Aeneid

In this lengthy epic that includes love stories and wars, a wide variety of conflicts can be found. As the story centers on Aeneas, he is involved in most of the major conflicts. Some of those are...

There can be little doubt that Aeneas fulfills all of the criteria for an ancient hero. Strong, intelligent, wise, and utterly devoted to duty, Aeneas is the epitome of what a hero looks like, or...

Aeneas was a Trojan prince, a warrior and a hero in The Aeneid, which best captured his story and mission. After the fall of Troy, the gods asked Aeneas to flee from Troy. He was to gather some of...

Dido, queen of Carthage, loves and lusts for Aeneas in a way he cannot reciprocate. Dido has been pierced by Cupid's dart so that she will love and protect Aeneas, a man Jupiter has destined to...

Dido's sister Anna is a relatively minor character in the Aeneid, but she plays a crucial role. If it were not for her, it is possible that Dido, the queen of Carthage, would not have formed an...

The conclusion of the Virgil's Aeneid is one of the most controversial passages in Western Literature. Some scholars would argue that Virgil was not finished with the epic and that he would have...

As king of all the other gods, Jupiter has much power in the Aeneid, both in his ability to sway their wills and to take action in human affairs whenever he sees fit. Jupiter's ability to affect...

Aeneas is certainly justified in killing Turnus, and is fated to do so. The only complication lies in his motivation, which, in the eyes of Roman readers, might not have provided him with...

Virgil opens Book 1 of the Aeneid by introducing his hero (though, like Odysseus, unnamed for many lines) and asking for the reasons why Juno, the queen of the gods, drove the man into so many...

Fate is everything in The Aeneid. In writing his epic, mythologized account of Rome's origins, Virgil wanted to convey the message that Rome's rise to greatness and world domination was by no means...

The two major themes/topics are reported in the very first line of the Aeneid (arma virumque): Arma = arms/weapons = Trojan War virum = man = AeneasThe Trojan War reflects the role of the gods in...

Pietas is the Roman quality of devotion to duty and family, as well as loyalty to the gods and one's country. A chief example of pietas—and its lack—emerges in the story of Dido and Aeneas. Dido,...

In books 2 and 3 of the Aeneid, Aeneas is recounting his own exploits to Dido, so it is perhaps not surprising that he depicts himself in a favorable light. He is heroic in saving his family from...

A simile is a comparison for effect using “like” or “as,” while a metaphor is a direct comparison. In the Aeneid, Virgil often uses the epic simile, or extended comparison over several lines. While...

Aeneas is about to lead the Trojans to war against their mortal enemies, the Rutuli, led by their legendary king, Turnus. The stakes are high in this epic conflict; nothing less than the future of...

Technically, Aeneas himself is responsible for Dido's suicide, as his abrupt departure from Carthage in Book IV drives the queen to despair. However, as the previous educator has noted, the true...

The myths of the ancient Greek and Roman gods portray them as powerful but petty. They meddle in human affairs and interact with one another like members of a particularly dysfunctional family:...

Aeneid by Virgil (79-19 B.C.) is an epic poem. There are very few works of literature that qualify as that genre and the criteria are all derived by way of the Aeneid from the traditional epics of...

The difference in cultural values between Homer's Greece and Virgil's Rome can be evaluated through a study of Achilles and Aeneas. Both are sons of goddesses, both are involved in the great Trojan...

In Book VI, the journey to the underworld provides much in way of meaning and purpose for Aeneas. It is a reflection of what Dante would in his work in terms of being immersed in the midst of a...

In the seventh book of Virgil's Aeneid, the hero finally arrives on Italian soil. Here, Aeneas and his comrades meet Latinus, who is the king of Ausonia and the father of Lavinia, the woman whom...

It's difficult to apportion responsibility for anything that happens in the Aeneid. This is because the action of the story represents the unfolding of fate decided in advance by the gods. Dido has...

In Book 6 of Virgil's Aeneid, the hero travels to the underworld to meet with his father, Anchises. When Aeneas finally encounters his father, his father shows him some of the future leaders of the...

