Books 7 & 8 Summaries

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Book 7 Summary

Aeneas and the Trojans sail up the Tiber River to Laurentum, the capital of Latium, and find land on which to settle. Celaeno's prophecy is fulfilled when the Trojans eat their bread crusts, signifying they have found their new home. 

King Latinus offers gifts and his daughter Lavinia's hand in marriage to Aeneas. 

Juno, enraged that she has yet been unable to destroy the Trojans, sends the Fury Allecto into Italy to stir up trouble. Allecto manifests in different forms, causing Turnus to declare war against Troy and others to turn against the Trojans. 

Virgil invokes the muse at the end of this book and lists many Italian heroes including their leaders and places they inhabit, such as Turnus, Mezentius the tyrant, Camilla the warrior maiden, and others.

Book 8 Summary

Turnus sends Venulus to ask Diomedes, a Greek who participated in the siege of Troy, to join forces for the defense of Latium. Tiberinus appears to Aeneas and advises him to make sacrifices to Juno and seek an alliance with the Arcadians. 

Upon seeing the white sow of prophecy as a sign from Juno, Aeneas sails upriver with two boats seeking King Evander of the Arcadians. He arrives during a ceremony honoring Hercules, where they learn about Cacus's story from Evander. 

Venus worries about the coming war, so she asks Vulcan to make arms for Aeneas, which he does early the next day after directing work on weapons at his forge. 

Evander tells Aeneas it would be wise to unite with the Etruscans, since they also seek revenge against Mezentius. Evander states that he is to old and his son Pallas is only partially Etruscan, so it falls on Aeneas to lead them. 

Suddenly a vision of clashing weapons appears in the sky sent by Venus, prompting Aeneas to send a ship back for Ascanius while he sets out to find the Etruscans. Venus finds the camp near the Etruscans and presents Aeneas with the beautiful armor forged by Vulcan. Aeneas admires the scenes on the shield and adorns his new armor, ignorant of its symbolic meaning.

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Books 5 & 6 Summaries

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Books 9 & 10 Summaries