This thesis investigates the role that furor and other negative emotional states have on Aeneas' mission in the Aeneid. The role of the Fates is to enact change on a large scale, and this is achieved through destruction, which is caused by mortal and immortal agents manipulated by emotion. While Aeneas is trained to control his desires in the first half of the epic, in the second his rage and passions are spurred by supernatural forces.

This study will discuss the major plot points where emotion and rage interact with the main goal of Aeneas and the Fates. Included is a linguistic analysis wherein key prototypical terms - fatum, amor, and furor - are arranged visually on graphs that show their placements line-by-line and locations relative to each other. The contention is that at various points, fatum causes amor which leads to furor, which leads to change, and thus fatum.