Human beings, through war, negotiate between complete identity and total ambiguity. Depending on the individual's abilities and strength in combat, war can serve to emphasize either their vulnerability or their power. We see through the many battles, the interventions of the gods and the horrific destruction of men in the Aeneid, that war allows for a physical expression of our need for a unique identity and provides a means of externalizing the internal conflicts that help us to discover exactly who we are. are and what it means to be human. It is a difficult question whether war is caused by the need to establish an identity or whether it is caused by pre-established identities. The feeling of vengeance and honor, and the efforts that men put into achieving them, highlight the weakness and vulnerability of men's identities; in succumbing to the need for newfound honor, many men have lost their identity entirely at the hands of the enemy's sword. When Euraylus and Nisus massacred many enemy troops during the night, Euraylus took with him the helmet of a fallen soldier of great importance1. This could emphasize that by killing another, perhaps greater than himself, he gained the honor and respect associated with the man he defeated. However, when his need for honor and the spoils of war overcame his judgment and the morning light reflected off the stolen armor, he was discovered and executed. This need to establish himself as a competent soldier led to his demise and loss of self.1. This, and all other references, are to Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Vintage, 1990. Print. Conversely, these great soldiers of the enemy who fell into the sneaky hands of Euraylus and Nisus had for the most part...... middle of paper ...... Aeneid, we see that human beings, through wars both internal and external, must negotiate between identity and ambiguity. Depending on the strength of the person's will and the strength of their own identity, war can serve to emphasize either their vulnerability or their power, often leading to a choice of either life or glory in death. Ultimately, we see that the children of Troy only find their peace and stability after renouncing their identity as Trojans and narrowly escaping a second defeat at the hands of the people of Latium. As mortals, all will perish, sometimes in an attempt to gain eternal glory; we are neither lasting nor temporary. War, an expression of our need for identity and an externalization of internal conflicts, can help us discover exactly who we are and what it means to be human, even if sometimes at the highest cost...