Perhaps the most famous and influential piece of Latin literature is Aeneid, written by Virgil.

• The Aeneid, which was written in the epic form of dactylic hexameter, follows the voyage of Aeneas, Venus's son, after Troy is destroyed.

• Aeneas is said to have escaped the burning city and arrived in Italy, where he established a family line that would later give rise to the Roman people.

Virgil (70–19 BCE) draws inspiration from a wide range of writers, most notably Homer, Lucretius, Ennius, Apollonius of Rhodes, and others.

• Virgil frequently uses Homeric diction and style.

• The Iliad and the Odyssey have entire scenes recreated by him as well.

• The first six books of the Aeneid are so similar to the Homeric epics that they are sometimes referred to as the "Virgilian Odyssey."

• Books 7 to 12, closely reflected the Iliad.

• Virgil’s use of Homeric elements goes beyond mere imitation.

• Virgil frequently places Aeneas in circumstances that are the same as those encountered by Odysseus or Achilles, allowing Aeneas's response to those circumstances to set him apart from his Homeric contemporaries.

With reference to Roman society and cultural ideals, Virgil builds his epic.

• He describes Aeneas in terms of the moral quality of piety, a concept that was particularly significant to Rome at the time the Aeneid was written.

• A number of etiological tales of interest to the Roman populace are also found in the Aeneid, most notably Dido's story and the beginning of the conflict between the Romans and the Carthaginians.

One of the most well-known scenes from the Aeneid is the Dido episode.

• In Book 1, Dido, the queen of Carthage, who is also known by the Phoenician name Elyssa, helped Aeneas and his Trojans who have been shipwrecked.

• Dido, who is helped by Venus, falls hopelessly in love with Aeneas and wishes for him to stay in Carthage with his men.

• Aeneas immediately gives the order for his men to leave after being reminded by a message from Jove that his fated land is in Italy.

• Dido, who was devastated by Aeneas' departure, built a pyre out of his gifts and killed herself on it, foretelling the arrival of Hannibal before she passed away.

• In Book 4, when Aeneas enters the Underworld, Dido's shade declines to converse with him.

Dido's character demonstrates a great deal of nuance.

• She first appears as an amalgam of Alcinous and Arete as she welcomes her Trojan guests, but she quickly transforms into a Medea figure, well-versed in magic and esoteric knowledge.

• Throughout the epic, Dido is a sympathetic character, though much of how Virgil describes her would have reminded the Roman reader of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra.

There are several very divergent interpretations of the Aeneid.

• When the Aeneid was written, the civil wars were coming to an end and Augustus's reign had just begun.

• However, a number of passages in the epic could imply that Virgil did not support Augustus wholeheartedly.

• The second half of the epic, which is devoted to the war in Italy, is the subject of much discussion because some academics believe it contains allusions to Augustus' desire to forget the Battle of Perusia in 41 BCE.

• Scholars also point to the Aeneid's ending, in which Aeneas murders Turnus despite his cries for mercy, as a clear criticism of the new administration.

  • However, this anti-Augustan interpretation of the Aeneid has encountered opposition.

Many academics believe that there is more support for the Iliad than for Augustus's campaign in the second half of the Aeneid.

• Others contend that Aeneas' decision to kill Turnus was appropriate given his cultural context.

• It has also been suggested that the Aeneid represents the state of the Roman populace rather than Virgil's opinion of Augustus.

• Virgil seems to present contradictory evidence to support his interpretation of Augustan Rome, and he may have done so on purpose to allow the reader to make up his or her own mind.

• Even before its release, The Aeneid was eagerly awaited, and it has since attained enormous popularity.

• Quintilian credited Virgil with having the more challenging task and regarded him as being nearly on par with Homer.

• The Aeneid served as a model for Latin epic writers who came after Virgil.

• Even Statius admits that his epic, the Thebaic, cannot rival Virgil's Aeneid.

The Aeneid was an essential component of a good education and became a standard text in ancient schools.

• However, Virgil considered The Aeneid an unfinished work.

• He famously demanded that the Aeneid be burned rather than published at the time of his passing.

• The Aeneid was saved from the flames by Augustus, who also ordered its publication.