The book lovers Wiki

Welcome to The Book Lovers Wiki, Anonymous contributor. Here we have information on books for all ages, and we appreciate any information you want to add (but first check out the rules)! If you see something that violates these rules, please immediately report it to one of our Administrators or Moderators, and if you would like to apply to become a Moderator please submit a response here. Remember that the Wiki Staff are here to keep the Wiki safe, please respect any choices made by them.

Note: all links here can be found under Community > Important, in the Top Nav.

We all hope you enjoy you time here!

~Book Lovers Wiki Staff

READ MORE

The book lovers Wiki


The Aeneid is an epic poem written by the poet Virgil. Released in 19 BC, the poem recounts Aeneas' life after the Trojan War and his work in the founding of the Roman Empire.

Characters[]

  • Aeneas
  • Anchises
  • Ascanius
  • Juno
  • Turnus
  • Dido

rest to be added

Publisher's summary[]

The Aeneid – thrilling, terrifying and poignant in equal measure – has inspired centuries of artists, writers and musicians.

Virgil’s epic tale tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who flees his city after its fall, with his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius – for Aeneas is destined to found Rome and father the Roman race. As Aeneas journeys closer to his goal, he must first prove his worth and attain the maturity necessary for such an illustrious task. He battles raging storms in the Mediterranean, encounters the fearsome Cyclopes, falls in love with Dido, Queen of Carthage, travels into the Underworld and wages war in Italy.

Summary[]

On the Mediterranean Sea, Aeneas and his fellow Trojans flee from their home city of Troy, which has been destroyed by the Greeks. They sail for Italy, where Aeneas is destined to found Rome. As they near their destination, a fierce storm throws them off course and lands them in Carthage. Dido, Carthage’s founder and queen, welcomes them. Aeneas relates to Dido the long and painful story of his group’s travels thus far.

Aeneas tells of the sack of Troy that ended the Trojan War after ten years of Greek siege. In the final campaign, the Trojans were tricked when they accepted into their city walls a wooden horse that, unbeknownst to them, harbored several Greek soldiers in its hollow belly. He tells how he escaped the burning city with his father, Anchises; his son, Ascanius; and the hearth gods that represent their fallen city. Assured by the gods that a glorious future awaited him in Italy, he set sail with a fleet containing the surviving citizens of Troy. Aeneas relates the ordeals they faced on their journey. Twice they attempted to build a new city, only to be driven away by bad omens and plagues. Harpies, creatures that are part woman and part bird, cursed them, but they also encountered friendly countrymen unexpectedly. Finally, after the loss of Anchises and a bout of terrible weather, they made their way to Carthage.

Impressed by Aeneas’s exploits and sympathetic to his suffering, Dido, a Phoenician princess who fled her home and founded Carthage after her brother murdered her husband, falls in love with Aeneas. They live together as lovers for a period, until the gods remind Aeneas of his duty to found a new city. He determines to set sail once again. Dido is devastated by his departure, and kills herself by ordering a huge pyre to be built with Aeneas’s castaway possessions, climbing upon it, and stabbing herself with the sword Aeneas leaves behind.

As the Trojans make for Italy, bad weather blows them to Sicily, where they hold funeral games for the dead Anchises. The women, tired of the voyage, begin to burn the ships, but a downpour puts the fires out. Some of the travel-weary stay behind, while Aeneas, reinvigorated after his father visits him in a dream, takes the rest on toward Italy. Once there, Aeneas descends into the underworld, guided by the Sibyl of Cumae, to visit his father. He is shown a pageant of the future history and heroes of Rome, which helps him to understand the importance of his mission. Aeneas returns from the underworld, and the Trojans continue up the coast to the region of Latium.

The arrival of the Trojans in Italy begins peacefully. King Latinus, the Italian ruler, extends his hospitality, hoping that Aeneas will prove to be the foreigner whom, according to a prophecy, his daughter Lavinia is supposed to marry. But Latinus’s wife, Amata, has other ideas. She means for Lavinia to marry Turnus, a local suitor. Amata and Turnus cultivate enmity toward the newly arrived Trojans. Meanwhile, Ascanius hunts a stag that was a pet of the local herdsmen. A fight breaks out, and several people are killed. Turnus, riding this current of anger, begins a war.

Aeneas, at the suggestion of the river god Tiberinus, sails north up the Tiber to seek military support among the neighboring tribes. During this voyage, his mother, Venus, descends to give him a new set of weapons, wrought by Vulcan. While the Trojan leader is away, Turnus attacks. Aeneas returns to find his countrymen embroiled in battle. Pallas, the son of Aeneas’s new ally Evander, is killed by Turnus. Aeneas flies into a violent fury, and many more are slain by the day’s end.

The two sides agree to a truce so that they can bury the dead, and the Latin leaders discuss whether to continue the battle. They decide to spare any further unnecessary carnage by proposing a hand-to-hand duel between Aeneas and Turnus. When the two leaders face off, however, the other men begin to quarrel, and full-scale battle resumes. Aeneas is wounded in the thigh, but eventually the Trojans threaten the enemy city. Turnus rushes out to meet Aeneas, who wounds Turnus badly. Aeneas nearly spares Turnus but, remembering the slain Pallas, slays him instead.

Works discussing "The Aeneid"[]

Non-fiction[]

  • The Literature Book, in which The Aeneid is put forth as the prime example of Literature of the Roman world.

Notable translations[]

  • Robert Fitzgerald's translation (first published 1983)
  • Robert Fagles' translation (first published 2006)

See also[]

Title Author Release date Significance
Odyssey Homer ~8th century BC An epic poem that inspired this epic poem
The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri ~1320 An epic poem possibly inspired by this poem
Metamorphoses Ovid 8 Another major work of Roman poetry
The Golden Ass Apuleius ~200 Another major work of Roman literature
On the Orator Cicero 55 BC Another major work of Roman literature
Satyricon Petronius ~50 Another major work of Roman literature
Annals Tacitus 105-116 Another major work of Roman literature
The Lusiads Luís Vaz de Camões 1572 An epic poem frequently compared to this epic poem

Sources[]