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Publius Vergilius Maro (commonly known as Vergil or Virgil) was born in October of 70 B.C.E. near Mantua, Italy. He was well educated and went to Rome at the appropriate time for a member of his middle upper-class. He came of age as a writer during a tumultuous period in Roman history. During his lifetime there were several civil wars. Julius Caesar was assassinated by republican loyalists. His nephew, Octavian (Augustus) and Marcus Antonius took up the fight on his behalf. After the defeat of the republicans they turned on each other culminating in Antonius' defeat at Actium in 31 B.C.E. At some point during this time, Vergil entered the circle of a patron named Maecenas who was close associate of Augustus. He died around 19 B.C.E. away from Rome. Some accounts claim that his final orders for the unfinished Aeneid were to have it destroyed. This story, however, remains unsubstantiated.
He began publishing around 40 B.C.E. His first works are called the Eclogues, a collection of pastoral poetry done in the same meter as the Aeneid (dactylic hexameter). This work was influenced by the Greek bucolic genre. Although they are idealistic to a certain extent, they deal with real issues of the time such as land confiscation. Eclogue 4 bears a prophecy of a child who would bring peace. Later, Christians took this as a prediction of the birth of Christ. His next work was the Georgics, a four part didactic poem about farming and the rural life. In this he drew on many influences from earlier antiquity and some more contemporary writers.
Vergil's final work was the Aeneid. He planned for it to be the Romans' version of the Iliad and the Odyssey put together. For this endeavor, he combined many foundation myths and focused on the Aeneas myth harkening back to Homeric legend. Although his version of the myth has become canonized, many of his details were inventions or alterations. The work was crafted to glorify the rulers of the Imperial age, chiefly Augustus, for having created peace after so many years of war. Vergil spent the last decade of his life working on it and died with it incomplete. When Augustus found the mostly complete manuscript, he had two other scholars prepare it for publication because he liked it so much.
Vergil was a member of what is now called the golden age of Latin Literature. Other poets in this tradition were Catullus, Horace and Ovid. Vergil is, by far, the most widely read of these today. Horace shared Maecenas as a patron with Vergil and Catullus, though dead over a decade before Vergil published, was a member of a very influential movement called Alexandrianism, the elements of which permeate certain parts of Vergil's works. His work was adored by the Caesars and quickly became part of the traditional Roman school and literature program. It became as widely read as the Homeric epics in Latin-speaking areas. His manuscripts were frequently copied and later enhanced with elaborate illustrations. Besides the Homeric epics, his works represent the best manuscript tradition from Classical antiquity.
Because it was so commonly read and respected, the Aeneid became the most well-preserved example of Latin literature from this period. It influenced early medieval authors such as Milton and Dante. Late Renaissance and Elizabethan writers also found Vergil a good source of inspiration. In the twentieth century, Vergil has retained a wide readership through many levels of education, while maintaining influence on writers from Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot to Robert Frost. According to Theodore Ziolkowski: "Virgil has permeated modern culture and society in ways that would be unimaginable in the case of most other icons of Western civilization" (ix).
Anderson, William. The Art of the Aeneid. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1969:
Cruttwell, Robert. Vergil's Mind at Work. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1947.
Putnam, Michael C.J. Virgil's Aeneid: Interpretation and Influence. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
Spawforth, Antony and Hornblower, Simon, eds. "Virgil" . Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford Press, 1996.
Virgil. Aeneid. Allen Mandelbaum trans. New York: Bantam Books, 1961.
Ziolkowski, Theodore. Virgil and the Moderns. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
The epic begins on the high seas where Juno stirs up a storm to keep Aeneas and the Trojans from their fated home of Italy. Neptune stops the storm and they wash up, splitting into two groups on the shore of Africa near Carthage. Venus, Aeneas' mother asks him for assurances that the Trojans' suffering will stop and he prophesies the founding of Rome. Venus helps her son into the city of Carthage and he watches his lost companions meet Queen Dido. Aeneas is uncovered from his disguise and reunited with his companions. Venus sends Cupid to Dido so that she will fall in love with Aeneas.
Aeneas tells Dido the story of the fall of Troy. The Greeks built a giant wooden horse and left a man behind to convince the Trojans to bring it inside the city. Once inside the city walls, the Greek army snuck out of the horse and began to sack the city. Aeneas woke with a vision of a dead hero and rushed out. With companions, he witnessed the death of many. He rushed back to his house and took his son and father with him leading his wife behind him. He lost her in the city and when he goes back to find her, her ghost tells him to go to Italy. The Trojan refugees sailed to Thrace and were sent off by a dead comrade. In Crete, the statues of their ancestors came alive. They went to the island of the Harpies and were given a dire prophecy. Finally they arrived at an island ruled by a Trojan. He prophesied for them and told them of many things to come: where they would find their new home and how to get there. Aeneas' father dies when they stop in Sicily. They sailed away and ended up in the storm
Dido is love struck by the Trojan hero. Juno tries to make a treaty with Venus to keep the pair together. They arrange for a hunting party during which the two sleep together. Dido thinks this is a marriage. Jupiter has Aeneas ordered to leave for Italy. When Dido finds out that he is leaving, she goes crazy. He must leave swiftly. She begs him, but he will not stay. As he sails away, she kills herself.
They return to Sicily and have funeral games for Aeneas' father. There is a galley race, a foot race, a boxing match and an archery contest. During the children's display, Juno inspired the Trojan women to set the ships on fire. Jupiter puts out the fire with rain but four ships are lost. Aeneas must leave many of the women and the old men in Sicily. They sail to Italy and Aeneas finds the Sibyl who instructs him how to get to the underworld. They descend together and Aeneas meets many people he knew, including Dido. She doesn't talk to him. He finds his father and is told the future of his descendants as they look on the souls waiting for a second chance at life. Aeneas returns to the upper world and sails to the mouth of the Tiber River.
Here his men make camp and he sends envoys to the local leader Latinus who means to have his daughter marry Aeneas. His wife, however, and her chosen son-in-law Turnus, oppose this. As the Latins argue among themselves, Juno creates a conflict and has Aeneas' son kill the pet deer of a Latin native. This escalates into a war as Latinus' people join in and call their allies. The river Tiber feels sorry for Aeneas so he advises him that there is a tribe of people upriver who will help him in the battle. Aeneas goes upstream to King Evander and his son Pallas. They welcome him and offer their help. Evander admits, however, that he can't give them too much help so he sends them further upstream to a tribe of Tuscans who have a grudge against some of the Latins.
While Aeneas is away, the Latins attack his camp. The Trojans are besieged and they fight gallantly to hold their walls. The Latins rest for the night. During the night, two of the Trojans try to escape and tell Aeneas what has happened, but they are killed. In the morning, Turnus tries to have the ships burned but they turn into nymphs. Aeneas gets the help of the Tuscans and is sailing back to the mouth of the river when one of the nymphs tells him that his camp is besieged. He rushes back and they enter battle. Many men are killed and eventually Pallas falls at the hand of Turnus. Juno takes Turnus away from the battle to protect him. Aeneas rages and then holds a funeral for Pallas.
The Latins debate ending the war, but Turnus decides he cannot bear to give up Lavinia. They attack the city and the warrior-virgin Camilla holds many of them off. Many Trojans die before she is killed. The Trojans push up to the Latins' wall and almost take it. The next day Turnus offers himself in a one-on-one match to end the battle. When the match comes, however, Juno has Turnus' nymph sister inspire the men to break the truce. There is another great battle and Aeneas is wounded. His mother eventually heals his wound. He returns to battle and fights, pushing ever closer to the walls of the city. Turnus overcomes his sister and calls for the match. He is beaten quickly. When he asks Aeneas for mercy, the Trojan considers, but he sees Pallas' belt on Turnus and kills him in a blind rage.
Aeneas: The hero and protagonist of this epic, Aeneas is the son of Venus and Anchises. He is pictured in the Iliad where he is rescued repeatedly by the gods. His depiction in this tale is a little more noble. He is empowered by the gods with the task of leading the Trojan refugees from their destroyed city to Italy where they will make the beginning of an empire. His status as a hero is different than the status of the Greek heroes. He is a social hero. He is responsible not only for winning his own glory but also the glory of his father and son, representing the past and the future. His failure with Dido and his slaying of Turnus reiterates that he may be the son of a god, but he is human. He does all the great things of the Homeric heroes: he wages war; gets lost at sea; and travels to the underworld. His endeavors, however, are controlled by a strict fate that constantly redirect his attentions.
Juno (Hera): Juno is Aeneas’ chief antagonist. She is opposed to Aeneas for two primary reasons. The first is that she sided with the Greeks in the Trojan war and the second is that he is fated to found an empire that will destroy her favorite city: Carthage. She uses any means to delay the Trojans: storms; love; war. She knows that the fate is insurmountable, but she means to make it difficult. She watches in anguish as her Queen Dido is destroyed by love for Aeneas. She takes the opposite side of the war in Italy and must watch Turnus die also. She suffers in this play also: she must struggle with the conflict between her status as an immortal and her inability to alter fate.
Neptune (Poseidon): Neptune is the god of the sea who is friendly to the Trojans on many occasions. He helps them finally make landfall in Italy. He was partially against them in the Trojan war because of complex alliances, but originally he was a friend and protector to the Trojans: he built the walls of their city.
Venus (Aphrodite): Venus is Aeneas’ mother. Her role in this epic is very difficult because she is simultaneously the goddess of lust and a mother figure. Her role is mainly to facilitate Aeneas’ journey. She takes no prisoners. She thinks nothing of destroying Dido for her son’s sake, perhaps even delighting in the fact that she defeated her rival Juno. She repeatedly appeals to Jupiter to have him help her son and she guides her son in many small ways. She shows him paths, heals his wounds and brings him honor. It must not be forgotten that the Trojans are exiles to begin with because of her deal with Paris. If she had not helped him steal Helen, there would have been no war. In some small way, her help to the Trojans is a kind of atonement.
Jupiter (Jove): The king of the gods, husband of Juno and grandfather of Aeneas by some accounts, uncle by others. His job in this epic is mainly that of peacekeeping between Juno and Venus. Both of these goddesses are constantly appealing to him for solutions to their problems. He favors the Trojans to a certain extent because he still feels bad that their city had to fall. He gives omens and prophesies Rome in the first book.
Dido: Queen Dido is one of the first heroines of western literature. She is a female parallel to Aeneas. She led her people as exiles from their home and founded a city in a foreign land. Her brother betrayed her and killed her husband Sychaeus. She does not want to fall in love with Aeneas but is trapped by Cupid and led by the words of her sister. Once she gives into love, she loses her masculine strength and her city begins to falter. When Aeneas leaves her she becomes frantic, desiring a child as a ‘consolation’ prize. Having broken her vow of chastity and feeling absolutely forlorn, she kills herself but not without cursing the Trojans and foretelling the wars between Carthage and Rome. She appears in the underworld but does not speak to Aeneas.
Ascanius (Iulus): Son of Aeneas, he represents hope for the future and the line of Roman emperors. His actions are primarily boyish. He is always eager to hunt and Juno manipulates this eagerness into causing the beginning of the war in Italy. He shows new maturity, however, during the siege, when he fights and offers prizes to the men who go to inform Aeneas of their plight.
Anchises: Aeneas’ father. Anchises was a brave and beautiful young man who slept with Venus. When he bragged about this, Jupiter made him lame with a thunderbolt. Anchises represents the past and the traditions of Troy. He leads them over the islands and towards Italy. He is an omen-reader and priest for the Trojans until he dies. When he dies, he becomes a prophet in the underworld.
Latinus: The Italian king who wants to give his daughter to Aeneas but is prevented by his wife. He truly regrets the conflict that ensues, but is powerless to stop it.
Turnus: Turnus is styled as the new Achilles who rises to fight the Trojan wife stealer. This champion, however, has no one but Juno to look over him, and he is fated to lose. He struggles and is truly a great fighter. He dies in vain.
Minerva (Athena): Goddess of wisdom and war. In this epic she is responsible for little other than receiving prayers. She was very involved in the Odyssey and the Iliad where she played an intervening role very similar to Venus’ in this epic.
Oilean Ajax: The lesser Ajax, one of the heroes in the Iliad. He raped Cassandra, the virgin priestess to Minerva. This action caused Minerva to take her vengeance from him. She killed him and his crew at sea. This is what Juno thinks she can do to the Trojans.
