The following summary is based on the Latin text of Virgil’s Aeneid presented online by The Latin Library. The URL is in the reference section. I also consulted a translation by Allan Mandelbaum to check my own translation of the text. In addition, I am indebted to a course taught by the late Professor Erwin Schroeder of Northwestern College, Watertown, Wisconsin, for certain emphases that appear in the summary.
Virgil begins the Aeneid with a brief summary of its contents. He is going to tell us about a man who left Troy and founded a city in Italy after suffering many hardships. At the same time, he introduces an important theme that continually recurs throughout the epic: the fact that all these things happened because of fate.
Virgil then invokes his Muse, asking her to show him why Juno forced Aeneas to undergo so many misfortunes and submit to so many labors, even though he faithfully observed what the gods expected of him.
Aeneas was a Trojan, and Juno held a grudge against Troy for several reasons. Paris, a Trojan, had been the judge of a beauty contest featuring Venus, Juno, and Athena. He had chosen Venus. Juno was also disgusted because of the favor that Zeus had conferred on the Trojan Ganymede, who was honored with the position of cupbearer of the gods.
Above all, a startling prophecy had come to the ears of Juno. A great people of Trojan descent were destined to destroy the citadel of Carthage. Juno correctly associated this prophecy with Aeneas. Since Carthage was Juno’s favorite city, she earnestly endeavored to prevent Aeneas from reaching Italy and founding a nation. (The Romans were the great people of whom the prophecy spoke. However, Aeneas was not going to found the city of Rome. He was to found the city of Lavinium in Latium. The foundation of Rome would occur later.)
After these preliminary comments, Virgil starts telling his story. However, he does not begin at the beginning. He does not immediately explain why Aeneas and his followers had to leave Troy, nor does he tell us how the expedition began. Rather, he begins in medias res – in the middle of things. Aeneas and his followers were hastening to their goal. Sicily was behind them. They were already sailing on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Apparently, they would soon arrive at their destination in Italy.
Juno decided to do what she could to stop them, even though she knew the fates would not approve of her actions. She went to Aeolia, now called the Lipari Islands, and paid a visit to Aeolus, who was responsible for keeping the winds under control and releasing them at the proper time. She asked him to release the winds so that they could destroy the Trojan fleet. In return, Juno promised Aeolus that she would give him a beautiful nymph named Deiopea as his wife.
Since Juno had conferred many favors upon Aeolus in the past, he gladly agreed to release the winds.
The winds invaded the sea and turned it up from the very bottom. Huge waves rolled upon the nearby shores. Clouds veiled the sun, and dark night brooded over the sea. Thunder reverberated, and lightning flashed in the skies above. The fierce winds raised great waves, so that in places the bottom of the sea was exposed to view. Some of the Trojan ships struck hidden rocks in the middle of the sea, while others were borne to treacherous shallows. The ship of faithful Orontes and his Lycian followers was shattered before the very eyes of Aeneas.
As death stared the Trojans in the face, Aeneas declared that those who died in the Trojan War were fortunate because they did not have to experience the vicious storm.
Meanwhile, Poseidon, the god of the sea, noticed that something was going wrong in his domain. He raised his head above the waters and saw that the fleet of Aeneas was being scattered by the stormy weather. He knew that Juno was responsible.
Poseidon scolded the winds and told them to warn Aeolus not to encroach on his domain. He then calmed the sea and chased the clouds away, while Cymothoe and Triton dislodged some ships from sharp rock.
The weary Trojans headed for land. They disembarked in a harbor on the coast of Africa. This harbor was protected by an island, and enormous cliffs and a promontory rose on either side. The waters were so calm that it was not even necessary to anchor the ships. Only seven ships reached this harbor.
The tired Trojans rested on the beach. A man named Achates built a fire, and they tried to prepare a meal from the partly spoiled grain that they had managed to salvage.
Aeneas climbed up a high rock to see if he could spot some of the other ships. His search had negative results, but he did spot some deer and killed seven of them with his bow and arrows. As a result, Aeneas and his followers ate well. They also enjoyed wine that Acestes had given them when they had been in Sicily. (Acestes was a Trojan who had settled in Sicily.)
Although Aeneas felt sorrow in his heart, he did not let his men see how he felt. He made a speech encouraging them. He reminded them that they had survived difficulties in the past. They had even passed through the dangerous strait between Italy and Sicily. He promised them that their lot would soon improve, since they were destined to reestablish the Trojan kingdom in Latium.
