The Myth of Aeneas

Did Aeneas found Rome?

No, Romulus founded it, Aeneas just established the lineage that would found Rome

Who are Aeneas’s parents?

Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Anchises, a member of the Trojan royal family

What famous book is Aeneas first mentioned in?

Homer’s the Iliad

Who is Aeneas’s cousin?

Hector, the strongest warrior in Troy

Who rescues Aeneas on the battlefield?

Aphrodite and Poseidon

Who connected Aeneas with Rome/Italy?

NOT Homer, but Greek authors familiar with Italy

Who wrote Aeneid?

Virgil

What is the Aeneid?

An epic poem of twelve books, recounting Aeneas’s escape from Troy, his journey to Italy, and his role as the ancestor of the Romans

What is book 2 of the Aeneid about?

The fall of Troy and the deception of the Trojan horse

Who warns Aeneas in a dream to flee from Troy?

His cousin Hector

Who tells Aeneas to go to Hesperia (Italy)?

The ghost of his dead wife, Creusa

What happens to Aeneas in Sicily?

The whirlpool Charybdis forces them to the land of the Cyclopes, where they meet Achaemenides and escape from Polyphemus

Who falls in love with Aeneas?

Dido

Who reminds Aeneas not to fall in love with Dido but to travel to Italy?

Jupiter sends Mercury to remind him

What happens when Aeneas tries to leave Dido for Italy?

She confronts him, and he tells her he has to leave. He breaks her heart, and she stabs herself with his sword, cursing Aeneas and predicting eternal war with their descendants (Romans vs Carthaginians)

Who does Aeneas meet in Cuma? Where do they go together?

He meets Sybil, and she accompanies him to the underworld

What happens in the underworld?

Aeneas passes Cerberus the three headed dog, meets the ghost of his father Anchises, who shows him the destiny of Rome, and tells him to settle in Latium

What happens when Aeneas reaches Latium?

King Latinus welcomes him and offers his daughter Lavinia to marry

Why is the king’s proposal a bad thing?

Lavinia was already promised to Turnus, the king of the Rutuli

What does Turnus do?

He declares war on Aeneas and his men

What happens after war is declared?

Initially, Turnus is winning, but Aeneas flees to Etruria (Tuscany) to find allies

Who does Aeneas meet in Etruria?

Evander, the king of the Etruscans, and his son Pallas

What is given to Aeneas for the war?

Evander gives him an army, and Venus asks Vulcan to forge new armor and weapons for Aeneas and his army

What happens when Aeneas returns for battle?

Aeneas’s army pushes the Rutulians back, but Turnus kills Pallas and steals his sword belt

What happens after Pallas is killed?

Aeneas challenges Turnus to a one v one, where the winner wins the entire war. Aeneas is winning, and almost spares Turnus’s life, but he recognizes the sword belt he wears as Pallas’s. Enraged, Aeneas kills Turnus and he wins the war