But it is time to give some instances, which show an utter disregard of either mythological or moral consistency.
In the Eighth Æneid, Æneas and Anchises are much troubled in mind; and so it appears they must have continued,
Nî signum cœlo Cytherea dedisset aperto;
Namque improviso vibratus ab æthere fulgor
Cum sonitu venit[922].
This idea of a Cytherea tonans is as incongruous as it is novel. To preserve the characteristic attributes of the several deities of the Pagan mythology contributes to beauty, and was therefore at least an obligation imposed by the poetic art; but Virgil is not content with simply departing from it by taking the management of thunder and lightning out of the hands of Jupiter and the highest deities; he cannot be satisfied without giving it to Venus. With her Homeric character, and with any consistent conception of her attributes, it is utterly irreconcilable.
But again, in the Second Æneid, Virgil makes Venus address to her son the following majestic lines, when he was about to slay Helen amidst the conflagration of Troy:
Non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacænæ
Culpatusve Paris: Divûm inclementia, Divûm
Has evertit opes, sternitque a culmine Trojam[923].