Aeneas by James Hunter.

Aeneas by James Hunter

Aeneas was the son of Anchises and Aphrodite. He was a cousin of King Priam of Troy, and was the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies during the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy, he led a band of Trojan refugees to Italy and became the founder of Roman culture (although not of the city of Rome itself). He was the mythical progenitor of the Julian gens through his son Ascanius, or "Iulus," and Virgil made him the hero of his epic, the Aeneid.

In the Trojan War, Aeneas was one of the most respected of the Trojan heroes, perhaps second only to Hector. He engaged in abortive single combat with the Greek heroes Diomedes, Idomeneus, and Achilles; twice he was rescued through the intervention of gods. When Troy was sacked by the Greeks, Aeneas fought on until he was ordered by the gods to flee. He finally left the city, carrying his father and the household gods (see Penates) on his shoulders; his wife Creusa was lost in the confusion, but his son Ascanius escaped with him.

Aeneas and the Trojan remnant then wandered across the Mediterranean, hounded by the enmity of Juno. In one of the most famous episodes of the Aeneid, they were cast ashore near the north African city of Carthage, where they were hospitably received by Dido, the city's founder and queen. There ensued a love affair between Dido and Aeneas which threatened to distract Aeneas from his destiny in Italy. Mercury was sent to order Aeneas to depart and Aeneas, forced to choose between love and duty, reluctantly sailed away. Dido, mad with grief, committed suicide. When Aeneas later encountered her shade on a trip to the underworld, she turned away from him, still refusing to forgive his desertion of her.

In Italy, Aeneas allied himself with King Latinus, and was betrothed to Latinus' daughter, Lavinia. Lavinia's former suitor, Turnus, goaded by jealousy and the machinations of Juno, declared war against the intruder, and a period of bloody fighting (the Italian Wars) followed. Aeneas was victorious, eventually killing Turnus in single combat, and went on to found the city of Lavinium. At the end of his life, Aeneas was deified at the request of his mother, Venus, and became the god Indiges.

In the Aeneid, Aeneas' most common epithet is "pius," and Virgil presents him as the exemplar of the Roman virtues of devotion to duty and reverence for the gods.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aeneas

At the fall of Troy, Aeneas left the city in flames, and after wandering in the Mediterranean sea, came to Italy and founded the state that later became Rome.

Birth and Childhood

Aeneas was born from the union of a mortal, Anchises 1, and a goddess, Aphrodite. Some say that it was Zeus himself who aroused in Aphrodite the desire to be joined with a mortal man, so to prevent her to say mockingly that she had joined all the gods with mortals. Aphrodite came to Anchises 1 in the form of a beautiful maiden, saying she was a mortal woman and the daughter of one Otreus. She explained to the incredulous Anchises 1 that she talked his language because she had been brought up by a Trojan nurse. Anchises 1 was taken by desire, but after they had made love, Aphrodite revealed her true identity and Anchises 1 feared the gods would destroy him for having slept with a goddess. But Aphrodite, who herself grieved for having laid in the bed of a mortal man, assured him that he was dear to the gods and nothing would happen to him, provided he would say their child was the offspring of a nymph, for Aphrodite disposed that the NYMPHS would rear Aeneas and that, as soon as he was a boy, he would be restored to his father.

Family

Parentage

Anchises 1 & Aphrodite

Anchises 1 was a member of the royal house of Dardania, which is a region neighbouring Troy. Anchises 1’s father was King Capys 1 of Dardania, who recommended throwing the WOODEN HORSE into the sea. Capys 1 is son of Assaracus, son of Tros 1. This Tros 1 called the people of the land Trojans, after his own name. His father was Erichthonius 1, also king of the Dardanians; Erichthonius 1 became rich and powerful, as he inherited both the kingdom of his father and that of his maternal grandfather. This is so because his father was Dardanus 1 after whom the whole country was named, and his mother was Batia 1, daughter of Teucer 2, the eponym of the Teucrians who gave a share of his land to Dardanus 1. Teucer 2 was a son of the river god Scamander 1, and Dardanus 1 is son of Zeus and Electra 3, one of the PLEIADES, daughters of Atlas.

Creusa 2, daughter of Priam 1 and Hecabe 1, was left behind when Aeneas abandoned Troy. According to some, Aeneas named the city of Etis in Laconia after his daughter Etias.

What happened to his father

According to some, Anchises 1, having drunk much wine, told his friends that he was the lover of the goddess, and for this reason he was struck by Zeus’ thunderbolt. Others say, however, that he killed himself, and till others assert that the thunderbolt just crippled him.

Leader of the Dardanians

When the Trojan War had lasted nine years, many allies came to help the besieged Trojans. Among them came Aeneas, who some time before had been driven from Mount Ida by Achilles, as Leader of the Dardanians.

Wounded in battle by Diomedes 2

During the Trojan War, Aeneas was wounded by Diomedes 2 and, having fainted, would have died if his mother had not come to his rescue. Aphrodite herself was wounded by Diomedes 2 on this occasion, but Apollo took over the protection of the wounded Aeneas, removing him from the battle to the citadel of Pergamus where his temple stood. In the sanctuary, Leto and Artemis healed Aeneas and made him even stronger. But for those fighting, Apollo fashioned a phantom of Aeneas, so that Achaeans and Trojans killed each other round it, until the real Aeneas, having recovered, returned to the field.

