Aeneas

(Art by Peter Paul Rubens)

**Aeneas** was a Trojan hero and demigod son of the goddess Venus, making him an important figure to both the Greeks and Romans.

## Overview

During the legendary Trojan War he fought on the side of the Trojans (his father was a first cousin to legendary King Priam of Troy, and second cousin to both Paris and Hector), and was the only major survivor on the side of the Trojans after the Greeks sacked the city. He would lead the surviving to Trojans through Mediterranean Sea to the the Italian peninsula and would become the ancestor to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, as well as the much later Julius Caesar.

## Appearance

Aeneas is often reffered to as strong and handsome, with auburn-hair and stocky build. Aeneas has also been called short and fat, but with a "good chest" and a broad face. He has fair skin, is bald on the forehead, has a big beard, and grey eyes.

## History

### Birth, Early life, & Trojan War

Aeneas was born from the goddess Venus falling in love with the farmer Anchises. When he was born, Venus took him to the nymphs of Mount Ida in order for them to raise him to age five and to then return him to Anchises to live in Troy.

In his early life he fought in the Trojan War as the leader of the Dardanian allies on the side of Troy. For most of the war he refrained from fighting though he eventually leads an attack against Idomeneus at the urging of Deiphobus order to recover the body of his brother-in-law Alcathous. He eventually finds himself fighting Diomedes, and before he is killed he is carried away by Venus and Apollo to Pergamos for healing. When he returns to the battlefield he finds himself fighting Achilles before he starts losing again and is whisked away by Neptune before he was killed.

### Founding of Rome

After his many losses during the Trojan War, the gods commanded Aeneas to flee to Italy before he is killed or enslaved. Aeneas gathered a group of people he trusted, collectively calling themselves the Aeneads, and started traveling to Italy. The Aeneads included but was not limited to Aeneas himself and his father Anchises, and they carried with them statues of the household gods of Troy to transplant them to Italy.

Despite being told of a location where they would be safe, they didn't actually know where Italy was. They made many stops but none of them happened to be Italy, so they were forced to leave and try again. One of these stops was on Sicily, where they rested for the night; it was here where Aeneas's father, Anchises, died peacefully in his sleep. While he was saddened by the news, Aeneas was determined to find Italy.

After a monstrous yet brief storm, Aeneas and his crew managed to make landfall at Carthage six years after Anchises had died. It was there that he had a year long affair with cities queen Dido, who allowed the Trojans to live in her land and proposed that she and Aeneas were to reign over them as one. The two were married at the instigation of Juno, and Dido gave Aeneas a sword. After about a year of marriage, Mercury came down and reminded Aeneas that he still needs to find Italy and told him to try and leave as sneakily as possible. Dido learned of this however, and cursed Aeneas to forever pit his people against her people. When Aeneas left, he realized he no longer had the sword that he received from her when they were married.

They traveled sojourn of Carthage, returning to Sicily where the funeral games that honored his father were held. They traveled further and landed on the western coast of Italy, where they found an entrance into the Underworld. In Hades, Aeneas met back up with Dido, who turned away from him, and his father Anchises, who showed him the prophecy that the gods were keeping from him. The prophecy stated that Troy would survive the Trojan War in spirit and be reborn in Italy under the name of Rome founded by the descendants of Aeneas.

When Aeneas returned from the Underworld, he and his crew were welcomed to settle down in Latium by Latinus, king of the Latins. Not only that, but Aeneas was promised the hand of the king's daughter, Lavinia, in marriage. This consequently caused a war between the Latins and the Rutulians, as Lavinia was originally betrothed to the king of Rutuli, Turnus, before Latinus changed his mind. Eventually however, the Latins won and Turnus was killed, though it was at the cost of Latinus dying as well. Aeneas founded the city of Lavinium, named after his wife, which eventually spawned the founders of Rome. The prophecy was complete.

### Death & After life

Aeneas lived a long and happy life as king of Lavinium before dying of natural causes. After death he arrived in Hades though he was eventually transfered to Limbo due to the Conquest of the Underworlds, he was seen by Dante Alighieri during his travel through Hell with Virgil.

## Myths and Legends

Aeneas is a figure from both Greek and Roman mythology first introduced in the *Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite*. He is also mentioned in the *Iliad* and later plays a leading role in the *Aeneid*.

## Trivia

* Since Arthur Pendragon is of Royal Roman blood from his father's side, Arthur is also a descendant of Aeneas.