AENEAS

Eric Tessicini
E BLOCK Aeneas, Prince of Troy, son of Venus, wielder of the Sword of Troy, conquer of Italy. Aeneas was not a god; he was a demi-god, or the child of a god. His Olympian mother is Venus, or Aphrodite to the Greeks. He is the main character of the Aeneid by Virgil (a famous Roman writer). The story of Aeneas starts in the final days of the Trojan War, the war between the united Greek city states led by Agamemnon and Menelaus, against the city of Troy, in punishment for a Prince, Paris, for stealing Helen the wife of Menelaus and bringing her to Troy. The war lasted for 10 years, and on the last day of the war the Greeks used trickery and they snuck into the city, unlocked the gates and the army poured in. The started to burn the city to the ground on their way to the palace, where all the princes and the king were. But unknown to the Greeks there was a secret exit from the palace into the countryside, so while Paris and a few others stayed to slow down the invaders, Aeneas was given the sword of Troy and was told As long as it remains in the hands of a Trojan our people have a future. So he sailed away and such began an epic journey. He was plagued by the Queen of the gods, Juno, for his destiny was to cause the destruction of her favorite city, the city of Carthage. Another reason she did not favor the Trojans was because Paris, the prince of troy was chosen to settle a fight between the gods and he picked Venus of Juno so that is the other reason Juno despises the Trojans. After a few events at sea he ended up in the city of Carthage where the queen, Dido, fell in love with him. And she fell on a

sword when she saw him leaving and following the will of the gods, so Carthage was left leaderless and Aeneas was on his way to the destined Italy. Then Aeneas sails on to Sicily and stays there for a while and in a dream sees his father beckoning him to come down to the underworld to talk to him, so he can receive warnings. So he goes down and hears his father speak prophesies of the future of Rome. Then he sails on to the shores of Italy where he first is granted peace, but by the meddling of Juno the Latins declare war on the Trojans. The Trojans gather up allies from surrounding cities that are also at war with the Latins and gets several thousand reinforcements. But more important than that he receives armor from his mother. It wasnt just any armor, it was armor made in the forge of Vulcan, the husband of Venus, by her request. The armor is stronger, the sword is lighter and the shield is tougher than everyone elses. And engraved on the shield are images showing the future glory of Rome. The next day in a huge battle the Trojans slaughter most of the Latin troops. Aeneas himself kills hundreds. And at the end of the war Aeneas kills his rival and established the Trojans as a force in the region. Aeneas is a Trojan Prince, and he is the son of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. He is promised that if he survives to get to Italy his descendants will found the greatest city in the world and that city will become the greatest empire the world has ever seen. And it comes true. His descendants are the twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. And according to legend, the Juli clan is directly descended from to the twins which would mean that their boasting was true that they were descended from Venus. So one of the greatest military and political leaders the world has ever seen in Julius Caesar is supposedly descended from the goddess of love and feminine beauty, oh the irony.

The Aeneid was started in 30 B.C and all the royal court and nobles followed it progress. Virgil was in his later years by now and he led a nice, easy, relaxed, life doing work whenever he pleased and slowly but surely doing great historical research. He dedicated the work to Augustus, the emperor who was also his benefactor. He worked on the Aeneid for 11 years until his death interrupted him before he was finished. The poem was in all essence, finished but it lack the one thing that Virgil wanted to add to bring it over the top. He had planned to spend 3 year in Greece and western Asia adding some final touches and getting the last bits of research down but met the emperor along the way and decided to travel with him for a little while. It was during that time that Virgil passed away. He was only 51 years. Shortly before his death he had made the request that the manuscript be destroyed for he hated to leave his work unfinished. But, Augustus disobeyed his wishes and told 2 of Virgils friends to edit it without changing anything. In 18 B.C it was widely accepted as the major roman work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: The AENEID by Virgil. Translated by Robert Fagles www.cliffnotes.com