Everything about Aeneas totally explained
This article is about the Roman hero. For other uses, see Aeneas (disambiguation).
In
Greco-Roman mythology,
Aeneas (
Greek: Αἰνείας,
Aineías; in
English) was a
Trojan hero, the son of prince
Anchises and the goddess
Aphrodite (
Venus in Roman sources). His father was also the cousin of King
Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy, (led by Aphrodite his mother) which led to the founding of the city
Rome, is recounted in
Virgil's
Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in
Greek and
Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in
Homer's
Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus'
Posthomerica, and
Shakespeare's
Troilus and Cressida.
Mythology
In the
Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of the
Dardanians (allies of the Trojans), and a principal lieutenant of
Hector, son of the Trojan king
Priam. In the poem, Aeneas's mother
Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he's also a favorite of
Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with
Diomedes of
Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to
Pergamos for healing. Even
Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas's rescue when the latter falls under the
assault of
Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people.
As seen in the first books of the
Aeneid, Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed in battle or enslaved when Troy fell. When Troy was
sacked by the Greeks, Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group, collectively known as the
Aeneads, who then traveled to
Italy and became
progenitors of the
Romans. The Aeneads included Aeneas's trumpeter
Misenus, his father
Anchises, his friends
Achates,
Sergestus and
Acmon, the healer
Lapyx, the steady helmsman
Palinurus, and his son
Ascanius (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius.) He carried with him the
Lares and
Penates, the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to
Italy.
(From here on, the Greek myths make room for the Roman mythology, so the Roman names of the gods will be used.)
After a brief, but fierce storm sent up against the group at
Juno's request,and several failed attempts to found cities, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at
Carthage after six years of wanderings. Aeneas had a year long affair with the
Carthaginian queen
Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. Once again, this was in favour of Juno, who was told of the fact that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. However, the messenger god
Mercury was sent by
Jupiter and Venus to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, thus compelling him to leave secretly and continue on his way. When Dido learned of this, she ordered her sister Anna to construct a pyre, she said, to get rid of Aeneas' possessions, left behind by him in his haste to leave. Standing on it, Dido uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met and then falling on the pyre. Anna reproached the mortally wounded Dido. Meanwhile,
Juno, looking down on the tragedy and moved by Dido's plight, sent
Iris to make Dido's passage to
Hades quicker and less painful. When Aeneas later travelled to
Hades, he called to her ghost but she neither spoke to nor acknowledged him.
The company stopped on the island of
Sicily during the course of their journey. After the first trip, before the Trojans went to Carthage,
Achaemenides, one of
Odysseus' crew who had been left behind, traveled with them. After visiting Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where they were welcomed by
Acestes, king of the region and son of the river
Crinisus by a
Dardanian woman.
Latinus, king of the
Latins, welcomed Aeneas's army of exiled
Trojans and let them reorganize their life in
Latium. His daughter
Lavinia had been promised to
Turnus, king of the
Rutuli, but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to one from another land — namely, Aeneas. Latinus heeded the prophecy, and Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas at the urging of
Juno, who was aligned with King
Mezentius of
the Etruscans and Queen
Amata of the
Latins. Aeneas' forces prevailed. Turnus was killed and his people were captured. According to
Livy, Aeneas was victorious but Latinus died in the war. Aeneas founded the city of
Lavinium, named after his wife. He later welcomed Dido's sister,
Anna Perenna, who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy.
After his death, his mother,
Venus asked
Jupiter to make her son immortal.
Jupiter agreed and the river god
Numicius cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and
Venus anointed him with Ambrosia and Nectar, making him a god. Aeneas was recognized as the god
Jupiter Indiges. Inspired by the work of
James Frazer, some have posited that Aeneas was originally a
life-death-rebirth deity.
Family and legendary descendants
Aeneas had an extensive family tree. His
wet-nurse was
Caieta, and he's the father of
Ascanius with
Creusa, and of
Silvius with Lavinia. The former, also known as
Iulus (or Julius), founded
Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings. According to the mythology outlined by Virgil in the
Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were both descendants of Aeneas through their mother Rhea Silvia, making Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Some early sources call him their father or grandfather, but considering the commonly accepted dates of the fall of Troy (
1184 BC) and the founding of
Rome (
753 BC), this seems unlikely. The
Julian family of Rome, most notably
Julius Cæsar and
Augustus, traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to the goddess Venus. Through the Julians, the
Palemonids also make this claim. The legendary
kings of Britain also trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas,
Brutus.
Medieval literature
In the
Divine Comedy Dante sees the shade of Aeneas among other Roman worthies in the section of Limbo reserved for "virtuous pagans".
Family tree
Further Information
Get more info on 'Aeneas'.
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