Aeolus: King of the winds who also appears in the Odyssey. In this epic he gives Juno his winds to cause the storm of Book 1.
Achates: Aeneas’ right hand man. He accompanies Aeneas into the city of Carthage in the first book and helps him when he is wounded in the twelfth.
Sychaeus: Dido’s husband who was killed by her brother Pygmalion. He appears with her as a ghost in the underworld in Book 6.
Cloanthus: A Trojan chief who appears first as one of the lost Trojans in Carthage. He wins the galley race in the games of Book 5 and fights against the Latins in the last books.
Sergestus: Another of the lost Trojan chiefs with whom Aeneas is reunited in the first book. He fights valiantly in the siege of the Trojans’ camp.
Antheus: One of the lost Trojans, he appears in Book 1 and again as one of the men who helps Aeneas limp back to camp after he is wounded in Book 12.
Ilioneus: A Trojan chieftain who often speaks in Aeneas’ absence. His name is taken from ilium which means Troy. He is also one of the lost Trojans who is reunited with Aeneas in Carthage.
Cupid: Child of Venus, he is used by her to inflame Dido with a destructive love for Aeneas. He takes the form of Ascanius and sits in her lap.
Achilles: Hero of the Iliad, he is mentioned several times in this epic. He has died by the time Aeneas begins his narrative of the wooden horse, but his memory lingers. He was the best of the Achaeans, a warrior by whom all other warriors were to be measured.
Priam: King of Troy, father of Paris, Cassandra and Hector, as well as the Helenus who appears later in this text. He is an old man who watches a young son get cut down by Pyrrhus. He is also killed.
Laocoon: A Trojan Priest who insists that they not bring the horse into the city. When he isn’t listened to, he goes to sacrifice but this ceremony is interrupted by two snakes that eat him and his sons.
Sinon: The Greek who stays behind and pretends that he has run away from his companions because they wanted to sacrifice him. Sinon convinces the Trojans to take the horse into the city and then he lets the Greeks out at night.
Coroebus: A Trojan in love with Cassandra, he rushes off to his death when he hears that she has been raped.
Pyrrhus: Achilles’ son and chief antagonist in the sack of Troy, he kills Priam and his son. A terrible fate befell him when he was killed by Orestes and his kingdom was divided.
Menelaus: Husband of Helen and brother of Agamemnon on whose account the Trojan war was undertaken. He appears in the Odyssey .
Agamemnon: King of Argos who led the allied Greek troops to Troy. His death by the hands of his wife’s lover is reported in the Odyssey.
Helen: The woman on whose account the Trojan war was waged. She was taken from her husband’s house by Paris with the help of Venus in gratitude for declaring her the fairest of the immortals by giving her the golden apple. Helen was the most beautiful woman in Greece, Her father is Jupiter. When Aeneas ran into her during the sack of Troy, he wanted to kill her in rage.
Creusa: Aeneas’ wife who is left behind when Troy falls.
Polydorus: Trojan envoy to Thrace who was killed by the King there. Aeneas encounters his spirit when he tries to start a colony in Thrace.
Teucer: A legendary ancestor of the Trojans.
Dardanus: A legendary ancestor of the Trojans who came from Italy.
Cassandra: Virgin priestess of Minerva who was cursed to give true prophecies which no one would believe. Her rape by Ajax incites the wrath of the goddess.
Celaeno: The queen Harpy who gives Aeneas a dark prophecy for the founding of his city after his men kill some of her sisters.
Helenus: Trojan prophet married to Hector’s wife, Andromache, and rules over part of Pyrrhus’ dominion. He gives Aeneas a lengthy prophecy about the founding of his city.
Andromache: Wife of Hector, she appears alongside Helenus in another group of Trojan refugees.
Orestes: Son of Agamemnon who avenged his father by killing his mother and her lover. He also kills Pyrrhus, his rival in love.
Sibyl: Witch-prophetess who guides Aeneas into the underworld. She represents a darker, wilder sort of divinity than Helenus. She has Aeneas pick the golden bough.
Palinurus: Helmsman of Aeneas’ ship on numerous occasions. He falls from the ship on the way to Italy because he brags to Neptune. He appears to Aeneas in the underworld as an unburied spirit.
Achaemenides: The Greek man abandoned by Ulysses who appeals to the Trojans for help on the island of the Cyclops.
Anna: Dido’s sister who encourages her to seek a match with Aeneas. She unknowingly helps her sister prepare for suicide and laments at her death.
Iarbas: Numidian chief who feels slighted by Dido’s relationship with Aeneas. His plea to his father, Jupiter, prompts the king of the gods to send Mercury to Aeneas to order him to leave Africa.
Mercury: Messenger of the gods, Mercury does the bidding of Jupiter and carries his orders to men, most commonly to Aeneas.
Iris: Iris is Juno’s messenger. She takes Dido’s soul and bears it to the underworld.
Acestes: The king on Sicily who hosts the Trojans and whose arrow bursts into flames in the archery contest, winning him first place.
Mnestheus: One of the Trojan chiefs who competes in the galley race placing third. He fights against the Italians.
Gyas: The Trojan who loses first place in the boat race and throws his helmsman into the sea.
Nisus: Older companion of Euryalus. When he slips in blood in the footrace, he trips the next person so that Euryalus can win. When the camp of the Trojans is besieged, he runs to take a message to Aeneas with Euryalus. When Euryalus is caught, he turns and attacks the Latins. He dies soon after killing his friend’s murderer.
Euryalus: Nisus’ younger companion who wins the footrace. He is caught by the Latins after he gets hindered by brush. He is killed. His mother mourns and wishes to die.
Dares: The young boxer whom everyone is afraid to challenge.
Entellus: The old boxer who defeats Dares brutally, prompting Aeneas to stop the match.
Apollo: God of the sun and the lyre as well as prophecy, Apollo inspires a major portion of the prophecies in this Epic.
Misenus: Trojan trumpeter who was killed after he challenged the divine Triton to a trumpeting match.
Charon: Ferryman of the river Styx. He is hesitant to take Aeneas and the Sibyl across.
Amata: Queen of the Latins, mother of Lavinia and wife to Latinus. She wants her daughter to marry Turnus not the stranger Aeneas. When the city is besieged, she hangs herself.
Allecto: The beast-like fury Juno sends to Italy to cause a war between the Trojans and the Latins.
Mezentius: A former king of the Tuscans who was overthrown by his people. They wait to kill him. He fights with the Latins and dies soon after the death of his son Lausus.
Clausus: One of the Latin chiefs who dies.
Lausus : Son of Mezentius who is killed by Aeneas.
Camilla: The virgin warrior who was raised in the wilderness by her father. She is the bulwark of the Latins’ defense against the Trojans. When she is mortally wounded, Diana avenges her.
Diomedes: A Greek hero from the Iliad who settled in Italy because he was not allowed to return home. His refusal to fight against the Trojans again sets back the Latin ambitions.
Tiberinus: God of the river Tiber who helps Aeneas by telling him to go up river to seek help.
King Evander: King of the Tuscans who welcomes Aeneas and offers his son and some of their men to fight the Latins. He tells Aeneas a tale of Hercules and makes him promise to protect his son.
Pallas: Son of Evander who is killed by Turnus. Aeneas buries him and mourns his death. His belt on Turnus makes Aeneas kill the Latin in book 12.
Vulcan (Hephaestus): God of the forge and fire, he is married to Venus. He makes armor and weapons for Aeneas just as he did for Achilles in the Iliad.
King Tarchon: King of the Tuscans who agrees to come and fight with Aeneas.
Volcens: The Latin who kills Euryalus and is killed by Nisus.
Pygmalion: Dido’s brother who killed her husband and took over as King of Tyre. This action forced ehr to flee to North Africa.
Drances: Latin politician who is impressed by Aeneas. He tries to get Latinus to drop the war and offer Lavinia to Aeneas. Turnus shouts at him and ridicules him.
Lavinia: Daughter of Latinus and Amata whose hand in marriage is under dispute.
Diana: Twin sister of Apollo, she is the goddess of the moon and the hunt as well as the patron of Camilla.
Arruns: The Greek who stalks and kills Camilla only to be struck down by Diana.
Juturna: Turnus’ sister who was turned into a nymph by Jupiter because he raped her. Juno gets her to spirit her brother away from the battle. Jupiter must unleash a fury to chase her away.
Iapyx: The healer who works on Aeneas’ wound and admits that his success is attributable to a god.
Ulysses (Odysseus): Hero of the Odyssey, he is the villain in this story because he brought about the fall of Troy. He is depicted negatively throughout the epic.
Calchas: A prophet of the Greeks who appears in the Iliad.
Carthage: Juno’s favorite city. Located on the tip of North Africa in modern Tunisia. the Trojans are swept here by a storm. This is also the city with which Rome struggled in three wars.
Trojans: Also called Dardanians or Teucrians, these are the people who inhabited Troy before it fell.
Sicily: An island off the cost of southern Italy. The Trojans stop here twice in their journey: once to bury Anchises; and then again to have games in honor of the anniversary of his death. Sicily was also the sight of the beginning of struggles between Rome and Carthage in the Punic wars.
Troy: City in Asia Minor besieged and sacked by Greek armies for the stealing of Helen. Aeneas flees from his home city.
Caesars: The rulers of Imperial Rome. In this epic there are many implied as well as explicit references to these future rulers.
Tenedos: An island located south of Troy. This is where the Greek fleet hides when the Trojan horse is left outside the gates of Troy. This is also where the twin snakes come from that eat Laocoon.
gods (household) penates: Little figurines or statues depicting patron gods of the families and ancestors. Each Roman family had a set. Aeneas is commanded to carry these with him to Italy. On Crete they come to life and tell Aeneas to leave.
Italy: Aeneas’ fated destination.
Thrace: A portion of land on the southeast edge of Europe near Asia Minor.
Crete: An island at the south end of the Aegean. Aeneas came here with his people and tried to found a city. This is also mythical home of King Minos and is the actual site of what is called the Minoan civilization.
Harpies: Flying women beasts who take the Trojans food and are slain. This action prompts the prophesy of their leader.
Buthrotum: City over which Trojan Helenus rules, which was once part of Pyrrhus’ dominion. The Trojans stop here and receive a lengthy prophecy.
Scylla: Six-headed beast positioned in a cave near the straits of Sicily
Charybdis: Whirlpool opposite Scylla.
Cumae: Volcanic caves near modern day Naples where Aeneas finds the Sibyl and descends to the underworld.
Cyclops: One-eyed beasts who inhabit the island of Etna.
Rome: City founded ten miles upriver on the Tiber. This city is fated to be founded by descendants of Aeneas Romulus. It grows and becomes an enormous empire. In a way, this epic is a testament to the greatness of this city.
Rumor: A personified beast with many mouths and eyes that goes around spreading news false and real.
Elysian Fields: The Roman’s closest version of heaven. The Elysian Fields were a place in the underworld were virtuous people could live out eternity in happiness.
Quote 1: "I sing of arms and of a man: his fate
had made him fugitive: he was the first
to journey from the coasts of Troy as far
as Italy and the Lavinian shores
Across the lands and waters he was battered
beneath the violence of the high ones for
the savage Juno's unforgetting anger." Book 1, lines 1-7
Quote 2: "For full three hundred years, the capital
and rule of Hector's race shall be at Alba,
until a royal priestess Ilia
with child by Mars, has brought to birth twin sons." Book 1, lines 380-3
Quote 3: "just as the bees in early summer, busy/ beneath the sunlight through the flowered meadows." Book 1, lines 611-12
Quote 4: "'The man you seek is here. I stand before you,
Trojan Aeneas, torn from Libyan waves.
O you who were alone in taking pity
on the unutterable trials of Troy,
who welcome us as allies to your city
and home- a remnant left by Greeks, harassed
by all disasters known on land and sea.'" Book 1, lines 836-842
Quote 5: "'tell us all / things from the first beginning: Grecian guile,/ your people's trials, and then your journeyings.'" Book 1, lines 1049-51
Quote 6: "'Do you
believe the enemy have sailed away?
Or think that any Grecian gifts are free
of craft? Is this the way Ulysses acts?
Either Achaeans hide, shut in this wood,
or else this is an engine built against
our walls....
