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 The first piece of literature we see Augustine go through is The Aeneid. Within this story, Augustine is not shy about attempting to denounce the truthfulness and validity of Virgil’s work, instead trying to downplay how much of a role it should take in people’s lives. Augustine, however, contradicts this very idea by showing us how similar he sees his faith journey in comparison to Aeneas’ journey in The Aeneid. Augustine frames it within similar locations, speaking of his travels that led him to places such as Carthage before he ultimately found his place in Rome, as Aeneas did. This took place before Augustine’s conversion, showing how he was lost without God’s guidance just as Aeneas kept losing himself without the blatant guidance and assistance of the gods. 


Augustine also intertwines ideas from and references to The Aeneid throughout the book. Even if it is as subtle as a similar phrasing from one of the story’s lines, Augustine uses it in the story of his journey, associating it with that of Aeneas’ yet again as he borrows the literary techniques of Virgil. I believe that, no matter how much he may denounce the truths and religion shown in The Aeneid, this book had a profound effect upon Augustine that inevitably affected his faith journey and thus was necessary to include in his story describing it. Seeing how it played such a role is fascinating.


This, of course, also goes for the Bible in Augustine’s story. It is the Bible that truly got Augustine to convert, when he took a moment to pick it up and read it. As random as the page was, what was written upon it affected Augustine so deeply that he came to know God, which shows its profound and very strong effect. Because of this Holy Scripture Augustine read, his whole life was changed within a moment, completely changing the path of the rest of his life. Augustine also shows the impact of this Word with the way he interlaces it throughout his writing. 


Flawlessly, Augustine makes references to and uses words and phrases directly from the Bible, showing rather than telling what kind of a role this literature has in his life. With everything he says and believes, Augustine attempts to make a reference back to this Word, the foundational truth upon which he can now base his life thanks to the way it changed him that day.

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