The Aeneid

Aeneas

Trojan prince, son of Anchises and Venus

“founder” of the roman people, embodiment of piety (duty to the gods, family, and his role above all else), leads the Trojan people to Italy after going through a bunch of journeys (Carthage, Scylla and Charybdis), fights with Latins (Turnus) to secure land for his people

Dido

queen and founder of Carthage

Dido offers Aeneas and his crew refuge after they get shipwrecked, she falls in love with him due to the influence of Juno and Venus, they have an intimate relationship and she sees them as married but he denies it completely, Aeneas leaves Carthage and Dido is so upset she takes her own and curses Aeneas and his descendants

curse foreshadows enmity between Carthage and Rome in the future

Juno

Hera, queen of the gods, Jupiter’s wife

uses her divine influence against Aeneas to thwart him as often as possible, resents the Trojans bc of past grievances (Paris, love for Carthage, and grudge against Trojans)

tries to wreck Aeneas’ fleet with Aeolus, manipulates Dido to love Aeneas, incites the conflict between the Trojans and Latins, she stops fighting fate/Aeneas after Jupiter agrees that the Trojans will lose their identity and become Latin which erases Trop symbolically

Venus

goddess of love, Aeneas’ mother, Aphrodite

protects Aeneas, acts to strategically help him during the story, acts in opposition to Juno when she tries to thwart him, presence shows his journey is sanctioned by the gods

asks Jupiter to protect Aeneas, tells Aeneas to flee Troy during the Trojan war, gifts Aeneas divine armor that foreshadows Rome

Jupiter

king of the gods, husband to Juno, Zeus

impartial and authority figure bc he is not partial to either side but guard of fate, represents power of fate, maintains order

keeps Aeneas safe, sends Mercury to tell Aeneas he needs to continue his journey, allows mortals to fight without the influence of the gods, reconciles with Juno and gets her to agree to stop meddling as long as the Trojans assimilate to Latin

Turnus

king of Rutulians, Aeneas’ enemy in the second half of the book

heroic and valiant fighter, acts on impulse and pride, leader trying to defend his homeland, fights with Aeneas for Lavinia’s hand in marriage, Juno manipulates him to become a military leader against Aeneas, wages war against Aeneas and kills Pallas

Turnus and Aeneas have a final duel which will determine the fate of the war, Aeneas ends up defeating Turnus, Turnus pleads for mercy and Aeneas hesitates but then sees Pallas’ belt and kills him violently

symbolizes fate, prideful heroism, and the cost of founding an empire

Aeolus

god of winds

unleashes a violent storm against Aeneas at Juno’s request when she promises a nymph for him to wed

Neptune

god of the sea, Poseidon

calms the storm Aeolus creates to hurt Aeneas, and he rescues Aeneas

Cupid

god of love, son of Venus

Venus sends him to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas, he is disguised as Aeneas’ youngest son (Ascanius) as he sits on her lap and breathes his divine love into her

Ascanius / Iuius

son of Aeneas and Creusa (Trojan wife)

heir to Aeneas’ legacy, Aeneas’ lead his father and son out of Troy as it burned showing his duty and loyalty to his family, kills an enemy and Apollo praises him for his military prowess

Iuius (his alternate name) ties him directly to Julius Caesar’s lineage showing that Caesar has divine lineage

Laocoon

trojan priest

tells the trojans to not trust the Trojan Horse that was given to them by the greeks, killed suddenly

Sinon

greek spy

says Ulysses tried to kill him, gets Troy to accept the Trojan Horse which is ultimately his downfall, deceptiveness

Ulysses

Odysseus in the Aeneid

master of deceit, comes up with the idea for the Trojan Horse and plants soldiers inside of it

Hector

prince of Troy

appears in a dream to Aeneas to tell him to flee Troy to save its future

Priam

king of Troy

tries to put on his armor and fight but he can’t, son (Polites) is killed in front of him and Hecuba, confronts Neoptolemus (son of Achilles) and then he kills Priam in front of the altar