I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts.'" Book 2, lines 60-70
Quote 7: "' ...four times it stalled
before the gateway, at the very threshold;
four times the arms clashed loud inside its belly.
Nevertheless, heedless, blinded by frenzy,
we press right on and set the inauspicious
monster inside the sacred fortress.'" Book 2, lines 335-339
Quote 8: "'Poor husband, what wild thought drives you/ to wear these weapons now? Where would you rush?'" Book 2, lines 699-700
Quote 9: "'If you go off to die, then take us, too,
to face all things with you; but if your past
still lets you put your hope in arms, which now
you have put on, then first protect this house.'" Book 2, lines 914-7
Quote 10: "'Why are you mangling me, Aeneas? Spare
my body. I am buried here. Do spare
the profanation of your pious hands.
I am no stranger to you; I am Trojan.
The blood you see does not flow from a stem.
Flee from these cruel lands, this greedy shore,
for I am Polydorus; here an iron
harvest of lances covered my pierced body.'" Book 3, lines 52-59
Quote 11: "'until an awful hunger and your wrong/ in slaughtering my sisters has compelled/ your jaws to gnaw as food your very tables.'" Book 3, lines 333-5
Quote 12: "'Along the banks beneath the branching ilex,
a huge white sow stretched out upon the ground
together with a new-delivered litter
of thirty suckling white pigs at her teats...'" Book 3, lines 508-11
Quote 13: "'I am of Ithaca and sailed for Troy,/ a comrade of unfortunate Ulysses;/ my name is Achaemenides.'" Book 3, lines 794-6
Quote 14: "'Let us make, instead of war,
an everlasting peace and plighted wedding.
You have what you were bent upon: she burns
with love; the frenzy now is in her bones.
Then let us rule this people - you and I-
with equal auspices...'" Book 4, lines 130-136
Quote 15: "'Are you now laying the foundations of high Carthage, as servant to a woman?'" Book 4, lines 353-4
Quote 16: "'Pity your sister- as a final kindness.
When he has granted it, I shall repay
my debt, and with full interest, by my death.'" Book 4, lines 599-601
Quote 17: "'Do not let love or treaty tie our peoples.
May an avenger rise up from my bones,
one who will track with firebrand and sword
the Dardan settlers, now and in the future,
at any time that ways present themselves.'" Book 4, lines 861-6
Quote 18: "'The circling year
completes its months since we entombed in earth
the bones and remnants of my godlike father.
Unless I err, that anniversary
is here, the day that I shall always keep
in grief and honor...'" Book 5, lines 61-7
Quote 19: "At this the loud outcries of Salius/ reach everyone within that vast arena." Book 5, lines 448-9
Quote 20: "' In my sleep
the image of the prophet Cassandra
appeared and offered blazing brands. 'Look here
for Troy; here is your home!' she cried. the time
to act is now; such signs do not allow
delay. Here are four altars raised to Neptune;
the god himself gives us the will, the torches.'" Book 5, lines 838-44
Quote 21: "' I see wars, horrid wars, the Tiber foaming
with much blood. You shall have your Simois
your Xanthus, and your Doric camp; already
there is in Latium a new Achilles.'" Book 6, lines 122-5
Quote 22: "' all these you see are helpless and unburied.'" Book 6, line 427
Quote 23: "'And I could not
believe that with my going I should bring
so great a grief as this. But stay your steps.
Do not retreat from me. Whom do you flee?
This is the last time fate will let us speak.'" Book 6, lines 610-3
Quote 24: "There are two gates of Sleep: the one is said
to be of horn, through it an easy exit
is given to true Shades; the other is made
of polished ivory, perfect glittering,
but through that way the Spirits send false dreams
into the world above. And here Anchises,
when he is done with words, accompanies
the Sibyl and his son together; and
he sends them through the gate of ivory." Book 6, lines 1191-1199
Quote 25: "'In that direction
from which the swarm has come I see a stranger
approaching and an army nearing us;
I see them reach the palace, see them ruling
in our high citadel.'" Book 7, lines 86-90
Quote 26: "'What of your right hand/ you swore so often to your kinsman, Turnus?'" Book 7, lines 487-8
Quote 27: "' ...The Fates
have crushed us, we are carried by the storm.
Unhappy men! The penalty for this
will yet be paid with your profaning blood.'" Book 7, lines 781-5
Quote 28: "'These groves were once the home of fauns and nymphs
and of a race of men sprung from tree trunks
and study oaks. They had no rule and no
refinements; for they could not yoke their bulls
or gather wealth or save what they had gained.'" Book 8, lines 412-16
Quote 29: "'That, if war were at hand, then through the air
she would bring Vulcan's weapons to my aid.
What slaughter menaces these sad Laurentians!
What penalties will Turnus pay to me!'" Book 8, lines 695-8
Quote 30: "'Hear what I have in mind. the people,
the elders- everyone now urges that
Aeneas be called back, that messengers
be sent to bring him the tidings he can trust.
If they agree to give to you instead
the prize that I can claim for such a deed-
since for myself the glory is enough-
then close by that mound there I may have found
a path to reach the walls of Pallanteum.'" Book 9, lines 253-60
Quote 31: "'Where have I left you poor Euryalus?'" Book 9, line 520
Quote 32: "'Grow
in your new courage, child; o son of gods
and ancestor of gods, this is the way
to scale the stars. All fated, future wars
shall end in peace...'" Book 9, lines 856-9
Quote 33: "'What each man does will shape his trial and fortune.
For Jupiter is king to all alike;
the fates will find their way.'" Book 10, lines 160-2
Quote 34: "' Both wife and sister to me, and much loved,
as you supposed (your judgment is not wrong),
the power of Troy has been sustained by Venus,
not by the fighting men's keen hands in battle,
not by their stubborn souls, patient in battle.'" Book 10, lines 834-8
Quote 35: "'why do you taunt and threaten me? There is
no crime in killing me; I did not come
to war with any thought of quarter, nor
did Lausus ever draw such terms with you.
I ask you only this: if any grace
is given to the vanquished, let my body
be laid to earth...'" Book 10, lines 1236-43
Quote 36: "'...No, do not, do not
provoke me into such a battle! More: since Troy is fallen now, I have no quarrel
with Teucrians; and I do not recall
with joy the old trials of that war. Take back
the gifts you bring me from your native shores
and give them to Aeneas. '" Book 11, lines 366-372
Quote 37: "'Your queen will not leave you dishonored/ in your last hour; neither will your death/ go now without its glory through the nations.'" Book 11, lines 1120-2
Quote 38: "'For I too, can cast a lance;
the steel my right hand uses is not feeble;
my father, blood flows from the wounds I deal.
The Trojan's goddess-mother will be too
far off to shelter her retreating son,
to hide him, as a woman would, within
the same deceiving cloud that covers her.'" Book 12, lines 67-74
Quote 39: "had long since felt / this duel was unequal; they are puzzled;/ conflicted feelings move their hearts" Book 12, lines 295-7
Quote 40: "'This is not the work
of mortal hands or skillful art; my craft
has not saved you, Aeneas: here there is
a greater one - a god- who sends you back
to greater labors.'" Book 12, lines 575-9
Quote 41: "'this day- unless they yield, accept our rule,/ submit to us- I shall annihilate/ that city,...'" Book 12, lines 759-61
Quote 42: "'I have indeed deserved this; I do not
appeal against it; use your chance. But if
there is a thought of a dear parent's grief
that now can touch you, then I beg you, pity
old Daunus- in Anchises you had such
a father- send me back...'" Book 12, lines 1242-7
Divine Intervention 1: Juno intervenes in the Trojans' safe trip towards Italy by creating a storm that destroys one ship and leaves the rest of the ships separated in Africa. Neptune stops this storm from getting any worse. Once they are in Africa, Venus informs her son who rules the island and makes sure he is cloaked as he enters the city. She also sends her divine son Cupid to make sure that the queen falls in love with Aeneas. The Trojans are puppets in the hands of the gods in this book
Divine Intervention 2: While Venus does rescue her son from some ill, the primary divine intervention in this book is supernatural. The ghosts of Creusa and Hector direct Aeneas as he fumbles through the city not wanting to embrace his fated task. Without this intervention, Aeneas would have died several times over.
Divine Intervention 3: Aeneas wanders around the Mediterranean unsure of where to go and the gods must constantly remind him. When he stops at an island, a god speaks to him from a sacrificial tripod and tells him that he must go to the land of his ancestors. When this is misinterpreted, his household gods come to life to tell him point blank where to go.
Divine Intervention 4: Juno hopes to make Aeneas stay with Dido and arranges for them to have sex thinking that this will be a binding tie. When these events are brought to the attention of Jupiter, he sends Mercury down to order Aeneas to leave. Mercury comes to Aeneas again when he is delaying his departure. Juno, feeling bad for Dido, sends Iris to take Dido's soul to the underworld after she kills herself.
Divine Intervention 5: Juno tries to have the ships of the Trojans burned so they can go no further. They lose four of them, but Jupiter puts out the fire with rain. Neptune, at the prompting of Venus, makes sure that there are no further storms on the journey from Sicily to Italy.
Divine Intervention 6: Juno pays no heed to the prophecies of the land. She does not want the Trojans to have an easy time so she sends Allecto down to cause chaos. She makes Amata opposed to Aeneas as a son-in-law and informs Turnus of the state of affairs. Then she gives the native Italians a reason to lash out at the Trojans when she inspires Ascanius to attack a captive deer.
Divine Intervention 7: Tiberinus pities the Trojans and the coming war so he advises him to seek out King Evander who will aid him in the war. Venus knows that the war will be brutal so she asks her husband Vulcan to make weapons for Aeneas as great as the ones that he made for Achilles. Vulcan makes these weapons and Venus takes them to her son.
Divine Intervention 8: Juno sends Iris to have Turnus begin the war while Aeneas is away. They try to destroy the ships of the Trojans, but they have been blessed by the mother earth and the ships cannot be destroyed, although they change. Apollo keeps Ascanius from getting killed because he gets the Trojans to restrain him from the battle.
Divine Intervention 9: In the beginning of the book, Jupiter calls the gods together and tries to solve the conflict by encouraging all the gods to stay out of the war. A nymph informs Aeneas of the plight of his people. Juno, with Jupiter's permission, attempts to rescue Turnus from the war by leading him away from it. When he tries to kill himself in shame, she stops him.
Divine Intervention 10: Even with Jupiter's admonition, the gods, including him, continue to wreak havoc with the mortals. He inspires the Trojans to attack and Diana gets revenge for the death of Camilla.
Divine Intervention 11: Throughout this book, Juno tries to preserve Turnus through his sister Juturna who drives his chariot and spreads rumors through the men to bring them back to battle. Venus comes to her son when he is wounded and helps the healer take the arrow out of his thigh so that he may return to battle.
Historical Subtext 1: This book is loaded with references to Roman history ancient and contemporary to its author. The hatred displayed between Rome and Carthage is a reflection of the long and brutal Punic wars that ravaged Rome and resulted in the ultimate destruction of Carthage. Jupiter foresees the Caesars who will end the republic and bring about a new golden age. By having this come from the mouth of Jupiter, Vergil makes the rule of Augustus Caesar a type of manifest destiny.
Historical Subtext 2: Vergil uses the prophecies to insert little details to Romanize the Trojans. Helenus' instructions to pray under a purple cloth is a reflection of a Roman custom. The Trojans become more and more like Vergil's contemporary Romans as they travel west.
Historical Subtext 3: Dido foretells the hatred between Carthage and Rome. In this way, Vergil incorporates Roman history into its foundation mythology, partially trying to justify the history of war between the two nations.
Historical Subtext 4: In his speech, Anchises points to most of the famous families of Rome and all the historical figures from the republic, the fall of the republic and the early empire. This speech focuses on the glories of the Caesars and the golden age they would usher in.
Historical Subtext 5: Although there are many things on his shield, the scene that stands out the most is that of the Battle at Actium. This is the battle where Augustus finally put an end to many years of civil war. For Vergil this was a contemporary scene for which he was pleased because it brought peace.
Historical Subtext 6: Juno's pleas with Jupiter to have the new people not named Trojans are a device meant to explain the contemporary state of Rome. They had no Trojan features of language or custom. This device absolves Vergil from having to explain their absence.
