Adromache

Widow of Hector, given as a prize of war to Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles. She later marries Helenus. In a twist of fate, they come to reign over part of Pyrrhus's kingdom after Pyrrhus is killed by Orestes, son of Agamemnon. She never forgets either her adored Hector, or their little boy Astyanax, whom the victorious Greek threw from the walls of Troy for fear he would grow up and avenge his father.

Aeneas

Prince of Troy and chief protagonist of this work. There are as many readings of his character as there are readers of The Aeneid. Virgil's narrative repeatedly puts Aeneas into situations in which he finds his duty to the gods and to the future in conflict with his own personal desires, freedom, and autonomy—when he wants to stay with Dido, Queen of Carthage, for example, and the god Jupiter sends a...