Virgil’s Aeneid: Who’s whoAeneas--Trojan prince, son

of Venus and AnchisesAnchises--father of AeneasAscanius or Iulus--son of

Aeneas, destined ruler of Rome (Iulus Julius)

Creusa--A’s Trojan wifeDido--A’s Carthage wife Lavinia--A’s Roman wifeTurnus--Lavinia’s rejected

suitor

Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus--illegit son of Achilles; slayer of Priam & Hecuba

Anna--sister of DidoIarbas--Dido’s rejected and

angry African suitorUlysses or Odysseus--mind

behind Trojan horseDeiphobus--Trojan prince

betrayed by HelenSinon--Greek who betrays

Trojan “saviors”

Virgil (70-19 B.C.) on Homer (8th C B.C.)

IMITATES• extended similes• opening invocation to

Muses• six beat line composed

mostly of dactyls (/ˇˇ) with some spondees (//) Homeric verse is dactylic hexameter

• begins in middle of plot and tells earlier events through flashback (in media res)

CORRECTS• Aeneas not allowed to

indulge wrath at expense of family, nation

• Aeneas not allowed to find love (as Odysseus), marries to found dynasty

• Homer allows Troy to fall so power base could shift to Greece, but Virgil corrects this by having Trojan Aeneas survive to found Rome, which conquers Greece in turn.