Aeneas, King of Lavinium

In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite (Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons of Ilus, founder of Troy), making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children (such as Hector and Paris).

Aeneas survived the sack of Troy by the Greeks. His adventures are recounted in Virgil’s Aeneid: He fled the burning city with his wife Creusa, young son Ascanius, and aged father Anchises. His wife was lost in the confusion, but Aeneas, leading his son and carrying his aged father on his back, made his way to safety. Led by Aphrodite (his mother), Aeneas with a band of fugitives set sail to find a new beginning but was shipwrecked at Carthage, where he stayed with Queen Dido. After many adventures eventually he reached Italy, where he was welcomed by King Latinus who gave Aeneas his daughter, Lavinia, to wife. His descendants Romulus and Remus were founders of Rome.

He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. He is the main character in Virgil's Aeneid. He is also a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse Æsir Vidarr.

Mythology

In the Iliad, Aeneas is the leader of the Dardanians (allies of the Trojans), and a principal lieutenant of Hector, son of the Trojan king Priam. In the poem, Aeneas's mother Aphrodite frequently comes to his aid on the battlefield; he is also a favorite of Apollo. Aphrodite and Apollo rescue Aeneas from combat with Diomedes of Argos, who nearly kills him, and carry him away to Pergamos for healing. Even Poseidon, who normally favors the Greeks, comes to Aeneas's rescue when the latter falls under the assault of Achilles, noting that Aeneas, though from a junior branch of the royal family, is destined to become king of the Trojan people.

As seen in the first books of the Aeneid, Aeneas is one of the few Trojans who were not killed in battle or enslaved when Troy fell. When Troy was sacked by the Greeks, 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. The Aeneads included Aeneas's trumpeter Misenus, his father Anchises, his friends Achates, Sergestus and Acmon, the healer Lapyx, the steady 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.

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's request, and several failed attempts to found cities, Aeneas and his fleet made landfall at Carthage after six years of wanderings. Aeneas had a year long affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido (also known as Elissa), who proposed that the Trojans settle in her land and that she and Aeneas reign jointly over their peoples. Once again, this was in favour of Juno, who was told of the fact that her favorite city would eventually be defeated by the Trojans' descendants. However, the messenger god Mercury was sent by Jupiter and Aphrodite to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, thus compelling him to leave secretly and continue on his way. When Dido learned of this, she ordered her sister Anna to construct a pyre, she said, to get rid of Aeneas' possessions, left behind by him in his haste to leave. Standing on it, Dido uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met and then falling on the pyre. Anna reproached the mortally wounded Dido. Meanwhile, Juno, looking down on the tragedy and moved by Dido's plight, sent Iris to make Dido's passage to Hades quicker and less painful. When Aeneas later traveled to Hades, he called to her ghost but she neither spoke to nor acknowledged him.

The company stopped on the island of Sicily during the course of their journey. After the first trip, before the Trojans went to Carthage, Achaemenides, one of Odysseus' crew who had been left behind, traveled with them. After visiting Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where they were welcomed by Acestes, king of the region and son of the river Crinisus by a Dardanian woman.

Latinus, king of the Latins, welcomed Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and let them reorganize their life 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 the Etruscans and Queen Amata of the Latins. Aeneas' forces prevailed. Turnus was killed and his people were captured. 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.

The circumstances of Aeneas' death are uncertain. Some affirm that Aeneas disappeared during a battle against the army of Mezentius (an ally of his enemy Turnus), but others say that he died in Thrace without ever reaching Italy, or that he, after having settled his people in Italy, returned home and became king of Troy, leaving the kingdom, after his death, to his son Ascanius. It is also told that Aphrodite asked Zeus to make Aeneas immortal, and as Zeus granted her request, the river god Numicius washed away all of Aeneas' mortal part, and Aphrodite anointed him with Nectar and Ambrosia, making him a god, whom the people later worshiped under the name of Indiges.

Family and legendary descendants

Aeneas had an extensive family tree. His wet-nurse was Caieta, and he is the father of Ascanius with Creusa, and of Silvius with Lavinia. The former, also known as Iulus (or Julius), founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings. According to the mythology outlined by Virgil in the Aeneid, Romulus and Remus were descendants of Aeneas through their mother Rhea Silvia, making Aeneas progenitor of the Roman people. Some early sources call him their father or grandfather, but considering the commonly accepted dates of the fall of Troy (1184 BC) and the founding of Rome (753 BC), this seems unlikely. The Julian family of Rome, most notably Julius Caesar and Augustus, traced their lineage to Ascanius and Aeneas, thus to the goddess Aphrodite. Through the Julians, the Palemonids also make this claim. The legendary kings of Britain also trace their family through a grandson of Aeneas, Brutus.

Sources

• Aeneas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Historium Britonum (c. 835 A.D.)

След падането на Троя, Еней, начело на група оцелели, напуснал града. С него били неговият син Асканий, неговият тръбач Мизен, баща му Анхис, лечителят Япикс и Мимас като водач. Съпругата му Креуза била убита по време на плячкосването на града. Те напуснали Троя с няколко кораба, търсейки нов дом. Поостанали в няколко близки държави, но те не били гостоприемни към бежанците и накрая пророчицата Сибила им казала да се върнат към земята на техните праотци. Първо отишли на о-в Крит, където Дардан се бил заселил, но там намерили чумата, заради която бил изгонен и Идоменей. След това намерили колонията, основана от Елен и Андромаха, но отказали да останат. След седем години пристигнали в Картаген, където Еней имал връзка с Дидона. Вероятно боговете му заповядали да продължи напред (Дидона се самоубила), и Еней и хората му стигнали до устието на Тибър в Италия. Там Сибила го завела в подземното царство и му предсказала величието на Рим, който ще бъде основан от неговите потомци. Той се споразумял, да се заселят там, с местния цар Латин и се оженил за неговата дъщеря ЛавинияНейният бивш жених Турн обаче, чийто планове да наследи трона след брак с девойката са провалени, започва война с Еней. Краят на кръвопролитията между троянци и латинци ще бъде сложен от двубоят между двамата пълководци. В жестока схватка Еней надделява и наследява латинския трон. Така в живота му се преплитат две от най-великите събития в човешката история - падането на Троя и основаването на Рим от неговите потомци. . Триста години по-късно според римската митология техните потомци Ромул и Рем основали Рим. Подробностите от пътуването на Еней, неговата връзка с Дидона, и установяването в Италия са предмет на разказа в поемата „Енеида“ на Вергилий.