Virgil's Aeneid follows the journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, as he travels from Troy to Italy. The document outlines the main characters including Aeneas, his lover Dido queen of Carthage, and his father Anchises. It also describes the gods that influence events, such as Juno who opposes Aeneas and Venus who supports him. Each of the 12 books of the epic are briefly summarized, covering events like the fall of Troy, Aeneas' wanderings at sea, his relationship with Dido, battles in Italy, and his descent into the underworld.

1. Virgil’s Aeneid

2. Characters Aeneas – The hero of the story Dido – Queen of Carthage and Aeneas’s lover Anchises – Aeneas’ father Aschates – Aneneas’ friend and constant companion Creusa – Aeneas’ first wife Iulus (Ascanius) – Aeneas’ son

3. Gods Juno (Hera) – Enemy of Aeneas and his companions Venus (Aphrodite) – Mother and helper of Aeneas Jupiter (Zues) – Father and most powerful of the gods Neptune – God of the sea, usually friendly Fate or the Fates (Moirae) – supernatural forces more powerful than the gods that cause events

4. Book One - Storm Aneas and companions driven by storm Land on the coast of North Africa Queen Dido of Carthage welcomes Aneneas Aeneas begins to tell his story

5. Book Two – The sack of Troy The story of the sack of Troy War between Greeks and Trojans over Helen Wooden horse left outside walls by Greeks City of Troy sacked Aeneas escapes with his family Aeneas’ wife dies

6. Book Three - Journeys Aeneas describes how and his fellow exiles wandered the Mediterranean for seven years

7. Book Four – Dido and Aeneas Dido falls in love with Aeneas Development of the romance Mercury reminds Aeneas of his destiny Aeneas leaves Carthage and Dido to continue his quest Dido kills herself

8. Book Five - Sports Aeneas sails to Sicily where he holds a sports festival in honour of his dead father, and then sails on to Italy

9. Aeneas descends into the underworld He meets both his father and Dido He is shown the great destiny which awaits the Roman people Book Six – The Underworld

10. The Trojans fight numerous battles with the people of Italy and are finally victorious Books 7-12