Aenēid (Aenēis), Latin epic poem in twelve books of hexameters by Virgil, composed during the last ten years of his life, 29–19 BC, after the battle of Actium (31 BC) had finally established the rule of Octavian (later the emperor Augustus). The poem is designed to celebrate the origin and growth of the Roman empire, the achievements both of Rome and of Augustus. The groundwork is the legend of Aeneas, the Trojan hero, who survived the fall of Troy and after long wanderings founded a Trojan settlement (Lavinium) in Latium in Italy, named after his Italian bride Lavinia, and became through his (Trojan) son Iulus the ancestor of the gens Julia and founder of Alba Longa (and ultimately of Rome). Virgil was still working on the poem when he died (it was edited after his death by his friends Varius Rufus and Plotius Tucca), and indications of its incompleteness are some sixty half lines scattered throughout the poem which the poet would have expected to complete. It is unlikely that he intended to go beyond the present ending. There seems to have been pressure put on the poets of the day, perhaps by Maecenas, to produce an epic on Augustus. Horace and Propertius both declined to do so, but from the introduction to the third book of the Georgics it seems clear that Virgil was promising such a work. In the event he produced an epic not simply on Augustus but on the origins of Rome. Even so Augustus eagerly awaited its completion, and in 23 BC had the poet read to the imperial family books 2, 4, and 6.
The poem is immensely complex. Its framework is Homeric epic, which entailed the presence of the gods and their interference in human action, as well as exploits of a heroic nature; individual episodes are indebted to Attic tragedy and to the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius, as well as to the ancient Roman poets Naevius and Ennius, but it is permeated by Roman themes, Roman values, and Roman history. At a simple level the Roman people and their chief families are glorified by the representation of their ancestors in the heroic age; at the same time the triumphs of Roman history are shown prospectively, as leading up to the reign of Augustus. Not only Rome, but also Italy, is shown as part of the scheme of things. One striking feature of the poem is the conception of Italy as a single nation, and of Roman history as a continuous whole from the founding of the city to the promise of the empire. The religious beliefs underlying the poem are far more profound than the epic machinery of gods and goddesses of myth. Ancient beliefs and practices, treated with reverence, coexist with philosophical ideas taken from the Greeks and modified by Roman attitudes. The theology of book 6, and the moral issues of books 4 and 12, raise questions which defy a final answer. The love affair between Dido and Aeneas in book 4 in particular has been the subject of much debate, and the poet has been censured for giving such a shabby portrayal of Aeneas while so powerfully enlisting our sympathies for the Carthaginian Dido. But it is his great achievement, here and throughout the poem, to reveal not only Rome's divinely ordained destiny to rule, to pacify, and to civilize, but also the terrible suffering entailed, for conquerors and conquered alike, for the noble and the less noble, and for those caught up in the fates of others: Creusa, Turnus, Lausus, Pallas, and Mezentius. The events are as follows.
Book 1. Aeneas, who in the seven years since the fall of Troy has been making his way to Latium in Italy with the Trojan fleet, has just left Sicily. The goddess Juno, enemy of Troy and guardian of Carthage (which she knows is fated to be destroyed by a race of Trojan descent), has the wind-god Aeolus let loose a storm on the fleet. Some of the ships are wrecked, but the sea-god Neptune calms the storm; Aeneas and the remaining ships reach the Libyan coast. The Trojans are well received by Dido, queen of the newly founded Carthage; she has fled from Tyre, where her husband Sychaeus has been killed by his brother Pygmalion, the king. The goddess Venus, mother of Aeneas, fearful of both Juno and the Tyrians, arranges that Dido should fall in love with Aeneas.
Book 2. At Dido's request, Aeneas relates the fall of Troy and the subsequent events: the building of the Trojan Horse and the cunning of Sinon, the death of Laocoon, the firing of the city, the desperate but unavailing resistance by the Trojans, Priam's death and Aeneas' own flight at the bidding of Venus; he tells how he carried his father Anchises on his shoulders and took his son Iulus (Ascanius) by the hand, how his wife Creusa, who followed, was lost, and his destiny revealed to him by her ghost.
