For all these reasons, Juno bribes Aeolus, god of the winds, with the offer of Deiopea (the loveliest of all the sea nymphs) as a wife, and Aeolus releases the winds to stir up a huge storm, which devastates Aeneas’ fleet.Īlthough himself no friend of the Trojans, Neptune is infuriated by Juno’s intrusion into his domain, and stills the winds and calms the waters, allowing the fleet to take shelter on the coast of Africa, near Carthage, a city recently founded by Phoenician refugees from Tyre. The goddess Juno, however, is still wrathful at being overlooked by the judgment of Paris in favour of Aeneas‘s mother, Venus, and also because her favourite city, Carthage, is destined to be destroyed by Aeneas‘ descendants, and because the Trojan prince Ganymede was chosen to be the cup-bearer to the gods, replacing Juno’s own daughter, Hebe.

The action begins with the Trojan fleet, led by Aeneas, in the eastern Mediterranean, heading towards Italy on a voyage to find a second home, in accordance with the prophecy that Aeneas will give rise to a noble and courageous race in Italy, which is destined to become known throughout the world. In keeping with the style of the epics of Homer, the poem begins with an invocation to the poet’s Muse, and an explanation of the principal conflict of the early part of plot, which stems from the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people. It is Vergil’s best-known work and was considered the masterpiece of Roman literature by the Romans of his day, and the fluidity of its rigorously structured poetry and its vivid portrayals of human emotion have earned it a legacy as one of the greatest poems in the Latin language.

It tells the legendary story of the Trojan hero Aeneas who, after years of wandering after the fall of Troy, travelled to Italy to battle the Latins, eventually becoming the ancestor of the Roman nation. It was his final work and the twelve books of the poem occupied him for about ten years from 29 BCE until his death in 19 BCE. “ The Aeneid” (Lat: “ Aeneis”) is an epic poem by Vergil ( Vergil), the pre-eminent poet of the Roman Empire. Introduction | Synopsis | Analysis | Resources Introduction – Who wrote Aeneid

(Epic Poem, Latin/Roman, 19 BCE, 9,996 lines)

Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire (Catullus 8).

Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus (Catullus 5).

Passer, deliciae meae puellae (Catullus 2).

The aeneid online