Tajna sudbine i svemoćni Jupiter u Eneidi
The Secret of Destiny and the Almighty Jupiter in the Eneid

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyses the topic of destiny and almighty Jupiter in Virgil’s Aeneid. Destiny is the central topic and one of the most important forces, so Aeneid can be understood as a hymn to destiny, which leads the chosen people (the Trojans) through numerous perils to the promised land. It is inevitable, but difficult for Aeneas. Destiny controls events, it is predetermined and unavoidable; it cannot be changed or influenced by. Although in Aeneid characters use their free will to escape destiny, their effort is ultimately futile. Jupiter’s role in Aeneid is intermediary, to the advantage of the Trojans while promising them an inheritance. Although it seems that in Aeneid Jupiter is another word for destiny, because he wants destiny to be fulfilled, it seems that Jupiter and destiny are one and the same. The structure of future events, that provoked Juno’s wrath, cannot be ascribed to Jupiter; instead, he is only a guarantor of realizing the plot constructed by destiny, and he acts only as the messenger of destiny. At the council of the gods, where they accuse each other, Jupiter as the father almighty (pater omnipotens) begins his sermon saying that he leaves his decision to destiny, meaning that Jupiter and destiny are one and the same. The idea of conscious subjugation is visible in the character of Aeneas, who does not have as much active view of life because he is driven by destiny and does not have personal motives for his actions.

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