Book 3. Aeneas continues his story. He and his companions build a fleet and set out. They land at Thrace, but leave after Aeneas finds there the grave of his murdered kinsman Polydorus, and hears his voice; they sail on to Delos. The Delian oracle tells them to seek the land that first bore the Trojan race. This they wrongly think means Crete, from which they are driven by a pestilence. Aeneas now learns that it means Italy. On their way there the Trojans land on the island of the Harpies and attack them. The Harpy Celaeno prophesies that they shall found no city until hunger makes them ‘eat their tables’ (see book
Book 4. Dido, though bound by a vow to her dead husband, confesses to her sister Anna her love for Aeneas. Juno and Venus arrange that the union of Dido and Aeneas should be sealed when a hunting expedition is interrupted by a storm and they take shelter in the same cave. The rumour of their love reaches Iarbas, a neighbouring king, who has been rejected by Dido and now in his anger appeals to Jupiter. The god commands that Aeneas should leave Carthage. When Dido realizes that the fleet is preparing to sail, she confronts Aeneas and pleads with him. He replies that he has no choice, and must go to Italy even against his will. Dido's fury does not stop the Trojan preparations, and even a last entreaty from her fails to weaken Aeneas' resolve. She prepares for death, and, having seen the Trojan fleet depart, takes her own life while cursing Aeneas and his descendants.
Book 5. The Trojans return to Sicily and are received there by their compatriot Acestes. It is a year since Anchises died in the same place, and the anniversary is celebrated with sacrifices and games. The first event of the latter is a race between four ships. Gyas, captain of Chimaera, angrily pushes his helmsman overboard when he loses the lead to Cloanthus in Scylla; Sergestus in Centaur runs aground; Mnestheus in Pristis overtakes Gyas but just fails to catch Cloanthus. There follows a foot-race in which the leader, Nisus, having slipped and fallen, deliberately trips Salius so as to let his friend Euryalus win. In a boxing match between the Trojan Darēs and Entellus of Sicily, Aeneas stops the fight when Darēs is savagely attacked by the Sicilian. Next comes a competition with bows and arrows, and finally a display by thirty-six young horsemen led by Ascanius, an event which was later to become a tradition at Rome (see LUDUS TROIAE). Meanwhile the Trojan women, weary of their long wanderings, are incited by Juno to fire the ships; but only four are destroyed before a rain-storm quenches the flames in answer to Aeneas' prayer. Later the Trojans set sail again, some staying behind to found a new city under Acestes. The helmsman Palinurus falls asleep and is lost overboard.
Book 6. Aeneas visits the Cumaean Sibyl and she foretells the trials he will face in Latium. At her bidding he plucks the Golden Bough and descends with her through the cave of Avernus to the Underworld. Arriving at the river Styx they see the ghosts of the unburied dead unable to cross; among them is the helmsman Palinurus, who recounts his fate and begs for burial. On seeing the Golden Bough, Charon allows Aeneas and the priestess to cross the Styx; they send Cerberus to sleep with a drugged cake. Beyond his cave they find various groups of the dead: infants, those unjustly condemned, those who have died of love (among them Dido, unmollified by the excuses Aeneas offers), and those killed in battle. They arrive at the entrance to Tartarus, where the worst sinners suffer torments, but go on until they reach Elysium, where the souls of the virtuous live in bliss. Here Aeneas greets his father Anchises, but tries in vain to embrace him. Aeneas sees ghosts drinking at the river Lethē, and Anchises explains how they are the ones who will be reincarnated: over a long period they have been purged of all evil and now drink the waters so as to lose all memory. (This doctrine of rebirth may have been taken by Virgil from Plato or from Orphic—Pythagorean traditions: see MYSTERIES.) Anchises points out the souls of men who are destined to be illustrious in Roman history: Romulus, the early kings, the great generals, Augustus himself, and his nephew Marcellus (to whose brief life Virgil makes touching allusion). After this Aeneas and the Sibyl leave the Underworld through the Ivory Gate, by which false visions are sent to mortals (the significance of this has been much debated). This book contains these lines (851–3) on the destiny of Rome which are central to the poem:
tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento;
hae tibi erunt artes: pacisque imponere morem
, parcere subiectis, et debellare superbos.
