The Aeneid Flashcards

Flashcards for key characters and places in Virgil's Aeneid.

Jupiter

Roman equivalent of Zeus

Juno

Roman equivalent of Hera

Neptune

Roman equivalent of Poseidon

Venus

Roman equivalent of Aphrodite; mother of Aeneas

Diana

Roman equivalent of Artemis

Mars

Roman equivalent of Ares

Mercury

Roman equivalent of Hermes

Minerva

Roman equivalent of Athena; also called Pallas

Vulcan

Roman equivalent of Hephaestus

Apollo

In the Aeneid, often called Phoebus

Ulysses (Ulixes)

Odysseus

Hercules

Heracles

Aeolus

God of the winds.

Dido

Queen of Carthage, who falls in love with Aeneas.

Carthage

City in North Africa, historically the great rival of Rome.

Tyre

Original home of Dido, before she fled her brother Pygmalion.

Laocoon

Priest of Neptune, killed by the serpents

Sinon

The clever Greek

Cassandra

Daughter of Priam, prophetess who will never be believed

Creusa

Aeneas' wife

Polydorus

Son of Priam murdered in Thrace

Calaeno

Harpy who prophesies that the Trojans will starve to the point that they eat their tables

Andromache

Former wife of Hector, then slave of Pyrrhus, now wife of Helenus

Acestes

Friendly king of a land in Sicily

Anna

Dido's sister

Mercury

Messenger of Jupiter

Proserpina (=Persephone)

Queen of the Underworld

Euryalus

Young friend of Nisus

Nisus

Friend of Euryalus

Palinurus

The helmsman

Sibyl

The priestess of Apollo at Cumae, who acts as Aeneas' guide down into the Underworld

Deiphobus

The Trojan who wed Helen after Paris's death, for which his body was mutilated by the Greeks

Styx

Main river of the Underworld

Lethe

River in the Underworld where souls drink to forget their past lives

Romulus

Legendary first king of Rome

Marcellus

Nephew and presumed heir to Augustus, who died unexpectedly in 23 BC

Allecto

A Fury

Latium

The kingdom of Latinus, where the Latins live

Latinus

King of Latium

Lavinia

Daughter of Latinus, and destined to be the wife of Aeneas

Turnus

Ruler of the Rutulians, and principal foe of Aeneas

Mezentius

Godless ruler of the Etruscans, another principal foe

Camilla

An Amazon-like female warrior, another of Turnus' principal allies

Evander

Local king who sides with Aeneas against the Latins, and suggests the Etruscans as allies

Pallas

The son of Evander

Cacus

A man-eating, fire-breathing monster defeated and killed by Hercules

Vulcan

Husband of Venus, maker of the arms

Cyclops

Helpers of Vulcan at the forge

Actium

31 BC, the critical victory of Octavian (soon to be Augustus) Caesar over the opposing forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra

Lausus

The virtuous son of Mezentius

Drances

Latin elder who does not fight, but is an enemy of Turnus and an advocate of peace with the Trojans