1. Aeneas Roman mythology
Aeneas is the embodiment
of Roman virtues: He is the
dutiful servant of fate and of
the gods, he is an exemplary
leader of his people, and he
is a devoted father and son.
He demonstrates
appropriate pietas —
devotion to one's family,
country, and mission.
Aeneas's character
possesses human qualities
as well.
2. The hero Aeneas was a defender of Troy, the city in Asia
Minor that the Greeks destroyed in the Trojan War . After the
war, Aeneas led the Trojans who survived to the land now
called Italy. Aeneas and his followers founded Rome, and he
became its first great hero and legendary father.
3. Aeneas's Travels. After surviving many dangers, including
powerful storms and fierce monsters, Aeneas and his
Trojan followers landed on the coast of North Africa. Along
the way, his father died. At this point in Aeneas's tale,
Roman storytellers mingled the history of the hero with
earlier tales of a queen named Dido, founder of the city of
Carthage in North Africa.
4. Dido and Aeneas fell in love soon after the hero arrived in
Carthage. Aeneas stayed with the queen until Mercury, the
messenger of the gods, reminded him that his destiny lay in
Italy. Aeneas sorrowfully but obediently sailed away. When he
looked back, he saw smoke and flames. Lovesick and
abandoned, Dido had thrown herself onto a funeral pyre.
5. After stopping in Sicily and leaving some of his followers to found a
colony there, Aeneas sailed to Italy. Upon his arrival, he sought
advice from Sibyl, a powerful oracle who took him to the
underworld. There Aeneas saw the ghost of Dido, but she turned
away and would not speak to him. Then he saw the ghost of his
father, Anchises, who told him that he would found the greatest
empire the world had ever known.
6. Founder of an Empire. Heartened by his father's prophecy,
Aeneas went to Latium in central Italy. He became engaged
to Lavinia, the daughter of the king of the Latins. Turnus,
the leader of another tribe called the Rutuli, launched a
war against the Trojan newcomers. Some of the Latins also
fought the Trojans, but Aeneas had finally arrived at his
destiny and could not be defeated. First he killed Turnus
and married Lavinia. Then he founded the city of Lavinium,
where Latins and Trojans were united.
7. After Aeneas's death, his son Ascanius ruled Lavinium and founded
a second city called Alba Longa, which became the capital of the
Trojan-Latin people. These cities formed the basis of what came to
be ancient Rome. Romulus, Aeneas descendant, founded the city of
Rome
https://youtu.be/tNVJNxkNSDs