Omens 1: Jupiter's detailed prophecy in the middle of this book sets the path for most of the epic. He foretells the forming of the Roman empire from a small roaming band of refugees. Venus is happy with this prophecy. To assure Aeneas that everything is all right, Venus shows him the omen of the twelve white swans, representing the twelve Trojan ships that arrived in Carthage.
Omens 2: There are parts of prophecies contained in the speeches of Hector and Creusa as they hint that Aeneas must go on a journey with the refugees on Troy and found a city. The omens are announced to represent the future and the need to attend to it.. Ascanius' face lights up as Aeneas considers going back to battle. Jupiter thunders to confirm the omen for Anchises.
Omens 3: Book 3 is filled with prophecy. It begins with the gruesome omen of Polydorus, then goes in rapid succession from the prophecy of the tripod, the gods come to life, the dire words of Celaeno and finally the long prophecy of Helenus. All of these prophecies serve not only to outline the action of the rest of the epic but also to give Aeneas painstaking instructions so that he won't fail along the way.
Omens 4: Dido gives the only serious prophecy in this book, foretelling the hatred between their nations.
Omens 5: The two major omens in this book are both favorable for the Trojans. The snake on Anchises' grave is a pleasant omen of fertility. The arrow bursting into flame is a mysterious, but not foreboding, omen.
Omens 6: Both the Sibyl and Anchises give lengthy prophesies to Aeneas. The Sibyl tells Aeneas about the immediate future and his wars in Italy, while Anchises foretells the history of his descendants.
Omens 7: Latinus has been convinced by repeated prophecies that his daughter must marry a foreigner, but this notion does not prevent his wife and her choice for son-in-law from beginning a war that will result in both of their deaths.
Omens 8: Tiberinus prophesies that the Trojans will be helped and sends Aeneas upstream. Venus sends a sign through the sky that indicates war will come soon but she has brought help to her son in the form of fine weapons.
Omens 9: The ships turn into nymphs and the Trojans thinks that this is a positive sign for them because their ships were not destroyed and they were divine to begin with. The Rutulians take it as a bad omen for the Trojans because their ships were changed and, ultimately, destroyed.
Omens 10: Zeus prophesies to Juno that the Trojans will not be beaten anymore and that they will win. As a reaction, Juno tries to get Turnus out of the war.
Women 1: Dido does not typify the usual woman of classical antiquity. She survived past the death of her husband and led her people away from a tyrant to found a new city. This city is rising well: it is beautiful and wealthy and all the people respect her. Venus decides to undermine this by sending Cupid to her to make her fall in love with Aeneas. Once she falls in love, she will no longer be able to carry out the responsibilities of a leader.
Women 2: The plight of women in the sack of a city is dire. They are raped and then taken off as hostages or slaves to be raped more. Hecuba must watch her son and husband die. Creusa dies as Aeneas struggles to carry his father and son out of the city. In her speech, however, there is a hint of why she died. The journey is not meant for women. Aeneas must have a new wife in Italy and begin a new family. Creusa would just get in the way.
Women 3: Andromache has suffered the most of anyone. She had to endure her husband and son being killed and then was made a 'wife' to Pyrrhus. When he was done with her, he gave her to the brother of her former husband. Although she is finally at rest, she may never be at peace.
Women 4: Dido can no longer rule her city because she is overcome with love. When she has sex with Aeneas, she thinks that this is marriage, but he does not. Her love for him and her reaction to rejection changes her from a noble queen into a witch who dabbles in magic. She cannot be both so she must be one or the other. As soon as she gives into love, she loses all her power.
Women 5: Women are not allowed to compete or even watch the games. While the men participate, the women must mourn for Anchises. Juno inspires them to light the ships on fire so that the journey will stop. They do this because they bear so much of the suffering for this journey. The women are left behind, just like Creusa, because they aren't needed for the new settlement.
Women 6: Another war rages over a woman. Latinus knows that his daughter is fated to marry a foreigner but he cannot curb his wife or Turnus from trying to arrange otherwise. Lavinia never speaks. She only appears by the side of her mother.
Women 7: Camilla is a great warrior and a virgin. She was raised in the wilderness and refuses to become the wife of any man. Lavinia is still fought over, and when Drances suggests she be given to Aeneas, Turnus reacts with new fervor.
The narrator begins with the major themes of the epic:
"I sing of arms and of a man: his fate
had made him fugitive; he was the first
to journey from the coasts of Troy as far
as Italy and the Lavinian shores.
Across the lands and waters he was battered
beneath the violence of High Ones for
the savage Juno's unforgetting anger;" Book 1, lines 1-7
Juno is so upset with Aeneas because Carthage is fated to be destroyed by the descendants of his Trojan refugees. The Trojan refugees have wandered the seas for several years. Near Sicily, Juno goes into a fit of rage because they are so close to Italy where they are supposed to found the city that leads to the Roman empire. She uses Minerva's retribution on Oilean Ajax as a model of revenge. Invoking that fact that she gave him his powers, Juno asks King Aeolus to use the winds to waylay the Trojans. For this, she offers him his choice of her nymphs as a reward.
A dark storm comes over the Trojans and Aeneas feels the chill. He wishes that he had died in the war at Troy. The storm heaves and overturns many of the ships. Aeneas watches one overcome by waves and loses sight of others in the chaos. Neptune looks up to the sea and sees the tempest. He calls to the winds and demands that they stop disrupting the sea because their master's dominion is over land not water. As the sea calms, a silence overtakes the Trojans. They realize they are on a strange shore. Aeneas has only seven ships left out of twenty. He looks over a cliff for the others as Achates builds a fire. He sees a group of bucks and slays several of them. With this feast, Aeneas tries to calm his survivors. He puts on a false air of confidence, but worries inside. As they eat, they mourn their lost companions.
Meanwhile, Venus goes to Jupiter complaining about the plight of the Trojans. She wants to know what Jupiter is thinking by allowing their suffering and she invokes the survival of other war refugees as an example. Jupiter smiles and tells her not to fear. He prophesies the founding of Rome, after several generations of Trojan descendants are born in Italy:
"'For full three hundred years, the capital
and rule of Hector's race shall be at Alba,
until a royal priestess, Ilia,
with child by Mars, has brought to birth twin sons.'" Book 1, lines 380-3
The king of the gods outlines Roman history down to the point of the Caesars. He stops speaking and sends Mercury to assure that the Trojans are welcomed in Carthage.
Aeneas worried all night long and decided that the best option was to go out and investigate. He leaves with Achates and runs into his mother in the forest. She is disguised as a young huntress. She asks him if he has seen her sister and he says he hasn't. He thinks she must be a goddess. She explains that the city is a refugee group of Tyrians led by a queen named Dido. Dido's husband, Sychaeus, was secretly killed by her jealous brother Pygmalion. His ghost came to her in a dream and revealed what had happened. He instructed her to leave and showed her the location of a treasure that would help her. She gathered all the Tyrians who opposed Pygmalion and came to North Africa where she leased all the land she could surround with the skin of a bull from the natives. Venus asks him where he is from and how he came from there and he responds that such a tale would take much too long to tell. He complains that he has lost his ships. She replies, assuring him that the gods do not hold a grudge against him. Pointing to twelve swans in the sky, she says this means his twelve ships have come to Carthage. She turns to leave and Aeneas recognizes her as his mother. He cries out that she is unfair for deluding him and then turns towards Carthage.
Venues cloaks Achates and Aeneas so that no one will hinder their progress towards the city. Aeneas sees the workmen of the city laboring "[j]ust as the bees in early summer, busy/ beneath the sunlight through the flowered meadows," Book 1, lines 611-12. He wishes his city were being built as he walks unseen into the center. Here there is a shrine to Juno. In the middle of this there are bronze pictures of the Trojan war. Aeneas cries out to see Priam, Achilles and the weeping Trojan women. He gazes at this scene as Dido enters the temple compared to Diana. She sits on her throne and gives laws to her people. Aeneas and Achates see their lost Trojan chiefs Cloanthus, Sergestus, Antheus and Ilioneus entering the temple and they want to rejoice, but they remain hidden. Ilioneus, the eldest, appeals to the queen for shelter because the natives of North Africa refuse to give any aid. Dido speaks and assures them that she will help them recover and continue on to wherever they wish to go. First, she says she will send scouts to look for their missing ships. She laments that their leader is not with them. Achates turns to Aeneas but before he can say anything, the cloud disappears and Aeneas addresses the queen:
"'The man you seek is here. I stand before you,
Trojan Aeneas, torn from Libyan waves.
O you who were alone in taking pity
on the unutterable trials of Troy,
who welcome us as allies to your city
and home- a remnant left by Greeks, harassed
by all disasters known on land and sea,'" Book 1, lines 836-842
He blesses Dido and promises to praise her taking the hands of his friends. Dido is startled by him and she asks him about his trials. She compares their destinies: both are exiles commanded to make a new city. She sends food and wine to the other Trojans. Aeneas has his son Ascanius sent from the ship with gifts for Dido: A pearl necklace; a veil; and a crown.
While this happens, Venus goes to her other son Cupid . She asks him go to Dido imitating Ascanius. In this form, he will incite her to love Aeneas. Cupid is willing to do as his mother asks. Dido leads him around and holds him in her lap. Venus puts the real Ascanius to sleep for awhile. Achates gathers the remaining Trojans and the gifts and returns to the city. Affected by Cupid, Dido calls for a feast and says a prayer to Jupiter, Bacchus and Juno. They pour libations and she asks Aeneas many questions about his suffering. She begs, "'tell us all/ things from the first beginning: Grecian guile,/ your people's trials, and then your journeyings.'" Book 1, lines 1049-51.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 1
Topic Tracking: Women 1
Topic Tracking: Omens 1
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 1
Everyone becomes silent as Aeneas begins his tale. He asserts that it would be hard for a warrior from either side of the battle to tell the story without weeping. He begins when the Greeks were pushed back by the tide of the war after the death of Achilles. Minerva inspired them to build a great wooden horse and fill it with armed men. They left it in front of the gates of Troy and sailed to the island Tenedos. The Trojans flooded out of the city rejoicing and raided the empty camps. Some of them wanted to lead the wooden horse into the city; others wanted to destroy it. Laocoon, a priest, addressed the assembled men and women:
"'"Do you
believe the enemy have sailed away?
Or think that any Grecian gifts are free
of craft? Is this the way Ulysses acts?
Either Achaeans hide, shut in this wood,
or else this is an engine built against
our walls...
I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts."'" Book 2, lines 60-70
He threw a spear at the horse and cries came from within but no one paid attention. Some Trojans dragged in a man they found in the camps and they asked who he was and where he was from. He laments that he has no place in the world and when they ask him what is wrong, he tells them that his name is Sinon. His protector had been falsely put to death by Ulysses and because of this, Ulysses was forever suspicious of Sinon. He stopped his tale and begged for the Trojans to kill him, but they wanted to hear the rest of his story. He told them that the Greeks wanted to go home, but Calchas prophesied that they would not be able to return home unless they sacrificed a human, just as they did before they left Greece. Ulysses pressed Calchas to name Sinon as the chosen victim, but he wouldn't. He was confined to his shelter for many days until he finally came out and named Sinon the gods' chosen sacrifice. Sinon fled from the sacrifice to avoid death. Priam bent down and unchained the lying Greek and welcomed him to the city. He continued to tell the Trojans that the Greeks ending up losing because they had alienated Minerva. They stole her image from a shrine and brought it in front of the siege. They left the horse as a symbol of the Trojans' triumph over Greece.
While Sinon told his tale, Laocoon was sacrificing a bull. Twin snakes came across the sea from Tenedos and ate his sons at the altar. When they finished with them, they attacked and ate Laocoon. They came to rest at the altar of Minerva. All the Trojans thought this meant that Laocoon was wrong and the horse should be led into the city. After pulling down part of the ramparts to fit the massive horse, they struggled at the gates:
"'four times it stalled
before the gateway, at the very threshold;
four times the arms clashed loud inside its belly.
