Dido – Hysterical women … but breaks that stereotype by being the Queen of Carthage (role
reserved for a man)
• Creusa – dead mum
• Camilla – Strong woman … but not quite as good as a man/ Amazonian stereotype. Passionate =
must die
• Amata – Hysterical women
• Sybil – Helping hand / wise woman
• Anna – Best friend
• Cassandra – Hysterical, not believed, woman.
 DOES CAMILLA CONFORM TO A
STEREOTYPE?
• Yes – Camilla isn’t a hero, but a strong women with womanly flaws
• She is still a woman and so cannot be better or equal to a man.
• She is allowed to be a good warrior, but she cannot die heroically (she must die by a sneak attack because she is distracted due to desire)
and so she is shown to be a desirous women.
• She is a favourite of a Goddess and so has certain leverage, and so she acts as a warrior maiden of Diana which is a stereotype of
women who are strong and throw away their “womanly desires” in favour of appeasing their Goddess.
• She is passionate – must die
• Amazonian woman – must die
• Woman – dies because she sees something shiny
• No – She is both a woman, a hero, and an enemy of the Trojans, and so she is forced to have a personality that encapsulates
all those different attributes.
• She is given an opinion which prevents her character being put into a stereotype, as well as being given a backstory that highlights
her strength as a hero.
• Although she is defeated in a weak way, to that point she had been successful in battle, recognised as a warrior by Turnus who
although battle hungry is still a good judge of power.
• She is the only warrior maiden we have read.
• She is a component and trusted by Turnus = looked down upon by Roman society.
 HOW IS CAMILLA DESCRIBED?
• ”Hands were still soft” – still recognises her feminine beauty.
• ”instead of gold… a tiger skin,” – her upbringing has resulted in her developing Amazon-like tendencies, which has changed her from a woman to a savage.
• ”Unwearied,” – She possess strength which is noteworthy, especially compared to the heroes she’s facing which makes her a hero in itself.
• ”arrows of diana rang on her shoulder,” – She is a hero by recognition from a Goddess, and therefore deserves respect.
• ”honour by their beauty,” – Although it’s a description of her followers, it also applies to her that although they are known as war maidens they are seen still
as women who must one day settle down and so their position seems temporary.
• ”Princess,” – although not royal, she has a presence which allocates the title to her, suggesting that she is beautiful and graceful.
• ”These words stung Camilla,” – suggests that she is proud which is a mainly male attribute, emphasising how heroic she can be.
• ”nimble feet, swift as fire,” - Another noteworthy ability, this can be seen as a unisex quality, but at this time she is being compared to men and so her ability
is much more recognised.
• “unthinking,” – Taking from the readers opinion on her, this suggests that she is fatally flawed due to being a woman and so lusting for the gold of the
warrior priest.
• ”swooning,” - Even in death, she is not being given the respectful death she deserves, instead being shown becoming weak to the point where she is falling
like a “women” should.
• “Glory of Italy”
• Good with multiple weapons
• Masculine attributes …but constantly reminded that she is beautiful (Must be beautiful)
 IN WHAT WAYS IS SHE TYPICAL OF THE OTHER WOMEN
WE HAVE SEEN IN THE AENEID AND WHAT WAYS IS SHE
DIFFERENT?
• Typical
• She is driven by desire,
• She is described to be beautiful,
• She is allowed to be respectable, but at the end of the day she must be seen as a woman first and
a warrior second,
• Atypical
• Although she appears to be a subordinate Turnus treats her like an equal and as such Camilla
appears to be more than subordinate to men.
• Her ability in battle put her above men, and gives her credibility.
• She has a divine blessing and as such is much more worthy than most women.
• She has more rights than most women.
• She is can be both pretty and powerful.
 WHY INCLUDE CAMILLA AT ALL?
• Camilla provides a juxtaposition to Dido, but balance each other.
• In respect to femininity – Camilla has virginal femininity while Dido has erotic feminity.
• Their relationship with their people – Camilla inspired her people while Dido lost all faith her people had in her.
• Nationality – Camilla is purely Italian while Dido represent foreigners.
• Position in the epic – Camilla near the end and Dido near the beginning.

• Camilla’s ambiguity mimics the uneasiness of the epic

• Although Camilla is a great warrior, she is still a women and these two ideas clash so constantly that readers are unable to truly
see her as either.
• The Aeneid itself challenges what is Roman and what makes a good leader, and so this is also true for the epic since by the end
you are unable to decide whether a leader like Aeneas is the best option.
• Shows how desperate the Italians are – entrusted such an important job to a woman/ looks bad for Turnus
• Proto–Turnus - stretch out the plot.
• Camilla = Italy, so if you defeat Camilla you deserve to rule Italy.
• Homer did it, so Virgil did it.
 DO YOU THINK THE INCLUSION OF CAMILLA
MAKES THE AENEID A MORE FEMINIST TEXT?
• By having women like Camilla and Dido occupying roles normally reserved for men, Virgil compliments the
exceptionality of their gender.
• Therefore, in certain respects it can be said that their inclusion makes the Aeneid a more feminist text.
• In no way is the Aeneid a feminist text but the main mortal female being given roles that are traditionally male has a slight
waft of feminist undertones, even if that was not Virgil’s intention
• Even during her death, she still doesn’t give up and meets death in a (homerically) heroic way.
• Variation to other women in the Aeneid – In the Iliad we don’t get any variation in mortal women, while in the Aeneid we
get variation (in stereotypes).

• In terms of the language used to describe her, Virgil is deliberately trying to make her look weak, but this begs the
question of how strong she is since through this submission she still seems strong, so without it she may have been on
the level of a female Aeneas.
• Personally, I think that Virgil unintentionally made the Aeneid a more feminist text.
• But… The strong women are always on the wrong side. If women don’t conform the Augustan idea of a woman then
you will die.