28 Facts About Aeneas

Aeneas's father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children (such as Hector and Paris).

Aeneas is a character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad.

Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's Aeneid, where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus.

Aeneas is the Romanization of the hero's original Greek name.

The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of an attitude different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus is, Aeneas is described as ("pious"), which conveys a strong moral tone.

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Likewise, Aeneas is called pater when acting in the interest of his men.

Aeneas was described by the chronicler Malalas in his account of the Chronography as "shortish, thick, good chest, strong, ruddy, flat-faced, good nose, pale, balding, good beard".

Story of the birth of Aeneas is told in the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, one of the major Homeric Hymns.

Aeneas is overcome by her beauty, believing that she is a goddess, but Aphrodite identifies herself as a Phrygian princess.

Aeneas is a minor character in the Iliad, where he is twice saved from death by the gods as if for an as-yet-unknown destiny, but is an honorable warrior in his own right.

Aeneas's mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield, and he is a favorite of Apollo.

Aeneid 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 Romans.

Aeneas carried with him the Lares and Penates, the statues of the household gods of Troy, and transplanted them to Italy.

Aeneas had a year-long affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido, who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples.

Aeneas's then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met.

Aeneas traveled on and landed on the western coast of Italy.

Aeneas descended into the underworld where he met Dido and his father, who showed him the future of his descendants and thus the history of Rome.

Rest of Aeneas's biography is gleaned from other ancient sources, including Livy and Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Aeneas later welcomed Dido's sister, Anna Perenna, who then committed suicide after learning of Lavinia's jealousy.

Medieval interpretations of Aeneas were greatly influenced by both Virgil and other Latin sources.

From Guido, for instance, the Pearl Poet and other English writers get the suggestion that Aeneas's safe departure from Troy with his possessions and family was a reward for treason, for which he was chastised by Hecuba.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the Pearl Poet, like many other English writers, employed Aeneas to establish a genealogy for the foundation of Britain, and explains that Aeneas was "impeached for his perfidy, proven most true" (line 4).

Aeneas's wet-nurse was Caieta, and he is the father of Ascanius with Creusa, and of Silvius with Lavinia.

Aeneas is a main character in Ursula K Le Guin's Lavinia, a re-telling of the last six books of the Aeneid told from the point of view of Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus of Latium.

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Aeneas appears in David Gemmell's Troy series as a main heroic character who goes by the name Helikaon.

In Rick Riordan's book series The Heroes of Olympus, Aeneas is regarded as the first Roman demigod, son of Venus rather than Aphrodite.

Aeneas featured as an Epic Fighter of the Dardania faction in the Total War Saga: Troy in 2020.