Nevertheless, heedless, blinded by frenzy,
we pressed right on and set the inauspicious
monster inside the sacred fortress.'" Book 2, lines 335-340
As the night set, the Trojans feasted and fell to sleep. The Greek army returned from Tenedos and Sinon let the Greeks out of the horse. They killed the guards and let the army into the city. While Aeneas slept, Hector came to him in a dream and told him to flee the enemy who had just taken the city. He advised him to take Troy's people and gods and run. Aeneas sprung from sleep and looked out over the burning city. He grabbed his weapons, intending to fight to the death, but an old man with his grandson came up to him announcing their defeat. Aeneas, heedless of this warning, rushed into the city and found companions. He led them to fight off some of the invaders. They hunted through the city like a pack of wolves. One Greek band mistook them for Greeks and were slaughtered. Given inspiration by this mistake, the band of Trojans donned the Greek armor and continued their killing spree. One of their companions, Coroebus rushed off to death when they found out that Cassandra was raped.
Soon the band was decimated and Aeneas returned to the palace dodging invaders. The Greeks rushed into the building and pillaged the house. There were sounds of women wailing as Pyrrhus burst in with Menelaus and Agamemnon. The men of Priam's house fell one by one and Priam put on his armor despite his old age. As he went to leave, his wife huddled with her daughters like doves and pleaded with him saying, "'"Poor husband, what wild thought drives you/ to wear these weapons now? Where would you rush?"'" Book 2, lines 699-700.
He did not heed her plea for him to pray, because at that moment Pyrrhus rushed in and killed his young son on the altar. Priam cursed him and asked the gods for victory as he flung his spear towards the invader. Pyrrhus laughed as the old man missed and then he killed him. Aeneas rushed back to his house thinking of his father. He passed Helen who was afraid of Greeks and Trojans alike. He thought of striking her down then for causing the war. His mother appeared and asked him why he was so bitter and not thinking about his own family. She showed him that the gods were working against Troy emphasizing that they had no hope. She sped him along to his father, Anchises.
Anchises, unable to flee because he was crippled, begged Aeneas to abandon him. Aeneas' wife, Creusa helped him beg the old man. Aeneas described to his father the horror of Priam's death. Then he raged again and wanted to go back into battle. Creusa pleaded with him:
"'"If you go off to die, then take us, too,
to face all things with you; but if your past
still lets you put your hope in arms, which now
you have put on, then first protect this house."'" Book 2, lines 914-7
Ascanius' face lit up with a divine light as if it were on fire and Anchises asked Jupiter to confirm the omen. They watched a shooting star streak through the sky and Anchises decided that he should leave. Aeneas slung his father over his shoulders and led his child by the hand. Creusa was to follow behind him. After he got his father and son to safety, he turned around and Creusa was gone. He rushed into the city, maddened, searching for her. Her ghost came to him and said that she was not fated to go with him. She foretold that he would have to go to Italy. He tried to embrace her three times, but she disappeared. Refugees poured out of the city overnight and they hid in the mountains.
Topic Tracking: Women 2
Topic Tracking: Omens 2
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 2
Troy had fallen and the exiles looked for a place to settle. Anchises told them to go to sea and they ended up in Thrace where they traced out a city. Nearby, there was a thick cluster of bushes and Aeneas started to pull up the roots. When he did this, blood flowed from the soil. As he tore more out, a voice rose from the roots:
"'"Why are you mangling me, Aeneas? Spare
my body. I am buried here. Do spare
the profanation of your pious hands.
I am no stranger to you; I am Trojan.
The blood you see does not flow from a stem.
Flee from these cruel lands, this greedy shore,
for I am Polydorus; here an iron
harvest of lances covered my pierced body;"'" Book 3, lines 52-59
Polydorus told him that he had been sent by Priam with gold to entreat the king of the region for help. The king, already enticed by offers from the Greeks, and afraid of opposing them, killed the messenger. Aeneas had a funeral for Polydorus and they returned to the sea. They stayed on an island with a hospitable king and Aeneas asked the gods at a temple if he was allowed to stay there. A voice rose from the sacrificial tripod telling them to go to the land of their ancestors. Anchises interpreted this as Crete because this was where he thinks Teucer came from. Having heard that Crete was abandoned by its native ruler, the Trojans set sail. Where they landed they traced out a city that was to be called Pergamum. As they began to build the community, a plague of drought struck. Anchises thought that they should leave and soon after Aeneas had a vision at night. His household gods came alive and told him he must go to Italy from where Dardanus came. Aeneas awoke and poured a libation and then told the vision to his father. Anchises remembered Cassandra foretelling the same thing.
They returned to the sea and the waters heaved with a storm for three days. On the fourth, they made landfall on an ill-fated island ruled by Harpies. When they beached the ships, they saw flocks of sheep and goats and they killed them for feasting. As they began to eat, the harpies flew down and snatched away the food. The Trojans rose to defend themselves and fought them back. One, their leader Celaeno remained. She prophesied that they sought Italy where they would arrive but that they would not found their city "'"until an awful hunger and your wrong/ in slaughtering my sisters has compelled/ your jaws to gnaw as food your very tables."'" Book 3, lines 333-5. They were frightened and their spirits were broken as Anchises pleaded with the gods for the prophecy to be false. They left the island and sailed past Ithaca to Leucata where they held games in triumph for passing so many Greek cities undetected. Aeneas fastened a shield onto a temple door inscribed with a message asserting that he did this.
They sailed into the city of Buthrotum where they had heard that by some twist of fate the Trojan Helenus was ruling with Andromache as his wife. When Andromache saw the Trojans, specifically Aeneas, she wept, wondering whether he was a god or a ghost. Aeneas spoke to her and asked her how events had put two Trojans in charge of a Greek city. She told him that the Trojan women were taken across the sea and Pyrrhus gave her to Helenus, his slave, when he wanted another wife. When Orestes killed Pyrrhus, part of his kingdom was given to Helenus. There were many Trojan exiles with Helenus and they all feasted that night. Aeneas, asked Helenus, also a prophet, to interpret the words of Celaeno. Helenus made a sacrifice and then spoke, admitting that he was mostly ignorant but knew that they would make it to Italy somehow. He told them to avoid the eastern shores of Italy where the Greeks had made many settlements and that they should make their settlement where they find:
"'"[A]long the banks beneath the branching ilex,
a huge white sow stretched out upon the ground
together with a new-delivered litter
of thirty suckling white pigs at her teats,"'" Book 3, lines 507-10
He told them to pray under a purple shroud as a matter of custom once they got there. Then he warned them about the dangers of the sea: Scylla and Charybdis. He advised that the longer way around Sicily was safer than navigating these dangers. He finally warned them to appease Juno chiefly of all the gods. When they are to arrive in Italy they are to seek out a prophetess called the Sibyl at Cumae. Her prophecy will give them their final instructions for their settlement in Italy.
Helenus stopped prophesying and offered the Trojans gifts of ivory, gold and silver. Anchises readied the ships and Helenus instructed him in which direction to head. Andromache, mourning their departure, presented them with gifts of clothing for Ascanius because he reminded her of her deceased son. Aeneas promised Helenus a treaty once his own city was founded and they sailed off near Italy. Night set and the helmsman, Palinurus steered the ship. During their travel, they saw grazing horses and a temple and recognized the work of Greek settlers. Anchises read this as the fulfillment of an omen because these were horses of war and peace: usable for cavalry or plowshares. They prayed to Minerva as they sailed towards the tip of Sicily. They passed Scylla and Charybdis in the distance and landed on the island of the Cyclops. They hid in the forest, afraid of the sound of the Cyclops. Suddenly, they were stunned by the appearance of a stranger. He was terrified of them because they were Trojans, but he spoke anyway. He admitted that he was Greek and asked for their mercy or at least for them to kill him so he would have the benefit of dying at the hands of men. Anchises offered him his hand and asked his name. He responded, "'"I am of Ithaca and sailed for Troy,/ a comrade of unfortunate Ulysses;/ my name is Achaemenides,"'" Book 3, lines 794-6.
Achaemenides told them that he was left in the cave of the Cyclops by Ulysses. He watched his comrades being eaten and was stuck behind as Ulysses snuck out. The Trojans saw the blinded cyclops leading his flocks to graze in the distance. They quietly prepared the ships to leave, but the cyclops heard them. He roared and the other cyclops came running and hurling boulders at the Trojans as they slipped away. They did not want to sail through Scylla and Charybdis, so they kept sailing around Sicily and stopped at one city. There, Anchises died and Aeneas laments as he finishes his story. After they left land, they were hit by the storm that brought them to Africa.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 2
Topic Tracking: Women 3
Topic Tracking: Omens 3
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 3
These tales overcome Dido with love for Aeneas. At dawn, Dido turns to her sister Anna and expresses how impressive she thinks Aeneas is. She admits that Aeneas is the only man who has moved her since the death of her husband Sychaeus. She swears that she will not give up her vow of celibacy, but Anna tells her that Sychaeus would not begrudge her the opportunity to take such a new and powerful husband. She explains that with so many hostile tribes around them, a joint city with the Trojans would be desirable. Dido sacrifices sheep and tries to discern answers from their entrails. She is wild with love and she staggers through the city like a doe hit by an arrow. She keeps thinking she sees Aeneas when he is not around. The city ceases to be built. Juno observes this and she offers a kind of treaty to Venus:
"'Let us make, instead of war,
an everlasting peace and plighted wedding.
You have what you were bent upon: she burns
with love; the frenzy now is in her bones.
Then let us rule this people - you and I-
with equal auspices;'" Book 4, lines 131-136
Venus suspects that Juno just wants to prevent the founding of Rome to subvert the destruction of Carthage. Lying, Venus tells Juno she will submit to her treaty if Jupiter blesses it. Juno tells her that she will get Jupiter to agree, but in the meantime they should plan a hunting party for the next day in which Dido and Aeneas will be joined in a divine wedding. Venus accepts this deal, knowing Jupiter will not agree.
Dawn rises and they prepare to go out for the hunt. Dido is dressed like a huntress and Aeneas comes out looking like Apollo. Ascanius accompanies them on the hunt. A storm hits while they are riding and Aeneas and Dido find shelter in the same cave. Juno flashes lightning and nymphs sing as the two make love in the cave. Dido thinks this is a marriage, but does not tell Aeneas this. Rumor flies to the other towns with one hundred eyes and mouths announcing the deeds. Iarbas, a local chieftain and son of Jupiter, is enraged because he was refused by Dido when he courted her. He sacrifices to his father and Jupiter hears him. Jupiter instructs Mercury to go and tell Aeneas to seek his real destiny. Mercury flies down and finds Aeneas overseeing the construction of some Carthaginian buildings wearing new clothes. Mercury asks, "'Are you/ now laying the foundation of high Carthage,/ as servant to a woman?'" Book 4, lines 353-5. Mercury repeats Jupiter's order for Aeneas to go to Italy where he is fated to go. Aeneas says that he is afraid of leaving Dido and Mercury orders him to prepare the fleet quietly.
Aeneas waits for the right moment to tell her, but Rumor brings her the news and she goes into a frenzy. She approaches Aeneas and asks him how he hoped to hide such a deed. She tries to plead with him by saying that she is in danger with the native chieftains because she snubbed them. She also says that she has upset her people. Her last desperate attempt is saying that it would not be as bad if she at least had a son to remind her of him. Aeneas tells her that he did not mean to hide the departure and that he does not want to leave but he is forced by fate. Then, he tells her that if he had his way, he would never have left Troy. She doesn't believe that Mercury came to him and becomes irate, swearing that he was born of a mountain lion not Venus. She curses him and tells him to go saying she hopes his ships will be smashed on the rocks. She stops and even though he wants to assuage her anger, Aeneas leaves and readies his companions.
Dido weeps and goes to her sister and asks her to go and plead with Aeneas so that he will stay longer:
"'[P]ity your sister- as a final kindness.
When he has granted it, I shall repay
my debt, and with full interest, by my death.'" Book 4, lines 599-601
Anna obeys her sister, but Aeneas will not hear her because fate had made him like a mountain battered by winds. He cries as he continues to prepare. Dido prepares for her own suicide hiding it from her sister by alleging that she has come up with some sort of magic remedy to either make Aeneas love her or stop her love for him. She is going to burn all his possessions in her house on a pyre as if they were a body. She empowers Anna to prepare this.
