Editing Aeneas (section)

==Roman myth and literature==

[[File:Denier frappé sous César célébrant le mythe d'Enée et d'Anchise.jpg|thumb|Aeneas and Anchises]]

The history of Aeneas was continued by Roman authors. One influential source was the account of Rome's founding in [[Cato the Elder]]'s ''[[Origines]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stout|first=S.E.|year=1924|title=How Vergil Established for Aeneas a Legal Claim to a Home and a Throne in Italy|journal=[[The Classical Journal]]|volume=20|issue=3|pages=152–60|jstor=3288552}}</ref> The Aeneas legend was well known in Virgil's day and appeared in various historical works, including the ''Roman Antiquities'' of the Greek historian [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] (relying on [[Marcus Terentius Varro]]), ''[[Ab Urbe Condita (book)|Ab Urbe Condita]]'' by [[Livy]] (probably dependent on [[Quintus Fabius Pictor]], fl. 200 BCE), and [[Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus]] (now extant only in an epitome by [[Justin (historian)|Justin]]).

===Virgil's  ''Aeneid''===
[[File:Venus as Huntress Appears to Aeneas.jpg|thumb|''Venus as Huntress Appears to Aeneas'', by [[Pietro da Cortona]]]]
The ''[[Aeneid]]'' which is 12 books of the legendary foundation of [[Lavinium]] which explains that Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed or enslaved when Troy fell. Aeneas, after being commanded by the gods to flee, gathered a group, collectively known as the [[Aeneads]], who then traveled to [[Italy]] and became progenitors of the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]. The Aeneads included Aeneas's trumpeter [[Misenus]], his father [[Anchises]], his friends [[Achates]], [[Sergestus]], and [[Acmon, the Aenead|Acmon]], the healer [[Iapyx]], the helmsman [[Palinurus]], and his son [[Ascanius]] (also known as Iulus, Julus, or Ascanius Julius). He carried with him the [[Lares]] and [[Penates]], the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to Italy.

Several attempts to find a new home failed; one such stop was on [[Sicily]], where in [[Trapani|Drepanum]], on the island's western coast, his father, Anchises, died peacefully.

[[File:Énée et Didon, Guérin.jpg|thumb|right|Aeneas tells Dido about the fall of Troy, by [[Pierre-Narcisse Guérin]]]]
After a brief but fierce storm sent up against the group at [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]]'s request, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at [[Carthage]] after six years of wanderings.  Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian queen [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]] (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. A marriage of sorts was arranged between Dido and Aeneas at the instigation of Juno, who was told that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. Aeneas's mother [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] (the Roman adaptation of Aphrodite) realized that her son and his company needed a temporary respite to reinforce themselves for the journey to come. However, the messenger god [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] (the adaptation of Hermes) was sent by [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] (who was Zeus in this version) and Venus to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, compelling him to leave secretly. When Dido learned of this, she uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome, an enmity that would culminate in the [[Punic Wars]]. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met.

After the sojourn in Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where Aeneas organized [[funeral games (antiquity)|funeral games]] to honor his father, who had died a year before. The company traveled on and landed on the western coast of Italy. Aeneas descended into the underworld where he met Dido (who turned away from him to return to her husband) and his father, who showed him the future of his descendants and thus the history of Rome.

[[File:Aeneas and Turnus.jpg|thumb|left|Aeneas defeats [[Turnus]], by [[Luca Giordano]], 1634–1705. The ''[[Genius (mythology)|genius]]'' of Aeneas is shown ascendant, looking into the light of the future, while that of Turnus is setting, shrouded in darkness]]

[[Latinus]], king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and let them reorganize their lives in [[Latium]]. His daughter [[Lavinia]] had been promised to [[Turnus]], king of the [[Rutuli]], but Latinus received a prophecy that Lavinia would be betrothed to one from another land – namely, Aeneas. Latinus heeded the prophecy, and Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas at the urging of Juno, who was aligned with King [[Mezentius]] of [[Etruscan civilization|the Etruscans]] and Queen [[Amata]] of the Latins. Aeneas's forces prevailed. Turnus was killed, and Virgil's account ends abruptly.

===Other sources===
[[File:Walter Pompe, De Romeinse wolvin met Romulus en Remus- La louve romaine avec Romulus et Remus, KBS-FRB.jpg|thumb|the twin sons Romulus and Remus suckling off of a she-wolf]]
The rest of Aeneas's biography is gleaned from other ancient sources, including Livy and [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. According to Livy, Aeneas was victorious, but Latinus died in the war. Aeneas founded the city of [[Lavinium]], named after his wife. He later welcomed Dido's sister, [[Anna Perenna]], who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy. After Aeneas's death, Venus asked Jupiter to make her son immortal. Jupiter agreed. The river god [[Numicus]] cleansed Aeneas of all his mortal parts and Venus anointed him with [[ambrosia]] and nectar, making him a god. Aeneas was recognized as the god [[Jupiter Indiges]].<ref>Titus Livius. [http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/Livy/Livy01.html ''The History of Rome''] (Rev. Canon Roberts, trans.), Vol. I, J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., London, 1905</ref> It's also been stated that Prince Aeneas is the ancestor to the founders of Rome, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus; the two orphan boys who are seen suckling from a she-wolf.[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Romulus-and-Remus]