Virgil’s Aeneid follows the Trojan prince Aeneas after the destruction of Troy. Leading a band of survivors across the Mediterranean, he searches for the Italian homeland in which his descendants are destined to establish the people from whom Rome will arise. Storms, warfare and divine intervention repeatedly delay the journey, while Aeneas is forced to place duty to his people and their promised future above his own wishes.
The poem moves from exile and wandering to war in Italy. Aeneas’s love affair with Dido ends in catastrophe when he leaves Carthage, and his visit to the Underworld reveals the future history of Rome. In Latium, conflict over settlement and marriage pits him against Turnus and brings the poem to a violent conclusion. Virgil celebrates Roman destiny while also dwelling on the grief, sacrifice and moral cost required to fulfil it.
Ovid
4 books
Homer
2 books
Apollonius of Rhodes
2 books
Hesiod
1 book
Aeschylus
1 book