Night comes as Dido tosses and turns thinking of joining the Trojan ships or calling the Carthaginians to arms. She decides to do neither of these things. Aeneas is sleeping on one of his ships and Mercury appears again. He tells Aeneas to leave immediately to avoid danger from the Tyrians. Aeneas rouses his men and they row into the sea as the dawn rises. Dido wakes and sees the abandoned shore. She laments to Jupiter and thinks about hunting Aeneas down. In her frenzy, she wishes she had butchered the Trojans. She prays to Juno for her to guard her in death. Then she pleads that a curse be set on the Trojans:
"'Do not let love or treaty tie our peoples.
May an avenger rise up from my bones,
one who will track with firebrand and sword
the Dardan settlers, now and in the future,
at any time that ways present themselves.'" Book 4, lines 861-5
She calls to her husband's nurse and tells her to prepare the ceremony with Anna. She mounts the pyre and takes out a sword. She prays to the gods and recounts her deeds to them alleging that she dies unavenged as she shoves the sword in her body. The city begins to riot and when Anna hears the sound she finds out that she helped her sister kill herself. She laments and tells her dying sister that she should have joined her. She tells Dido that she killed her city as the queen tries to get up and tries to speak. She looks up to heaven and dies. Juno sends Iris to take her soul to the underworld.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 3
Topic Tracking: Women 4
Topic Tracking: Omens 4
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 4
Aeneas sails into the distance and sees the smoke of the pyre, not guessing what has transpired in Carthage. Another storm hits when they come to the open water and Palinurus yells to Aeneas saying that they cannot hold out against the storm but should try to make landfall in Italy. Aeneas agrees and Acestes welcomes them back gladly. The next day Aeneas calls his men together and addresses them:
"'The circling year
completes its months since we entombed in earth
the bones and remnants of my godlike father.
Unless I err, that anniversary
is here, the day that I shall always keep
in grief and honor...'" Book 5, lines 62-7
He tells them that they should feast for nine days and then have games in honor of his father. He pours libations at his father's tomb and a seven spiraled serpent slithers from the mound. Aeneas thinks that the snake might have the spirit of his father. He sacrifices sheep and his men offer gifts.
On the ninth day, Aeneas displays the prizes for the competition: tripods, garlands, gold, silver, armor. The first event is a galley race entered by Mnestheus, Sergestus, Cloanthus and Gyas. They pull into the sea and row with the trumpet blast. Gyas is in the lead, but near a rock, Cloanthus is willing to go closer than Gyas' helmsman will push his ship. Cloanthus takes the lead and Gyas throws his helmsman overboard. Mnestheus pulls into second and Cloanthus wins. He wins a gold embroidered cape, Mnestheus wins a shield and corselet. Cloanthus gets a cauldron and silver bowl and Sergestus receives a female slave. The footrace comes next and Aeneas promises a gift to everyone who finishes the race. Nisus and Euryalus enter together. Nisus is in the lead but he slips on blood and falls. He trips the person in second place so his friend Euryalus can win. "At this, the loud outcries of Salius/ reach everyone within that vast arena:" Book 5, lines 447-8. The other racer also protests to Aeneas. Aeneas gives an extra prize to Salius and then to Nisus because he slipped.
Next is the boxing match, but no one will stand to face Dares. Aeneas asks Entellus to stand and fight him. Entellus tells him that he is old, but stands to fight anyway binding on the massive gloves he got from Hercules. He offers to take off the gloves because they intimidate Dares. Aeneas has equal gloves brought out for the two fighters. As they fight, Dares is faster but Entellus is stronger. Entellus puts all of his strength into a punch that Dares dodges and he ends up falling down. He rises enraged and pummels Dares mercilessly. Aeneas stops the fight and gives the prize to Entellus as Dares' friends take him away. Entellus offers the prize to the gods, saying he will never box again.
Next, Aeneas calls the archery contest: a bird is tethered to the top of a mast. The first contestant hits the mast. Mnestheus hits the cord and the third contestant kills the flying bird. Acestes, the fourth contestant, shoots his arrow and it bursts into flame in the air. Aeneas believes this to be a good omen so he awards Acestes first place. Next the boys come out on horses, led by Ascanius, to display their riding abilities and battle technique. There are several bands and the Trojans cheer them on as they fight. While this goes on, Juno sends Iris down to the women who are mourning. She takes the form of a Trojan woman and stirs the rest of them up, alleging:
"'In my sleep
the image of the prophetess Cassandra
appeared and offered blazing brands. "Look here
for Troy; here is your home!" she cried. The time
to act is now; such signs do not allow
delay. Here are four altars raised to Neptune;
the god himself gives us the will, the torches.'" Book 5, lines 838-44
One of them recognizes the woman as a goddess. Although they hesitate at first, they rush off to burn the ships. Ascanius sees this first and yells out to them. Aeneas runs and the women scatter but the ships are already on fire. Aeneas prays to Jupiter who sends rain. Only four ships are lost. Aeneas is upset and doesn't know what to do next. Someone advises him to leave the unwilling women and old men with Acestes to make up for the loss of the ships. Aeneas cannot make a decision, but Anchises comes to him in a dream and tells him he must take this advice and then come see him in the underworld once he reaches Italy. Aeneas calls his companions together and they select those to remain. He draws out a colony for them and then comforts the sadness of the people who are staying. He pours a libation and they pull out into the sea.
Venus asks Neptune to stop the storms of Juno and give them an easy passage to Italy. Neptune tells her that he has often watched out for Aeneas and he will continue to do so. He goes to Aeneas in his chariot with whales following. Palinurus takes the helm of the lead ship through the night. Neptune talks to him and Palinurus tells him that he is confident that nothing will go wrong through the night. Because of his arrogance, Neptune has him fall from the ship. The rest of the fleet moves safely and Aeneas mourns his missing friend.
Topic Tracking: Women 5
Topic Tracking: Omens 5
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 5
Aeneas weeps as the ships pull into the bay. The young men jump out of the boats and they see the grove of Diana where Daedalus made a shrine of gold, making everything except a sculpture of his son, which he could not bear to make. Daedalus landed here after his flight from Crete and King Minos. His son flew too close to the sun and died. The Sibyl calls them to sacrifice. Her cave has a hundred mouths and the wind hisses through it like voices. She begins to go into a frenzy and she tells Aeneas to pray. He prays to Apollo, the god of prophecy, and tells him that he has always helped the Trojans and should continue to. Aeneas promises to build a temple once his city is founded. The Sibyl has yet to be overcome by the god, so she thrashes more and begins to foretell a gruesome future:
"'I see wars, horrid wars, the Tiber foaming
with much blood. You shall have your Simois,
your Xanthus, and your Doric camp; already
there is in Latium a new Achilles-'" Book 6, lines 122-5
She chants and Aeneas tell her that these trials are not unexpected. He adds that he is supposed to go to the underworld. He asks her to pity him, invoking the examples of other mortals who have gone to the underworld. She tells him it is easy to go down, but it is harder to return. She instructs him that there is a golden bough on a tree in the forest. If someone is fated to return from the underworld, he may pluck the bough and use it as a gift for Proserpina, the mistress of the underworld. The bough will not break free if it is touched by someone not so fated. She also tells him that before he goes he must first bury a member of his crew. He finds out that the crew member is Misenus who challenged Triton to a trumpeting contest and was killed as a result. They bury him and then go in search of the bough. Aeneas prays for a sign for the gods and two white doves lead him to the bough which he picks easily. The burial is completed and the area is named Cape Misenum. Aeneas goes to the Sibyl and they sacrifice steers and a black lamb. The cave rages and the ground rumbles. Aeneas and the Sibyl move into the large smoking cavern.
They enter the darkness where all the evils of the earth dwell. A giant elm stands here on whose limbs empty dreams cling. Aeneas sees harpies and gorgons and grips his sword to attack them, but the Sibyl tells him that they are just images. They follow the crowded path to the river Styx where they see the ferryman Charon. There are many souls waiting to pass over the river. Aeneas asks why some of them aren't allowed on the boat and the Sibyl replies, "'[a]ll these you see are helpless and unburied.'" Book 6, line 427. Aeneas ponders this as Palinurus passes him. Aeneas asks him what has happened and Palinurus replies that he floated to Italy only to be killed by barbarians. The Sibyl turns and tells him that his body will be buried by surrounding cities after the gods send a plague to them. Charon tells them that he doesn't want to take them across because every time he has helped someone there has been trouble. The Sibyl shows him the golden bough and he takes them on board. They float past three-headed Cerberus and the Sibyl passes him a honeyed wheat cake. They pass into his cavern, into the realm of suicides and those who died because of destructive love. In this forest, Aeneas sees Dido and repeats that he did not want to leave. He asserts:
"'And I could not
believe that with my going I should bring
so great a grief as this. But stay your steps.
Do not retreat from me. Whom do you flee?
This is the last time fate will let us speak.'" Book 6, lines 610-14
She flees and joins her husband in the shadows. Aeneas wants to follow her but must continue. He meets fallen Trojans and Greeks tremble as they see him pass. He finds Deiphobus with his ears and nose cut off and he asks him how he came to be mutilated. The woman with whom he was sleeping betrayed him the night of the invasion and hid his weapons before she led Greeks into his bedchamber. He wants to speak with Aeneas for a while, but the Sibyl makes him follow her.
They continue and see a great fortress where the Sibyl tells Aeneas that the king of the realm judges the sins of men, proclaiming their punishment. Once she went inside and saw terrible tortures. She tells him that they must be quick and make the offering of the bough. They move on into the Elysian Fields where Aeneas sees many famous figures. The Sibyl asks one man where to find Anchises and they find him looking over future generations. He tries to embrace his father three times but cannot. Near the river of forgetfulness, he sees a myriad of spirits mulling around. Anchises tells him these are souls waiting for a second chance at life. Aeneas is amazed that anyone would want to return but Anchises tells him that some men just aren't satisfied. He pulls Aeneas and the Sibyl towards him and announces that he will narrate to them the descendants who are to come. There is Aeneas' last born son and then Romulus. Far after them, Julius and Augustus Caesar wait to bring about another golden age. There are men who bear all the famous names of Rome. Apart is a young man who is destined to die young. They look over the dead as Anchises tells Aeneas of the wars he will wage.
"There are two gates of Sleep: the one is said
to be of horn, through it an easy exit
is given to true Shades; the other is made
of polished ivory, perfect, glittering,
but through that way the Spirits send false dreams
into the world above. And here Anchises,
when he is done with words, accompanies
the Sibyl and his son together; and
he sends them through the gate of ivory." Book 6, lines 1191-1199
Aeneas rejoins his companions.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 4
Topic Tracking: Omens 6
Aeneas' nurse has died so they perform her burial rites and name the bay after her. They leave the harbor and sail past Circe's island, where the men she has changed into boars and wolves are howling. Neptune gives them a strong wind so that they will be able to avoid that island. Aeneas sees a forest and has his men sail into the mouth of the
Near where they land is an area ruled by King Latinus who is old and has only a daughter. This daughter was wooed by Turnus who is the best of the Latins. Latinus' wife Amata wants her daughter Lavinia to marry Turnus, but the king had seen an omen of bees overcoming a laurel tree which was interpreted:
"'In that direction
from which the swarm has come I see a stranger
approaching and an army nearing us;
I see them reach the palace, see them ruling
in our high citadel.'" Book 7, lines 86-90
He also once saw his daughter's hair catch on fire--this meant that she would be famous but a pain to her people. Latinus visited an oracle and sacrificed many animals. At one oracle he was told to seek a stranger to marry his daughter. Rumor carries this prophecy to the Trojans as they pull onto the shore. They set out a meal on their wheat loaves and when they are still hungry they eat their loaves too. Ascanius jokes that now they have eaten their tables and Aeneas realizes that Celaeno's prophecy has been fulfilled. Aeneas makes a sacrifice and Jupiter thunders three times. The Trojans rejoice.
They look over the land the next day and Aeneas sends one hundred emissaries to Latinus. People are amazed by the dress of the Trojans as they enter the city. Latinus welcomes them and reminds them that Dardanus came from this region. Ilioneus answers that fate brought them to shore and he brings tidings from Aeneas asking for a small settlement and pledging loyalty. He offers him gifts from their leader and Latinus looks at the ground considering his fates. He tells them that he wants peace and relays the oracle about his daughter's foreign husband. He tells Ilioneus to take this prophecy to Aeneas and also sends 300 horses with gold bits and a chariot.
