The Aeneid
Virgil
The Aeneid
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"The Aeneid" by Virgil is a Latin epic poem written between 29 and 19 BC. It follows Aeneas, a Trojan hero who flees the fall of Troy and journeys to Italy, where he becomes the ancestor of the Romans. The first half chronicles his perilous wanderings across the Mediterranean, while the second depicts a brutal war against the Latins. Virgil transforms ancient legends into Rome's founding myth, connecting the empire to Troy's glory and legitimizing Roman power through divine ancestry and traditional virtues.
About the book
The Aeneid is the epic poem Virgil worked on for the last ten years of his life, until his death in 19 BC. It tells how Aeneas, a Trojan prince, escapes the fall of Troy with his father and son and a band of survivors, and sets out across the Mediterranean to found a new home in Italy, the land from which Rome would one day rise. Virgil wrote it in the age of Augustus, and it is both an adventure and a meditation on duty, loss and the cost of empire. Aeneas's love for Dido, queen of Carthage, and his descent into the underworld are among the most famous episodes in Latin literature. This edition uses John Dryden's verse translation of 1697.
Characters
Aeneas — Trojan hero
A Trojan prince, son of Venus, who is fated to found a new home in Italy.
Dido — Queen of Carthage
The founder and queen of Carthage, who welcomes the shipwrecked Trojans.
Anchises — Aeneas’s father
Aeneas’s aged father, carried out of burning Troy on his son’s shoulders.
Ascanius — Aeneas’s son
Aeneas’s young son, also called Iulus, ancestor of the Julian family.
Turnus — Rutulian prince
The king of the Rutulians, who opposes the Trojans in Italy.
Latinus — King of Latium
The ageing king whose land the Trojans reach at last.
Juno — Queen of the gods
The goddess who hates the Trojans and works to hinder Aeneas.
Venus — Goddess of love
Aeneas’s mother, who protects him on his journey.