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Imagine this scene: It\'s around 1150 B.C. Seven years earlier, a band of fierce Greek warriors invaded the city of Troy and set it on fire. Aeneas and a few fellow Trojans manage to escape to the coast where they launch their wooden boats and set sail to the west. There, some fortune-tellers have said, they will find a new home. They\'ve been wandering all over the sea ever since, looking for this place.
When we first see him, Aeneas is filled with conflicting emotions. One part of him is still grieving for his lost city and all the friends and family who died there. Another part of him is worn out with troubles and worries about whether or not he will ever find a place where his people can settle. But, for the moment, he is simply relieved that the sun is shining and the sea is calm. He\'s beginning to have a little hope again. He does not suspect that an angry goddess is watching, and that she is determined to make as much trouble as possible for him and his fellow Trojans, wherever they go.
This is the moment Virgil picks to start his story of Aeneas\' struggles to establish a new city--the city that would eventually become Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire and the greatest city in the world.
NOTE: The events in the Aeneid are not told in chronological order. You will see that Books II and III will take you back in time to the fall of Troy, while Book VI will show the future of Rome after Aeneas. Keep this blending of past, present, and future in mind as you read.
Before the action starts, Virgil tells us what his poem is about. The short prologue gives us many clues about the major themes, so it\'s worth reading carefully.
Arms and the man I sing, the first who came,
Compelled by fate, an exile out of Troy,
To Italy and the Lavinian coast,
Much buffeted on land and on the deep
By violence of the gods, through that long rage,
That lasting hate, of Juno\'s.
(I. 1-4)
These first lines tell you that the Aeneid has two major subjects: war and a man. You can already guess that this man will be a great warrior and that you will read about many battles. The Aeneid also describes this man\'s relationship to war: he is both a victim of war--an \"exile,\" a refugee--and he will also be a conqueror when he founds his new city in Italy. But this isn\'t just a war story. It\'s a story about an individual and how he feels about his life, whom he loves, how he makes his decisions. He is a man \"compelled by fate.\" He doesn\'t always want to do what he must do; often it isn\'t even his idea. But the prologue also tells you that this story will have a good ending. The man will reach Italy, and the city he founds will become everlasting Rome. From this we see that the Aeneid will also describe the early history of Rome.
NOTE: The role of fate in men\'s lives is a crucial theme. As you read, ask yourself what that role is. Is fate a force for good or evil? Or is it neutral? Do men have any free choice? Are they responsible for their actions?
One of the most important things the prologue tells you is that the goddess Juno is responsible for much of this man\'s troubles. Why is she so furious? One reason is that Juno has discovered that the Romans are fated to destroy her favorite city, Carthage. (This actually happened in 146 B.C. during the Third Punic War, about a century before Virgil wrote the Aeneid.) The second reason is that she\'s been nursing a grudge against the Trojans since a Trojan named Paris didn\'t award her first prize in a beauty contest. The first reason seems a little odd: why is a goddess fighting fate? If fate is inevitable, why fight? Or can Juno win? The second reason is petty. What kind of goddess persecutes a good, honest, and religious man simply because she lost a beauty contest--especially when that man didn\'t have anything to do with it?
Keep an eye on Juno. She isn\'t a very admirable character, but she represents an important force in the world Virgil is describing: the power of uncontrolled anger. As you read, see how often rage leads to needless destruction. Later on you\'ll see that some gods who represent fairness and order, are opposed to Juno. The strange thing is that while they seem much nicer than Juno, they\'re never as interesting. You might want to think about why Virgil made such a mean character so vivid and real.
After giving you this background, Virgil begins the action. While the Trojans are relaxing in the sunshine, Juno is fuming and wondering whether she has to tolerate these people forever. Even though she knows that they are fated to reach Italy, she\'s irritated that everyone seems to be ignoring her, while other gods get their way. She decides to cause some trouble. She bribes Aeolus, the god of the winds, to help her sink the Trojan ships. If he\'ll let the winds out of the cave where he keeps them locked up, she\'ll give him her prettiest nymph. Of course Aeolus agrees and the winds whip out across the sea.