As this happens, Juno gets enraged because she is helpless to stop any of this. She remembers that other gods have had their revenge on other peoples before and she calls up Allecto, a fury, sending her off to cause war. She poisons the mind of Amata who asks her husband if her daughter must marry a Trojan and, "'What of your right hand/ you swore so often to your kinsman, Turnus?'" Book 7, lines 485-86. Latinus is not moved by her pleading and she gets more upset. She hides her daughter in the mountains and, in her frenzy, calls for the other women. Content with this, Allecto flies to the home of Turnus and becomes an old priestess. She tells him what has happened and encourages him to fight. He tells her he knows what has happened and that he meant to fight. He wakes and rallies his companions. She goes to the Trojans and encourages Ascanius to go on a hunt. She leads him to a pet stag and he kills it. This enrages the surrounding farmers and they take up arms. The forest begins to fill with soldiers. The fight begins and there is death. Allecto flies to Juno and brags about the work. Juno tells her that it is enough and she goes away.
Latinus tries to throw Turnus out of his palace, but Amata will not allow him to do this. Amata rages and the people clamor for war. Latinus calls to the gods:
"'The Fates
have crushed us, we are carried by the storm.
Unhappy men! The penalty for this
will yet be paid with your profaning blood.'" Book 7, lines 782-85
In Latium there is a custom of opening the gates of war and the Latins throw open these gates and ask for war. Latinus will not sanction it, but Juno forces it. The Latin cities prepare for war and they list their champions going to war. The most important of these are Mezentius, Clausus, Mezentius' son Lausus and Messapus. Turnus leads this mass of men with the amazon-like Camilla accompanying him.
Topic Tracking: Women 6
Topic Tracking: Omens 7
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 6
The entire region leaps into war with Turnus. He sends an envoy to the city of Diomedes asking for help. Diomedes has settled in Italy because he was fated not to return to his home city. When Aeneas sees the attackers his mind rages like light in a copper bowl of water. Night comes and Aeneas lies awake thinking of his men. The god of the river Tiberinus comes to him and tells him not to panic because he will soon find the white sow prophesied. Then he tells him to become an ally with King Evander of the Arcadians who has been an enemy of the Latins for a long time. He also advises him to appease Juno and honor him when he is a victor.
Aeneas rises in the morning and blesses the river. He prepares two ships for the trip upriver and finds the white sow in the process. He sacrifices the sow to Juno and other gods. Then he rows upstream. When Evander sees the ships he wants to know who is coming, but his son Pallas will not allow the sacrifices to be stopped. He runs to the ships and Aeneas announces who they are and why they have come. He addresses the king and tells him that he does not care that he is related to Menelaus and Agamemnon. He says that since Evander's father is Mercury whose grandfather is Atlas, and Dardanus was also a grandson of Atlas by Elektra, they are relatives. Evander recognizes him because he had seen the young Anchises before he was crippled. He agrees to fight with him and promises they will leave the next day. They finish the feast and sacrifice. When this is over, Evander explains that they have this yearly ritual for Hercules who killed a great beast named Cacus who was a child of Vulcan. Hercules was driving his great cattle through the area when the beast ate some of them. Hercules killed it and established an altar near its lair. Evander pours a libation as the priest prays to Hercules and invokes his labors. The feast ends and Aeneas walks with the king and his son. Evander tells the history of the land:
"'These groves were once the home of fauns and nymphs
and of a race of men sprung from tree trunks
and sturdy oaks. They had no rule and no
refinements; for they could not yoke their bulls
or gather wealth or save what they had gained;'" Book 8, lines 412-16
The gods made a nation here but then others entered the land and created their own kingdoms. On a hill in the city, there is a grove people believe shelters a god, but they don't know which one. As they enter the king's home, he apologizes for his poverty but assures Aeneas that Hercules received the same lodging.
Meanwhile, Venus turns to her husband Vulcan and asks him to make arms for Aeneas to help him in war. Vulcan tells her that he will not deny her anything. In the morning he goes to his workshop on the island of the Cyclops. He stops the work going on there and begins to make the strongest weapons possible. They make a seven-ply shield.
Evander rises and goes to the quarters of Aeneas admitting that he has only so many men to offer him. He tells him of a Tuscan tribe that was betrayed by their leader Mezentius. They expelled him but are not allowed to fight or get revenge until they are led by a foreign king. Evander says he is too old to do it and his son is half native. He assures him that if he sails upriver and entreats these men they will join him. He also offers his son and 400 men. Aeneas and Achates worry about this but Venus sends a sign through the sky. Everyone is shocked but Aeneas tells them that this is his mother's sign:
"'[T]hat, if war were at hand, then through the air
she would bring Vulcan's weapons to my aid.
What slaughter menaces these sad Laurentians!
What penalties will Turnus pay to me!'" Book 9, lines 695-98
Aeneas lights fires at the altars of Heracles and makes an offering. He sends some men downriver to the Trojans and the rest depart with him on horseback to find the Tuscans. Evander tells his son that he wishes he could fight in his place and he asks the gods to keep him safe. He faints when his son rides away. They all ride together and after a while they find the Tuscans and their King Tarchon. Venus gives her son the arms and he is delighted. The armor is engraved with scenes of Roman days to come: Romulus and Remus, the founding of the republic, the sack of the city by Gauls. Catiline, Cato, the Gracchi, the battle of Actium with Marcus Antonius, and Cleopatra fighting Augustus with Agrippa as his general. Aeneas marvels at all this and is glad for the symbols he does not understand.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 5
Topic Tracking: Omens 8
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 7
As Aeneas speaks with the Tuscans, Juno sends Iris to Turnus. She tells him that Aeneas is gathering allies and he should attack the Trojan camp before he returns. Turnus prays as she leaves and thanks whatever god sent her. The Rutulian armies enter the plain with their allies. When the Trojans see this, they cluster around their walls as Aeneas advised. Turnus races ahead with an elite force and calls for them to storm the ramparts. He wheels around like a wolf in a sheep pen. Enraged by the thick defense, he calls for fire. When Aeneas first built his fleet, Jupiter's mother asked that it never be destroyed because it was made from sacred trees. As Turnus tries to light the exposed ships on fire, a nymph choir fills the air and the ships turn into dolphin-like immortal creatures. The Rutulians panic but Turnus assails them and alleges that this sign is a bad omen for the Trojans. He argues that they must be attacked because this is the second time the Trojans have taken someone's wife away. He encourages them to fight but then decides to rest for the day. They camp around the Trojan settlement and the Trojans watch them from their walls. Nisus speaks to Euryalus at the gate:
"'Hear what I have in mind. The people,
the elders- everyone now urges that
Aeneas be called back, that messengers
be sent to bring him the tidings he can trust.
If they agree to give to you instead
the prize that I can claim for such a deed-
since for myself the glory is enough-
then close by that mound there I may have found
a path to reach the walls of Pallanteum.'" Book 9, lines 252-60
Euryalus wants to join him in the endeavor, and Nisus allows him even though he wishes him to stay and save his youth. They go off together to ask the council. They tell them that the Rutulians are sleeping without very many sentries and they think there is a way through the camp. One of the chiefs tells them they will be rewarded handsomely by Aeneas and Ascanius offers them prizes from his own treasure. Euryalus asks Ascanius to comfort his own mother. Everyone weeps as Ascanius swears on his head that his mother will be cared for.
They cross the trenches and go into the shadows. Nisus kills sleeping men as he moves like a lion through a sheepfold. Euryalus joins him and one wakes but Nisus takes care of him. They abandon many attractive prizes as they move into the distance. As they leave the camp, a group of horsemen approaches. The leader of the horsemen, Volcens calls for them to halt but they rush on with the riders following. Euryalus gets stuck in some branches as Nisus breaks into an open run. When he comes to a field, Nisus turns around to look for his friend. He cries, "'Where have I left you poor Euryalus?'" Book 9, line 520. He sees Euryalus surrounded and draws his spear back and prays to the gods. He pierces one of them through the middle. He hefts another and pierces another one in the head. Volcens cannot see him so he goes after Euryalus. Nisus begs him not to kill him but he does anyway. Nisus is surrounded himself and kills Volcens before he dies.
The Latins carry the bodies back and see the carnage done by the night raiders. Dawn comes and they put the heads of the Trojans on pikes. Rumor infiltrates the camp and Euryalus' mother cries out in anguish at the death of her son. Ascanius comforts her. The Rutulians blow a horn and begin to assault the walls of the camp. They lock their shields and withstand the barrage of the Trojan missiles. The carnage increases as a tower built by the Trojans is lit on fire by Turnus. Many die in the collapse and those left are surrounded by Turnus' hordes. One gets to the walls and is helped by his companions' hands. Turnus yells mockingly as he tears him down to kill him just as an eagle clutches a lamb. Ilioneus hurls rocks into the mass. Turnus and Mezentius continue to kill many Trojans. Mezentius mocks them and calls them Trojan women. Ascanius aims and kills someone but his companions pull him away from the wall. Apollo pulls him aside and speaks:
"'Grow
in your new courage, child; o son of gods
and ancestor of gods, this is the way
to scale the stars. All fated, future wars
shall end in peace...'" Book 9, lines 856-60
He takes the shape of a friend of Anchises and encourages the boy not to fight any more. The Trojans recognize the god as he leaves and they restrain Ascanius. The battle runs around the walls like a wind or a flood. The gates are smashed and some of the Rutulians break in. The Trojans rally and push them out rushing into the field themselves. Turnus rages through the battle causing confusion wherever he goes. He knocks down one of the mighty defenders and inspires the attackers. They rally and the Trojans flee back into the gates. They close the gates before they see that Turnus has also entered. Inside the camp Turnus kills many but is surrounded and must leave. He washes his wounds in the Tiber.
Topic Tracking: Omens 9
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 8
While this happens, Jupiter calls a council of the gods. He asks why the Italians and the Trojans are fighting against each other against his will. He promises that there will be plenty of war when Rome and Carthage fight later. Venus says that the Rutulians led by Turnus are massacring Trojans and that Greek armies are going to march out and help them. The Trojans have done everything they were supposed to but Juno sent Allecto out to cause trouble. She begs that Ascanius be spared if Troy is to be destroyed again. Juno bursts in and calls the Trojans thieves, saying that they never ask for peace and alleges that they started the conflict to begin with. Juno pleads that the war cannot be ended. Jupiter speaks and says that he will help neither the Rutulians nor the Trojans:
"'What each man does will shape his trial and fortune.
For Jupiter is king of all alike;
the Ffates will find their way.'" Book 10, lines 160-62
All of the gods are to stay out of the battle and let it run its course. The Trojans and Latins continue to struggle. The Trojans strain to hold their halls and Ascanius helps. Mnestheus hurls his weapons down. At this point , Aeneas has made the camp of the Tuscans and convinced them to follow him against Mezentius. He sails downriver followed by the chiefs of the Tuscans with about thirty ships of men. It is night as Aeneas sails and one of the nymphs who was once one of his ships grabs the stern and lifts herself up. She tells him to hasten because the Trojans are in dire straits. Aeneas prays to the earth and promises offerings. Day begins as the ships near the camp. They rain arrows from the ships. The attackers stare at Aeneas looking noble and godlike in his armor.
Turnus does not despair, but he rallies his men and tells them to cut the Trojans down as they step on land. They begin to jump from the ships, but King Tarchon has his men run the ships right on to land. His ship gets stuck, but the Tuscans begin to pour onto the field. Aeneas jumps down and immediately begins to slay Latins. Aeneas loses his spear but is rearmed by Achates. He continues to kill brothers and relatives. Clausus begins to fight back with the rest of the Latins. At another part of the battle. Pallas rallies the Arcadians. He cuts down many and his men are excited. Another Rutulian begins his own killing spree, but Pallas prays to the gods that he may slay the man and he does. Lausus the son of Mezentius, is threatened by the battle and Turnus tells him to leave so that he may face Pallas alone. Turnus begins to hunt him like a lion after a bull. When Pallas sees this, he prays to Hercules that he will not die in vain. Hercules hears him but is unable to do anything and Jupiter comforts him. Pallas hurls at Turnus and misses. Turnus hurls and kills him. He announces the death of Pallas to the Arcadians as he rips off the prince's belt covered with the scene of the slaughter of fifty bridegrooms. A messenger brings Aeneas word of this deed and he cuts through the battle towards the Arcadians. One man pleads for his life, but Aeneas kills him as well as a priest.