The goddess Venus, the mother of Aeneas, beheld the misfortunes of her son and approached Zeus with tears in her eyes. Previously, the sack of Troy had saddened her. However, she had derived comfort from the promise of Zeus that a nation of leaders, would spring from Trojan blood. Now it seemed that Zeus had changed his mind, since Aeneas and his followers were suffering as many hardships as before. She contrasted the sufferings of Aeneas with the happy lot of Antenor, another Trojan, who had succeeded in founding the city of Padua.
In reply, Jupiter assured Venus that he had not changed his mind. To dispel her worries, he revealed what fate had in store for Aeneas and his descendants in the distant future.
Aeneas would conquer many belligerent peoples in Italy, found the city of Lavinium, and rule over Latium for three years. Then his son Ascanius, whose surname was Iulus, would reign in his stead. Ascanius would transfer his capital to Alba Longa and reign for thirty years.
After the Trojan race had ruled in Alba Longa for three hundred years, Romulus, the son of the god Mars and a royal priestess named Ilia, would found a new city. Taking their name from Romulus, its inhabitants would be called Romans. (Ilia is better known as Rhea Silvia.)
The Romans would enjoy a sovereignty that would never come to an end. Even Juno would be reconciled to them.
Eventually the descendants of Aeneas would rule over the land of Achilles and Agamemnon. Moreover, a Trojan Caesar would rise to prominence. His name would be Julius, after the surname of Ascanius. His sovereignty would extend to the ocean and his fame to the stars. At the conclusion of his earthly career, he would be admitted to heaven and be numbered among the gods. An age of peace would ensue.
After comforting Venus, Jupiter took steps to ameliorate the lot of the Aeneas and his followers. The harbor where the Trojans had landed was near the city of Carthage, so Jupiter sent Mercury to this warlike city. In accordance with his instructions, he induced the Carthaginians to receive the Trojans with generous hospitality.
The next day, Aeneas decided to explore the surrounding area. He took Achates along.
Venus met them in the middle of the forest. She was dressed like a huntress and pretended to be a Carthaginian maiden looking for her sisters.
When her son asked her about the people who lived in the area, Venus gladly obliged. She not only told him that the city of Carthage was nearby, but also explained the history of its foundation. The people had come from the city of Tyre. Dido, the queen of Carthage, was the sister of Pygmalion, the king of Tyre. She had been happily married to a man named Sychaeus, but Pygmalion killed him. For a while, Dido did not know what had happened to her husband. Then Sychaeus appeared to her in a dream. He showed Dido that he had been treacherously murdered and warned her to flee from her brother. To facilitate her escape, he showed her where an old treasure consisting of silver and gold was buried. Many people who either hated or feared Pygmalion joined her when she left.. Eventually they came to the site of Carthage. They obtained from the local inhabitants as much land as they could surround with the hide of a bull and founded the city there.
In response to a question of this supposed Carthaginian maiden, Aeneas explained that he had come from Troy with twenty ships. He had hoped to reach Italy, but a storm arose. He was blown off course and landed on the coast of Africa. Only seven of his ships remained.
Without revealing her identity, Venus managed to assure Aeneas that his missing followers were safe. She claimed that her father had taught her augury. She pointed to twelve swans that were flying in a happy procession. A bird of Jupiter had thrown them into confusion, but now they had recovered from the disturbance. In the same way, the missing ships of Aeneas, though scattered by the storm, had either reached land safely or else would soon do so. (Virgil probably intended that the twelve swans correspond in number to the twelve missing ships. Aeneas knew that the thirteenth ship, the ship of Orontes, was destroyed in the storm.)
As Venus turned to leave, she doffed her disguise. Aeneas recognized his mother and scolded her for coming disguised. He preferred to have a normal conversation with her.
As Aeneas and Achates walked toward Carthage, Venus shrouded them in a dark mist so that no one was able to see them or even touch them. She then headed for Cyprus and revisited her shrine in Paphos.
The foundation of Carthage had been a recent occurrence when Aeneas and Achates approached the city. People were still busily working on the city wall, the citadel, the harbor, and other projects. Virgil compares the working Carthaginians to a hive of busy bees.
As Aeneas gazed at all this activity from a height overlooking the city, he thought that the Carthaginians were fortunate, since their city was already under construction. In contrast, his own Trojans had not even arrived at the site where Lavinium would rise.