(Roman, let your concern be to command the nations; your skills shall be these: to impose the rule of peace, to spare the submissive, and to crush the proud.)
Book 7. Aeneas and the Trojans reach the mouth of the Tiber and land in Latium. They fulfil the prophecy of the Harpy Celaeno (see book
Book 8. The god of the river Tiber encourages the anxious Aeneas, telling him to seek alliance with the Arcadians under Evander, who have founded a city on the Palatine hill (which will in the future be part of Rome). Rowing up the river, Aeneas sees on the bank a white sow with her litter, as had been prophesied. Evander promises his support. Vulcan, at the request of Venus, makes armour for Aeneas. Evander, who has shown Aeneas a number of places in his city which will eventually be famous sites in Rome, urges alliance with the Etruscans. Venus brings Aeneas his armour; it includes a shield on which are depicted various events in the future of Rome, down to the battle of Actium.
Book 9. Aeneas has told the Trojans to keep to their camp in his absence, and they refuse to join battle even when Turnus and his forces surround them. When Turnus tries to set fire to the Trojan ships, Neptune changes them into sea-nymphs. At night Nisus and Euryalus leave the camp in order to summon Aeneas. They kill a number of the enemy in their drunken sleep, but are seen by a mounted column and surrounded; both are killed, after Nisus has bravely tried to save his friend. The Rutulians attack the Trojan camp, and Ascanius, in his first feat of battle, kills one who has been shouting taunts. Turnus is cut off inside the camp, and kills many Trojans before plunging into the river to escape.
Book 10. On Olympus the gods debate the conflict. Aeneas secures the alliance of Tarchon, king of the Etruscans, and sets out with him and with Pallas, Evander's son, to return to the Trojans. Turnus attacks them as their ships reach the shore. In the battle which follows Turnus kills Pallas. Juno contrives a phantom of Aeneas; Turnus pursues it on board a ship which bears him away. Aeneas wounds Mezentius and reluctantly kills the latter's son Lausus as he tries to protect his father; Mezentius mounts his faithful horse Rhaebus for a last attack on Aeneas before horse and rider are both killed.
Book 11. Aeneas celebrates the Trojan victory and laments the death of Pallas. The Latins send ambassadors and a truce is arranged. King Latinus and the Italian chiefs debate; Drances proposes that Turnus, being mainly responsible for the war, should settle it by meeting Aeneas in single combat. Turnus, scornful of Drances, accepts the challenge. The Latins now hear that the Trojans and Etruscans are advancing against them; Camilla and her Volscian cavalry confront the attackers. In the battle which follows Tarchon drags Venulus from his horse; Arruns seeks out and kills Camilla, who is avenged by Opis, messenger of the goddess Diana. The Volscians are defeated.
Book 12. The Latins are discouraged, and Turnus decides to fight Aeneas alone despite the efforts of Latinus and Amata to dissuade him. Preparations for the duel are made, but the Rutulians, already anxious about the outcome, are stirred up to intervene by Turnus' sister Juturna; the two armies join battle again. Aeneas is wounded by an arrow, but Venus heals him and he pursues Turnus; then Aeneas sees that the city of the Latins is unguarded and turns the Trojan army to attack it with fire. Amata, distraught, takes her own life. Turnus seeks out Aeneas and the armies draw back while the two leaders fight. Aeneas wounds Turnus with his spear and finally, enraged by the sight of his enemy wearing the spoils taken from Pallas, kills him with his sword.