He curses more men as he cuts them down. Many flee his path. two brothers are driving a chariot up and down the field. They taunt Aeneas, but he kills one of them with a javelin. He seizes the chariot and kills the other even though he asks for mercy.
Meanwhile, Jupiter speaks to Juno:
"'Both wife and sister to me, and much loved,
as you supposed (your judgment is not wrong),
the power of Troy has been sustained by Venus,
not by the fighting men's keen hands in battle,
not by their stubborn souls, patient in trials...'" Book 10, lines 834-38
Juno admits that she is afraid of his wrath but asks that Turnus be spared. He tells her that she may arrange this and she goes to the field cloaked in a cloud and then disguised as Aeneas. Turnus runs after her and she leads him to a ship which she sends sailing off. Aeneas rushes around the field looking for Turnus. When Turnus realizes where he is, he pleads with the gods that they return him because he feels shameful for committing desertion. He tries to stab himself and throw himself in the river but Juno won't let him.
Mezentius takes the lead of the Rutulians and he rallies his men after he kills one of the Trojans who curses him. The battle continues with each side losing men equally. Mezentius rushes and fights nobly. Aeneas hastens to meet him. Mezentius misses the Trojan leader only to be hit in the thigh by him. He limps off the field. His son, Lausus, rushes Aeneas and misses him. Aeneas gets surrounded by Lausus' companions but he taunts them anyway. He overcomes them and kills Lausus but regrets it.
Mezentius washes by the river and laments when his son's body is carried to him. He rearms and wishes to take Aeneas' life. He mounts his horse and calls a challenge to Aeneas. Aeneas accepts the challenge and waits as Mezentius rides around him multiple times. He flings his spear and kills the horse. He rushes forward and taunts Mezentius. Mezentius replies:
"'why do you taunt and threaten me? There is
no crime in killing me; I did not come
to war with any thought of quarter, nor
did Lausus ever draw such terms with you.
I ask you only this: if any grace
is given to the vanquished, let my body
be laid in earth'" Book 10, lines 1236-42
Aeneas kills Mezentius.
Topic Tracking: Omens 10
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 9
Dawn rises and Aeneas is eager to bury Pallas. He dresses a tree in the armor of Mezentius as an offering to the god of war. He tells his men that they should bury all their dead before they continue with the battle. He laments for Pallas as they build his pyre. Aeneas wraps one of his tunics from Dido around the body and they light the pyre. Other trees are dressed in Latin arms and Aeneas wishes Pallas farewell. He goes back to the camp and meets with the Latin envoys who are pleading for the chance to bury their dead. Aeneas explains that he would give peace to the living too if they wanted it. He says that it is Turnus' fault not his. The Latins are amazed that Aeneas allows them this right. Drances, one of the older envoys, says that the battle should end and he will carry these words to Latinus.
Rumor runs to Evander with the death of Pallas and all the women of the city weep. Evander comes to his son's side and weeps, wishing he had died instead. He is glad that Pallas died alongside the gallant Trojans. The pyres are raised through the day and many bulls are sacrificed. Drances goes to the house of Latinus and asks him to stop the war. Amata defends Turnus and his right to Lavinia. The ambassadors from Diomedes return and a council is called. One of them recounts the words of Diomedes who said that anyone who attacked the Trojans at Troy suffered grave consequences on the way home:
"'"No, do not, do not
provoke me into such a battle! More:
since Troy is fallen now, I have no quarrel
with Teucrians; and I do not recall
with joy the old trials of that war. Take back
the gifts you bring me from your native shores
and give them to Aeneas."'" Book 11, lines 366-72
He begs the Latins to make a treaty with Aeneas. Latinus calls to his people and tells them that they cannot win the war. He proposes that a territory be given to Aeneas, or, if the Trojans wish to leave, they should build ships for them. Drances proposes that Lavinia also be offered to Aeneas because this will bring about the most long-lasting peace. Turnus reacts violently and tells Drances he is full of hot air and is no good in battle. He insists that the Trojans are ultimately a defeated people and he offers a one-on-one battle with Aeneas. He swears to Latinus that there is still strength left in Latin arms.
While the Latins quarrel, Aeneas marches into the field and crosses the Tiber River . The people riot and flee to the city of Latinus. Turnus uses this deed to call for battle. They ready the city for attack and Latinus blames himself for the doom for his city. Amata makes sacrifices with Lavinia as Turnus girds himself for war. Camilla meets him and tells him to guard the walls as she charges into the Trojan onslaught. He tells her to hold the Trojans while he prepares an ambush. He sets his trap in a nearby valley.
In the heavens, Diana hears that Camilla is going into battle. Camilla's father was a king sent into exile. He carried his daughter and when he came to a river he tied her to a spear and threw her across. He swam across and retrieved her, thereby evading his pursuers. He raised her in the forest. She is a virgin who refuses a husband. Diana says she will go to the battle and shoot whoever wounds Camilla. The Trojans approach the city. Messapus and Camilla take the field against them. The armies halt and then rush together. The Latins are routed and the Trojans near their gates, but many of their horses are slain. They push to the walls and are repulsed twice. The third time they fight brutally and many die. In the center of the melee, Camilla rages like an Amazon, slaughtering men on every side. She kills many and cuts a path in the battle with her honor guard of women. She slays several more Trojans. One tries to run away from her after challenging her to a fight on foot, but she runs him down.
Watching this from above, Jupiter sees the retreating squadrons and he inspires Tarchon to rally his men. Tarchon challenges his men not to flee from women and he tears down one of the Latins. The Tuscans rally. Arruns begins to quietly stalk Camilla waiting for an opportunity. She goes after another Trojan, and Arruns, praying to Apollo not for victory, but just to stop her rampage, flings his spear. He hits her and runs away. Camilla cannot pull the spear from her ribs and tells her sister to run to Turnus and tell him what has happened. She dies. Her enemies are excited and they rally. Diana's assistant watched her die and she swore, "'[Y]our queen will not leave you dishonored/ in your last hour; neither will your death/ go now without its glory through the nations;'" Book 11, lines 1121-23. She descends and finds Arruns. His companions desert him as he dies. The Latins are routed without Camilla and they rush into the city gate and close many of their compatriots outside. Those left behind are battered against the doors. Turnus hears about what has transpired and he rages toward the city. Night falls.
Topic Tracking: Women 7
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 10
When Turnus sees the lines of the Latins break, he calls to Latinus and tells him that he will either die or kill Aeneas. Latinus tells him that he should stay and defend the city because without him they have no defense. He tries to impress upon him that he has his own lands and will do well if there is no war. Turnus insists on violence:
"'For I, too, can cast a lance;
the steel my right hand uses is not feeble;
my father, blood flows from the wounds I deal.
The Trojan's goddess-mother will be too
far off to shelter her retreating son,
to hide him, as a woman would, within
the same deceiving cloud that covers her.'" Book 12, lines 68-74
Amata weeps at the concept of the duel and tells him not to meet the Trojans but to stay behind and defend her. Turnus looks at Lavinia and is inflamed with love. He tells Amata that he must fight and sends his messenger to announce the challenge to Aeneas. He goes out and calls his horses and dons his cloak, taking up his lance. He looks to the skies and swears that he will defeat the effeminate Trojan.
Meanwhile, Aeneas is happy with the challenge and sends his answer back. The next day they mark out the field for the match and set altars in the middle. Juno watches this and she addresses Turnus' sister Juturna. Juturna is a nymph because Jupiter made her immortal as an apology for having raped her. Juno asks her to stop her brother from dying and Juturna leaves to do what she can. The kings advance and meet in the middle where a priest sacrifices. Aeneas pledges that if he wins he will not be a tyrant but will leave Latinus in charge over the Italians. Latinus swears that nothing will break the truce. "But the Rutulians had long since felt / this duel was unequal; they are puzzled;/ conflicting feelings move their hearts;" Book 12, lines 295-97. .
Turnus paces and prays until his sister appears in the shape of an ancestor and scatters rumors alleging that it is shameful to barter a war on one life. The men in the ranks seethe as she sends an omen of Jupiter: an eagle is turned upon and repulsed by the swans it pursues. They are rallied by this and they take up their swords. One of them kills and the Latins charge and tear down the altars. Latinus flees and Messapus charges a Tuscan leader. Aeneas reaches out and asks where his men are rushing. He pleads as the arrows fall and one pierces his thigh. Turnus sees this and runs after him hoping that the wound will afford him an opportunity for victory. Turnus makes his first kill and the battle rises. Achates, Mnestheus and Ascanius carry Aeneas into camp as he limps with the arrow still in his thigh. He calls for it to be cut out with a sword. Iapyx a man skilled in healing comes up to him and tries his craft to no avail. Venus hears her son's moans and brings a secret herb from Asia and rubs it on the wound. The arrow comes out and Aeneas feels stronger. Iapyx admits:
"'This is not the work
of mortal hands or skillful art; my craft
has not saved you, Aeneas: here there is
a greater one - a god- who sends you back
to greater labors.'" Book 12, lines 575-79
Aeneas hugs his son and tells him to watch his father and learn valor. He marches out with Mnestheus and Antheus following. The Trojans pour back onto the battlefield. Juturna recognizes the Trojans coming like a sudden squall from the sea. They kill many. Juturna throws Turnus' charioteer from the chariot and drives him around the battle away from Aeneas. Aeneas sees this and follows but he is led in circles. Messapus hurls a javelin at him and grazes his helmet. Aeneas turns and charges back into battle. He kills many as Turnus picks off Trojans from the sides. The two warriors cause a great carnage together roaring or rushing like a wild fire or a flooding stream. One Rutulian brags and is crushed by a rock from Aeneas. Venus sets his mind on marching toward the city. He calls his captains to him and says, "'[t]his day- unless they yield, accept our rule,/ submit to us- I shall annihilate/ that city,'" Book 12, lines 762-64. He speaks and they form a wedge and push towards the walls. The Latins panic and the soldiers are routed. The city writhes with hysteria and Amata hangs herself. Lavinia weeps and Latinus throws dust in his hair.
Along the border of the battle, Turnus chases stragglers as his sister tells him that his glory will equal Aeneas' if he continues to do this. Turnus tells her that he knows it is her and asks which god sent her. He tells her that death is a blessing compared to doing nothing as the city falls before him. A Latin rides up to Turnus and tells him that the queen has died and he is looked for by Latinus. Turnus is confused but he orders his sister to lead him towards the city where he will face Aeneas. Turnus sweeps into the battle like a rock tumbling down a mountain and he calls out and tells them to stop fighting. He makes his men move and allow space for a combat.
Aeneas hears his call and is happy to leave the siege. He pounds on his shield and the Trojans stop fighting. Everyone looks in the center as the two heroes approach each other. Turnus strikes with a sword and it breaks. He flees around the edge but his men push him back. Even though he is slowed down by the arrow wound, Aeneas pursues him. They run around the circle in this fashion five times. Aeneas hurls his spear into a tree that was sacred to Turnus' family. Turnus prays to his ancestors and the tree will not release the weapon. Venus helps her son retrieve his shaft.
Juno calls to Jupiter and asks what he intends to happen. He tells her that he has harassed the Trojans enough and that this must stop. She admits that she did many wrong things but asks that the new people be called Latins not Trojans. Jupiter smiles and says that he will grant this and make the new people superior over everyone else in Italy. This is the compromise that finally makes Juno pleased with the future Romans. Jupiter then turns his mind to taking Juturna away from the battle. He sends one of the furies down and Turnus stiffens in its sight. Juturna recognizes the ploy and complains that Jupiter has not given her an even exchange for her virginity. She plunges back into her river. Aeneas charges Turnus who says that he is not afraid. Turnus hurls a stone and misses just as if in a dream. Aeneas casts a spear and it pierces his shield and corselet going into his thigh. He leaps forward to finish him off, taunting. Turnus replies:
"'I have indeed deserved this; I do not
appeal against it; use your chance. But if
there is a thought of a dear parent's grief
that now can touch you, then I beg you, pity
old Daunus - in Anchises you had such
a father- send me back...'" Book 12, lines 1242-47
Aeneas considers the plea but he looks at Turnus and sees the belt of Pallas on him. He rages and asks how he could spare Pallas' murderer. He pierces Turnus' chest with his sword.
Topic Tracking: Historical Subtext 6
Topic Tracking: Divine Intervention 11