Hecuba

queen of Troy

takes refuge at the altar with the women, tries to get Priam to not fight, watches her son get killed

Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus)

son of Achilles

kills Polites (Priam’s son) in front of Priam and Hecuba, kills Priam at the altar of Troy, brutal murder of people in the palace

Anchises

father of Aeneas

Aeneas carries Anchises on his back out of Troy, advisor and interpreter of omens, dies in Sicily, funeral games are held for him, Aeneas visits him in the Underworld and he prophecies the future and power of Rome

Creusa

Aeneas’ Trojan wife, mother of Ascanius

she tries to flee Troy with them but gets separated and lost, she ends up dying and visits him as a ghost and tells him to not mourn her but move on and accept his destiny to found Rome

Helenus and Andromache

Helenus: son of Priam and prophet, becomes ruler of “Trojan" city in northwest Greece; Andromache: Hector’s widow, marries Helenus

Aeneas visits this city and it has been rebuilt as a mini troy complete with a river, Andromache lives in sadness for her husband and son, Helenus gives them instructions on how to reach Italy and a warning

Celaeno (the Harpy)

gives a prophecy that says the Trojans will have to deal with great famine and will have to eat their tables they are so hungry

Scylla and Charybdis

monsters

Helenus warns Aeneas he will have to go through them to get to Rome, but he tells him how to get through the monsters without losing any of his soldiers

Cyclops (Polyphemus)

sails past his island but they don’t stop by to see him, part of mythic geography of the story

Anna

sister to Dido

encourages Dido into passionate love with Aeneas, helps Dido hide Aeneas into the palace, Anna mourns deeply after Dido kills herself and cleans up the aftermath, appears in the underworld for a bit to see Aeneas

Iarbas

tried to court Dido but she rejects him in favor of Aeneas, prays to Jupiter to break up Aeneas and Dido, causes Jupiter and Juno to tell Aeneas to fulfill his destiny to make Rome, indirectly triggers the end of Dido’s love and life

Mercury (Hermes)

messenger of the gods

tells Aeneas to leave Carthage, guide and protector

the Sibyl

prophetess/priestess of Apollo

leads Aeneas into the Underworld, tells him how to perform a ritual in the underworld

“golden bough”

sacred, mystical branch with golden leaves, growing near the entrance to the Underworld, token of divine permission for Aeneas to enter and safely navigate the realm of the dead

Sibyl tells Aeneas to find this and pluck it, only person who can do this is someone who is destined to take this journey, falls into his hands and solidifies his divine mission

Charon

ferryman of the Underworld

initially refuses to take Aeneas into the Underworld, but he gets taken there after he shows the golden bough

Cerberus

guardian at the gates of the Underworld

Sibyl gives Cerberus a drugged cake to put him to sleep

Tartarus

deepest most terrible part of the Underworld

warning/reminder of justice, moral order upheld by the gods

“blesses groves” / Elysium

peaceful/joyful part of the Underworld

symbolizes ultimate reward for living a life of virtue/piety/heroism, hopeful vision of afterlife, inspire Aeneas to continue his mission to found Rome

reincarnation

Anchises tells Aeneas the souls of the dead wait in the Underworld until they can be reborn, gives souls a new chance to fulfill destinies, immortality of the soul

the “gates of dreams”

horn gate = true dreams, ivory gate = false dreams

Aeneas exits through the ivory gate, raising questions about the nature of vision, destiny, and truth in the epic

irony or ambiguity; poetic device; philosophical commentary; structural device

Latinus

king of Latins

welcomes Trojans, tells his daughter she must marry a foreign man not a local

Amata

queen of Latium, wife of King Latinus, mother of Lavina

opposes the match between Aenes and Lavinia, she favors Turnus, hides Lavinia in the woods and urges Latins to reject Aeneas, thinks Turnus has been killed and Amata kills herself

Lavinia

daughter of Latinus and Amata

symbol of political alliance and prophetic fulfillment, marriage to Aeneas is foretold by omens and oracles, hand in marriage sparks the conflict in Latium