Book 2 of Virgil's epic poem Aeneid contains the famous story of the Trojan horse, as well as the story of the death of Priam, the King of Troy. Dido, Queen of Carthage, asks Aeneas to tell the...

In the Aeneid, the hero of the Trojan War embarks on a seven-year sea voyage in search of a new city, which is eventually Rome. The poem begins with an expected invocation to the Muses that Virgil...

The Aeneid is mostly myth. During the Age of Augustus, Virgil was asked to create the story of Rome's founding. It is important to note that there is another story about the founding of Rome...

Those individuals who have died because of love inhabit the Fields of Mourning.Dido, who fell in love with Aeneas and killed herself when he left her to countinue on his journey lives there, as do...

In book 2 of the Aeneid, lines 506–558 describe the fate of Priam, king of Troy. Virgil emphasizes the hopelessness of the old king's situation by depicting him putting on the armor he used to wear...

Virgil's Aeneid is very much an epic of exile. It is written in dactylic hexameter, the traditional epic meter of Greek and Latin, and echoes the form and incidents of the Homeric epics, in a way...

If you decided to look hard, you could find all of these in the Aeneid. One of the most obvious is the epic hero, in this case Aeneas. He doesn't fit some of the classical definitions of the...

Achilles is the focal point of Homer's Iliad, written in Greek in the latter half of the eighth century B.C.E. Seven centuries later, Virgil, writing in Latin, composed the Aeneid, whose...

Love and duty are at odds, especially in Book IV, and this is shown in the love Dido feels for Aeneas and the responsibility Aeneas feels for resuming his duties. Dido's love is a violent force...

"Man" is the second word of the Aeneid, the first being "arms" or "weapons." Epic poetry was the most characteristically masculine genre in the ancient world, dealing with battles, empire-building,...

The tones of the two works could not be more different. The Odyssey takes place in the wake of Greek victory and is told from the perspective of Greek characters. Odysseus has tasted victory, but...

One reason Virgil doesn't call Ulysses, the Latin version of the Greek name Odysseus, a hero is because Ulysses is the Greek king of Ithaca, part of the Danaan people and part of the armies that...

Achilles was the hero of Homer's Iliad. The entire epic is focused on the "wrath of Achilles", or the period when Achilles withdrew from the fighting because he was angry that Agamemnon took his...

As your question implies, the reasons for Aeneas's stay in Carthage, about a year, are not readily apparent and require us to explore the possibilities for this relatively long diversion from...

As thanatassa explained, there are some definite similarities between Medea and Dido. Both are women abandoned by the men they helped save, which in turn leads to intense emotional responses. Both...

One of the most important aspects of Aeneas's heroism, is, perhaps surprisingly, his compassion. This is definitely a parallel between Aeneas and Christ. Consider, for example, his compassion for...

This is a great question. There are many deeds that Aeneas has done and obstacles that he has overcome to be the hero of the epic poem. In light of this, let me name a few of them. First, in the...

Virgil, like Homer, gives his characters epithets, which often precede their names. Achates is always faithful, and Aeneas is always pious, even when he is not obviously displaying this particular...

In the Aeneid, Virgil certainly presents duty as an extremely important part of human life, but care of one's family is part of a person's duty. Let's explore this more closely. Aeneas is charged...

Virgil`s Aeneid, like the Odyssey and much of Greek tragedy, is concerned with the aftermath of the Trojan War. It is the story of Aeneas, who is son of Anchises, a cousin of the Trojan King Priam,...

In this passage, Aeneas has met up with his dead father, Anchises, in Elysium, a green and sunny section of the underworld. Although they cannot embrace, as Anchises is a ghost, Anchises offers his...

In Virgil's Aeneid, Turnus is the antagonist to Aeneas. Turnus is a Rutulian prince who violently opposes the Trojan settlement in his region of Latium. He is also a passionate fellow who is madly...

The Aeneid is an epic myth about the founding of Rome. The author Virgil, who was a Roman himself, begins the story where Homer's Iliad ends: the sack of Troy. The Trojan Aeneas, the hero of The...