As Aeneas and Achates entered the city, no one saw them because of the mist that surrounded them. They headed for a grove in the middle of the city, where Dido had built a magnificent temple for the goddess Juno. To their surprise, they discovered artwork depicting scenes from the Trojan War. They saw the tents of Rhesus, among which the fierce Diomedes wrought havoc, killing many and stealing their horses. They also saw Troilus dragged along the ground by an empty chariot after an unsuccessful encounter with Achilles. They saw the scene in which King Priam begged Achilles for the body of his lifeless son Hector. Aeneas even saw himself engaged in battle. He marveled that the misfortunes of the Trojans had become known all over the world.
Dido entered with a large crowd. She sat on a throne and began to attend to affairs of the state. To their surprise, Aeneas and Achates saw some of their lost comrades enter the temple, including Sergestus and Cloanthus. Aeneas and Achates longed to greet them, but they decided to remain in their hiding place for the time being.
A select group of Trojans had come to ask a favor of the queen. Ilioneus spoke for them. He asked Dido to prevent her followers from burning their ships. He assured her that they had not come to devastate their land. He explained that they were Trojans who had been sailing to Italy, but were driven to the shores of Africa by a storm.
Ilioneus asked permission to bring his ships ashore and use timbers from the Carthaginian forests to make necessary repairs. If Aeneas, their leader, survived the storm, they would then sail away to Italy. If Aeneas and his son Iulus died at sea, then they would sail away to Sicily, where a Trojan named Acestes would receive them hospitably.
In reply, Dido assured the Trojans that they would suffer no harm. She explained that her followers had to guard the frontiers carefully, since her kingdom was still in its infancy. Dido had heard about the exploits of Aeneas and the Trojans. She granted their request and offered to assist them. She even said that they were welcome to settle in Carthage if they wished. If so, Trojans and Carthaginians would be treated alike. She expressed the wish that Aeneas himself were present and decided to send out a search party to look for him.
Aeneas and Achates felt that they no longer needed to hide in the cloud, and the cloud suddenly dissipated, perhaps through the agency of Venus. Indeed, Venus sublimated his appearance, so that in certain respects he resembled a god.
Aeneas informed the queen that she did not have to look for him, since he, Trojan Aeneas, was present. He praised the queen for her generosity. He then greeted Ilioneus, Serestus, Gyas, and Cloanthus. (I suspect that Sergestus and Serestus is the same person.)
Dido, who had suffered many hardships before she founded Carthage, willingly helped the Trojans, who suffered misfortunes similar to hers. She prepared a splendid feast for Aeneas and sent provisions to his followers who were by the shore.
Aeneas was concerned about his son Ascanius. He asked Achates to go to bring him to Carthage. They were also supposed to bring some luxurious presents for Dido – some apparel formerly worn by the Argive Helen and other adornments that the Trojans had removed from their burning city.
Venus was afraid that Dido would not keep the promises that she made to the Trojans. The Carthaginian tendency to break promises later became known as “Punic fidelity.” Moreover, since Juno was a prominent goddess in Carthage, Venus was afraid that Juno might take advantage of the fact that Aeneas was in her favorite city. Perhaps Juno would use her influence over Dido to harm Aeneas and the Trojans. So Venus invoked the help of Cupid, the god of love. She asked him to disguise himself as Ascanius and take his place. He then would have the opportunity to make Dido fall in love with Aeneas, so that she would not harm the Trojans, no matter what Juno might do.
So Venus lovingly removed the sleeping Ascanius from the scene, and Cupid accompanied Achates to Carthage. This time Cupid did not use his arrows. Instead, as he sat in Dido’s lap during a magnificent nocturnal feast, he filled her heart with love for Aeneas.
When there was a lull in the feast, the Carthaginian chiefs drank wine from a special drinking vessel adorned with gold and jewels. It was an heirloom handed down to Dido from Belus. Then Iopas entertained the assembly with song. He accompanied himself on a gilded cithara.
During the course of the night, Dido asked Aeneas a host of questions concerning Priam, Achilles, Memnon, and others. Finally, she suggested that he relate his experiences from the beginning. The ensuing narrative is the subject of the second and third books of the “Aeneid.”
Was Aeneas really the forefather of the Trojans? I am not prepared to give a definitive answer to this question. However, Virgil’s idea that the foundation of Rome was ordained by fate was close to the truth, since its foundation was undoubtedly ordained by God. God prepared the Roman Empire so that there would be peace when Christ was born and so that the gospel could be spread quickly after His crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead.
References:
The Latin Library: P. Vergilius Maro (70-19 B.C.)
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/verg.html
“The Aeneid of Virgil”; Allan Mandelbaum, translator