Allecto (Fury)

Juno calls on her to stir up war between the Trojans and Italians, possesses Amata with irrational fury, fills Turnus with divine rage, engineers for Ascanius to kill a sacred stag which becomes full-scale war

Iris

frees Dido’s soul by cutting a lock of Dido’s hair, tells Turnus now is the time to strike the Trojans; both sent by Juno

Evander

king of Pallanteum, father of Pallas

seeks alliance with Aeneas, offers his son Pallas to fight and learn from Aeneas, provides military support, gives tour of Pallanteum

Herucles

heroic ideal, foundation myth, moral force, foreshadowing, worship and legacy; has cattle and cacus steals them, kills cacus and frees land from terror

Cacus

mythical monster

steals bulls from Hercules, tries to defend himself but Hercules defeats him and frees the land from terror

Pallas

son of Evander, foil for Patroclus

helps Aeneas fight the Latins, fights bravely in battle, killed by Turnus in single combat, belt is taken by Turnus, Evander urges Aeneas to avenge his death

On shield: Romulus and Remus

depicts she-wolf suckling the twins, shows twins building walls, Romulus is the eventual founder and first king

On shield: Cataline vs. Cato

not there???????? wing it

On shield: Augustus and Agrippa

Augustus is the victorious leader who brings peace and order to Rome after war, Battle of Actium, unifying force

Agrippa is Augustus’ friend and commander, vital role in Augustus’ military victory

On shield: Antony and Cleopatra

shows Battle of Actium where Augustus defeats Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra is a symbol of Eastern richness and foreign threat, Antony is a defeated Roman general

Nisus

competes in footrace at funeral games, sneaks into enemy camp with Eurylaus to kill as many Latins as possible, gets killed by Volcens

Euryalus

competes in funeral games, sneaks into enemy camp with Nisus to kill as many Latins as possible, killed by Volcens

Volcens

kills Nisus and Euryalus

Mezentius

ferocious fighter that lacks piety, fights alongside Turnus, cares for his son Lausus who dies defending him, fights Aeneas and gets wounded and instead of running away goes back to fight again but gets killed

Lausus

son of Mezentius

fights with his father against the Trojans, protects his father from Aeneas but Aeneas eventually kills him

Drances

voice of reason, accuses Turnus of being reckless

Diomedes

fights against Aeneas with the Latins, represents Greek enmity against the Trojans

Tolumnius

Italian that breaks the truce between the trojans and latins

Diana

Artemis, goddess of the hunt

favors Camilla, foresees Camilla’s death and has Opis avenge her by killing Arruns

Camilla

compared to an Amazon, formidable warrior, killed by Arruns

Arruns

prays to Apollo for success to kill Camilla, killed by Opis after Diana tells him to avenge her death

Juturna

Juno sends Juturna help Turnus avoid his fate by disguising as a soldier, tries to keep him away from Aeneas, Jupiter sends an omen telling her to leave the battle

piety / pious

right thing to do by father, country, and gods in that order; know you have a duty to complete your morality; Aeneas is the example of piety

duty to family = carries his father out of Troy, duty to gods = leaves Dido even though he doesn’t want to, duty to country = sacrifices personal happiness to found Rome

fury

irrational destructive emotion; contrast to piety

dido consumed with passion for Aeneas, Turnus is driven by rage and pride, Aeneas is driven by fury to kill Turnus at the end, Amata is frenzied by Allecto

Clemency

mercy, forgiveness, restraint

Turnus begs for mercy from Aeneas, and Aeneas almost lets him live but then he gives in to fury

virtues: courage, clemency, justice, piety

ideal to have in a Roman leader, Aeneas (Augustus) embodies these

Courage: bravery in war, strength in adversity, heroism

Clemency: mercy

Justice: acting rightly, honoring laws and oaths

Piety: devotion to gods, family, and country

prophecy and omens

lots of them, basically Aeneas is the god king and is destined for greatness, nothing can deter him from his journey