The sky turns black and winds batter the ships from all directions. Three ships are hurled onto rocks; one is stranded on a shoal; another is sucked into a whirlpool. Men are swimming everywhere, screaming for help. It looks like all is lost as Aeneas makes his first speech, which tells us a lot about his character and about what\'s on his mind.
O happy men, thrice happy, four times happy,
Who had the luck to die, with their fathers watching
Below the walls of Troy!
(I. 94-96)
Aeneas is obviously nostalgic for his lost city of Troy. He misses it so much that he seems to wish he had died there. We also see Aeneas\' reverence for his ancestors. (Later on you\'ll find out that his father had died just before this storm.) Aeneas also respects the old ideal of a hero. He thinks it\'s better to die fighting for your country than to be lost at sea for no reason. At this point you might be wondering how good a leader Aeneas will be. He literally wants to give up the ship without even trying.
But luckily for the Trojans, Juno is not the only god watching them. Neptune, the god of the sea, notices the uproar in his kingdom and is irritated about it. Unlike Juno, Neptune represents order. He scolds the winds and sends them back to their cave. He drives his flying chariot over the waves and calms them. He rescues the stranded ships. Virgil describes the scene in the first of the famous \"epic similes\" in the Aeneid.
Sometimes in a great nation, there are riots
With the rabble out of hand, and firebrands fly
And cobblestones: whatever they lay their hands on
Is a weapon for their fury, but should they see
One man of noble presence, they fall silent
Obedient dogs, with ears pricked up, and waiting,
Waiting his word, and he knows how to bring them
Back to good sense again. So ocean, roaring,
Subsided into stillness, and the sea-god
Looked forth upon the waters, and clear weather
Shone over him as he drove his flying horses.
(I. 148-156)
In this simile Virgil has described the storm as though it were a civil war, with people fighting in the streets. He shows that a strong leader can calm the people and bring order out of chaos. You\'ll recall that, when Virgil began the Aeneid, the emperor Augustus had finally ended a century of civil strife by his strong leadership. In this way Virgil relates his story to recent events in Rome.
NOTE: An epic simile is a poetic device in which one thing, such as a storm at sea, is compared to another thing, such as a civil war. We won\'t discuss all the epic similes in the Aeneid, but you can have fun trying to spot them. They often begin with \"like\" or \"as\" and they usually compare a person or event with something in nature.
Saved from the storm, Aeneas and the remainder of his fleet find themselves near the north coast of Africa and head for the nearest harbor. Even though Aeneas is exhausted, he climbs a mountain, hoping to signal a passing ship. No luck. But suddenly three stags and a herd of deer appear. Quickly he shoots seven with his arrows and carries them back to the Trojan camp. There the men find some wine, still safe in one of the ships, and everyone stretches out on the grass, sipping wine while the meat cooks.
Aeneas gives a little speech, telling his comrades to cheer up, to forget their fear and sadness, and to hope for better days that fate has promised. What he doesn\'t mention--this is typical of Aeneas--is his own sorrow over his lost comrades and his dread about the future. We begin to see that Aeneas does have leadership qualities: for one, he takes responsibility. But we also see that he hides his true feelings in order to do so.
At this point the scene shifts back to the gods and we are introduced to Jupiter (also called Jove), the king of the gods, and Venus, who is Aeneas\' mother.
NOTE: In classical mythology the gods sometimes had children with mortal men and women. Aeneas is the son of Venus and a mortal man, Anchises. Later on, you\'ll see that people often call Aeneas \"goddess-born.\" This means that he is semi-divine. This myth explains why Julius Caesar, who claimed that he was descended from Aeneas, could proclaim himself a god while he was emperor. While Augustus didn\'t go quite this far, he was revered in Rome as godlike because he restored peace.
