Aeneid

Virgil’s Latin epic follows the Trojan hero Aeneas from Troy’s destruction to Italy, where his descendants are destined to found Rome.

Aeneas: A Trojan hero who escapes Troy and travels to Italy, where Roman tradition makes him an ancestor of the Romans. His journey and choices carry the poem’s plot.
Invocation of the Muse: An opening appeal to a Muse for inspiration in composing poetry. Virgil announces the poem’s subject and asks for help telling Aeneas’s story.
Virgil: A Roman poet of the first century BCE, best known for the Aeneid, Eclogues, and Georgics. He composed the poem over the final years of his life.
Augustus: Rome’s first emperor, who ruled from 27 BCE to 14 CE. The poem connects Rome’s legendary past to the ruler and order of Virgil’s present.
Dido: The legendary queen of Carthage who falls in love with Aeneas before he leaves for Italy. Her relationship with Aeneas gives the poem its central tragic episode.
In medias res: A narrative technique that begins a story in the middle of its action. The poem opens after Troy’s fall, then lets Aeneas recount earlier events.
Augustan literature: Latin literature produced during the reign of Augustus, from 27 BCE to 14 CE. The poem’s composition and political setting belong to this literary era.
Roman imperialism: The expansion and governance of Roman power across Italy and the Mediterranean. Aeneas’s conquest in Italy anticipates Rome’s later expansion while exposing its costs.
Anchises: Aeneas’s father, whom he carries from burning Troy and later encounters in the underworld. His prophecies connect Aeneas’s family history to Rome’s future.
Katabasis: A literary descent by a living hero into the underworld. Aeneas’s underworld journey reveals Rome’s future and his mission.

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