Book 5 Summary

Aeneas and his fleet set out on the ocean, and off the shores of Carthage, they witness a vast blaze. Aeneas believes it to be a bad omen, due to Dido’s great distress. 

A storm forces them to land on Sicily instead of Italy, where they are welcomed by King Acestes who is celebrating the anniversary of Anchises’s death. To honor him, Aeneas decides to hold memorial sacrifices and athletic competitions in ten days time. 

On the morning of the games, crowds gather on beaches for a boat race, footrace, boxing match, and shooting match. In the shooting match, King Acestes looses an arrow that bursts into flame and disappears. Aeneas awards him first place, due to it being seen as an omen from the gods. 

The young Trojan boys parade on horseback while Juno sends Iris to stir up discontent among the women, who are upset at still having no home. They set fire to all of their boats, but Jupiter responds by sending a storm that puts out the flames. Discouraged, Aeneas contemplates settling in Sicily until he receives advice in his dream from Anchises that he should continue onward towards Italy with only some of them staying behind under King Acestes's rule. 

Venus asks Neptune for safe passage for the Trojans, and he grants it with one life payment; this ends up being Palinarus when the god Sleep drugs him and tosses him overboard while everyone else sleeps soundly through their journey towards Italy.

Book 6 Summary

The Trojans land in Cumae, and Aeneas seeks out the Sibyl in the Temple of Apollo. She orders him to make sacrifices and becomes possessed by Apollo. Under this influence, the Sibyl says that a great war will happen in Italy and tells Aeneas that he should be wary of Juno, because she is still working against him.

Aeneas asks the Sibyl how he can travel to the underworld to see his father. She sends him to get a branch from the golden tree as an offering to Proserpina, Queen of the Underworld, and also orders him to bury Misenus. Aeneas snaps off a bough then returns to the Sibyl.

With the branch in hand, he sacrifices many animals before entering the underworld, which is filled with horrors such as Disease, War, and Strife—plus savage monsters like centaurs and harpies. At the bank of Styx, Charon turns away passengers including Palinarus whom Sibyl says must be buried or a plague will fall upon the guilty cities until a tomb is built for his spirit. Charon allows Aeneas and the Sibyl to board his boat after seeing the golden bough. 

On the other bank of Styx, they subdue Cerberus with a drugged cake, which allows them to cross different regions until they reach the Fields of Mourning. Aeneas finds his brother-in-law Deiphobus, who tells him about Helen’s betrayal before they enter Tartarus, where some legendary characters are trapped in various punishments. 

They leave the golden bough at a gate and proceed into the Groves of Blessedness in the Elysian Fields where Anchises is overjoyed to see his son again. Anchises reveals Rome’s fate that awaits its descendents through Romulus and Augustus Caesar. He says that patriotism, courage, sacrifice, along with peace teaching will define the Roman race as one that humbles the proud and spares the defeated. Aeneas is fired up by love for glory from Anchises's words, and his father leads them towards two gates of sleep. They return back to join the ships afterwards.