Venus is upset. She reminds Jupiter of his promise that the Trojans would found Rome and that Rome would rule the world. Jupiter is perfectly calm and tells Venus that everything is going just as it should, according to fate. To calm her he prophesies that Aeneas will find Italy, win a great war there, and start his city, Lavinium. (In the Aeneid, Italy is sometimes called Latium or Lavinia. Lavinium and Alba Longa are the names of the cities that came before the actual founding of Rome). Three hundred thirty-three years from this time, Romulus and Remus will build the walls around the city and call it Rome, after Romulus.
To these I set no bounds in space or time;
They shall rule forever...
And from this great line
Will come a Trojan, Caesar, to establish
The limit of his empire at the ocean,
His glory at the stars, a man called Julius
Whose name recalls Iulus.
(I. 278-88)
You can imagine how much the Romans of Virgil\'s day enjoyed hearing that they were destined to rule forever! By making Jupiter predict the future, Virgil makes the past relevant to present-day Rome. We understand that this story, which seems to be about ancient history, will also tell us something about what kind of people the Romans are and how they got that way.
NOTE: Iulus is one of the names of Aeneas\' son. (His other name is Ascanius.) By showing the similarity between Iulus\' and Julius Caesar\'s names, Virgil seems to be supporting Julius Caesar\'s claim that he was descended from the original Trojans. Some readers have said that the Aeneid is political propaganda for the emperors Julius and Augustus. In this passage you can certainly see their point.
Meanwhile Aeneas, who hasn\'t heard about the great things that will happen for his people, awakens the next day and explores the forest to try to determine what land he is in. A beautiful young girl, dressed like a huntress, appears and Aeneas immediately suspects she\'s a goddess. (Virgil tells us that she\'s Venus.) She tells Aeneas that he\'s landed near Carthage, which is ruled by a woman, Queen Dido. Dido fled to Carthage after her brother murdered her husband and she\'s remained unmarried ever since.
Can you guess what\'s about to happen? Dido and Aeneas have much in common. They both had to flee from home. They\'re lonely, and they\'re both the leaders of their people.
Venus wraps Aeneas in a cloud so that he walks into Carthage without being seen. The city is bustling and everybody seems happy. Aeneas remarks enviously,
Happy the men whose walls already rise!
(I. 437)
Dido is building a temple to Juno. (Remember that Carthage is Juno\'s favorite city.) Its walls are covered with paintings of the Trojan War. Aeneas is amazed and cries at the sight of all his old friends, but it also makes him feel at home. While he\'s studying each scene, Dido arrives, dressed in gold and followed by her servants. Right behind her, Aeneas sees the comrades he thought had drowned in the storm. Dido kindly assures the Trojans that they are welcome in her kingdom.
At this, Aeneas\'s cloud melts and he is revealed, looking godlike with the sun shining on his hair and armor. He thanks Dido graciously and greets his lost men.
Dido orders a great feast to celebrate, and things seem to be looking up for the Trojans. But Venus still isn\'t satisfied. She knows that Carthage is Juno\'s favorite city and she\'s afraid that Juno may make Dido turn against Aeneas. So Venus invents a scheme. She has Cupid, the god of love, dress like Ascanius (Aeneas\' son) while she puts the real Ascanius to sleep. Cupid\'s mission is to infect Dido with a \"blazing passion\" for Aeneas so that Juno won\'t be able to influence Dido against him.
The scheme works. Dido can\'t take her eyes off the little boy--or Aeneas, either. It becomes very late but Dido is enjoying herself so much that she won\'t let anyone go to bed. She begs Aeneas to tell his story--from the beginning. He agrees. In Books II and III we\'ll hear what he has to say.
NOTE: You are familiar with the pictures of Cupid with his bow and arrow on Valentine\'s Day cards. That\'s exactly what Virgil had in mind with this scene. Although we think that love develops inside a person, Dido is \"wounded\" by love that comes from outside herself. She can\'t help it. Keep this image of a wound in mind; you\'ll see it again in Book IV. Note also how Dido\'s passion is described as a fire. That\'s also an important image you\'ll see again. These violent, destructive images suggest that this love affair may not have a happy ending.
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