Poseidon’s Prophecy

In another occasion, at a time when the gods had become more involved in the fighting, Apollo urged Aeneas to challenge Achilles and to fight with him in single combat. Aeneas was very close to die, but Poseidon rescued him, explaining to the other gods:

“Even Zeus might be angry if Achilles killed Aeneas, who after all is destined to survive and to save the House of Dardanus from extinction ... Priam’s line has fallen out of favour with Zeus, and now Aeneas shall be King of Troy and shall be followed by his children’s children in the time to come.” [Poseidon to the gods. Homer, Iliad 20.300]

What Achilles knows about the Trojan royal families . This way of speaking would have pleased Aeneas himself, as he had a grudge against King Priam 1 for not giving him his due. Aeneas and Priam 1 represent two royal lines with different interests, as Achilles reminded Aeneas when the latter was eager to fight against him:

“Do you propose to fight me in the hope of stepping into Priam’s shoes and becoming King of the Trojans? Your killing me will not make Priam abdicate for you. He has sons of his own ...” [Achilles to Aeneas. Homer, Iliad 20.180]

Alleged fates of Aeneas after the war

Some say that when the Trojan War was over, Aeneas was given as a prize to Neoptolemus, who had also received Andromache, wife of Hector 1. Others tell that when the Trojans debated what they ought to do with the WOODEN HORSE, there were three opinions: some wanted to hurl the WOODEN HORSE down from the rocks, others wished to burn it, and still others were for dedicating it to Athena. This third opinion prevailed, and the Trojans, believing the war was over, turned to feasting. It was then that the two serpents appeared, which destroyed the seer Laocoon 2 and his sons after he had warned his fellow citizens:

“Is it thus you know Odysseus? Trojans, trust not the horse. Whatever it be, I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts.” [Laocoon 2 to the Trojans. Aeneid 2.48]

What happened to Laocoon 2 alarmed Aeneas and his followers in such a way that they withdrew to Mount Ida and were not at Troy when the city was sacked.

Aeneas’ piety

However, others say that Aeneas was indeed at Troy when the city was burned down and that he, carrying his aged father on his back, was allowed by the Achaeans, on account of his piety, to leave the town. Aeneas took also his son Ascanius 2 (later called Iulus 1), and his household gods [the PENATES, see Other Deities], but his wife Creusa 2 became separated from him. Some affirm that Aeneas also took the Palladium with him, bringing it to Italy; but others say otherwise.

Aeneas, in a remembered gesture of piety, carries his father out of Troy

Aeneas & The Fall of Troy

Still others affirm that when the Achaeans came into the city, Aeneas occupied the citadel of Troy, which was fortified with its own wall, and there resisted the enemy who attacked the acropolis. This resistance, they say, allowed many Trojans to save their lives or escape slavery. Having in this way prevented the enemy from taking the whole city by storm, the flower of the army was saved, many lives rescued, and many of the city treasures preserved. The city was anyway lost, but Aeneas had the time to send out from Troy the women, the aged, and the children, putting them in the roads to Mount Ida, together with an escort instructed to take possession of the strongest parts of the mountain. In the meantime, the Achaeans, being busy trying to capture the citadel, gave no thought to the multitude who was leaving the city. Aeneas himself, with the other part of the army, defended the citadel until Neoptolemus gained a foothold in part of the acropolis. Then Aeneas opened the gates and retired, as they say, in good order, carrying with him his family, his household gods, and whatever he considered a treasure, either person or thing.

A Traitor?

Some have said that Aeneas betrayed the city of Troy, and that because of this service the Achaeans allowed him and his family to safely leave the city. Aeneas, they say, had been excluded from his prerrogatives by King Priam 1 and his son Paris, who could be thought to succeed his father after the death of Hector 1. So he overthrew the king, and negotiated with the enemy.

Exile

After leaving Troy, Aeneas came to Mount Ida, where he was joined by inhabitants and troops who had left Dardanus and other cities, after seeing at the distance the great fire rising from Troy. All these hoped to return home when the enemy had sailed away. But the Achaeans, having taken the city and demolished all surrounding forts, were determined to subdue all refugees in the neighbouring territories. Perceiving the danger that threatened them, the Trojans in Mount Ida sent heralds to the Achaeans and an agreement was reached, which allowed Aeneas, as well as his people and valuables, to leave the Troad, after fisrt delivering up all fortifications to the Achaeans. So at the foot of the mountain, Aeneas and his followers built a fleet of twenty ships with which they sailed in the first days of summer.

His son stays

But his son Ascanius 2, they say, came to Dascylium on the Propontis, in Phrygia, since he was invited by its citizens to rule over them. It is also told that Ascanius 2 remained there only until Astyanax 2, the son of Hector 1, was permitted by Neoptolemus to return home from Hellas and rule his country. For, according to this account, little Astyanax 2 was not murdered by the Achaeans during the sack of Troy, but taken prisoner by Neoptolemus.

End of Anchises 1

As for Anchises 1, some say that when Aeneas was in his way to Sicily, he came first to Laconia, founding the cities Aphrodisias and Etis, and that his father died there, being buried by Aeneas at the foot of the mountain called Anchisia after Anchises. However, others say that old Anchises 1 died when they sailed past Lilybaeum, Sicily’s western promontory.

“Yet if you could live on such as now you are in look and in form, and be called my husband, sorrow would no then enfold my heart. But as it is, harsh old age will soon enshroud you, ruthless, wearying and deadly age which stands some day at the side of every man.” [Aphrodite to Anchises 1 when they first met at Mount Ida. Hymn to Aphrodite 245]

Synopsis of Aeneas wanderings: Aeneas built his fleet in Antandrus. He sailed first to Thrace where he met Polydorus 3’s ghost. Then, after having been received in Delos by King Anius, he attempted to settle in Crete but failed. Later, after having stopped in the Strophades Islands and Zacynthos and having sailed past Ithaca, Aeneas came to Buthrotum in Epirus. Thence he crossed to Italy skirting the waters of Tarentum, Lacinium and the Sicilian coast. On his first arrival to Drepanum, Aeneas lost his father. Thence he sailed to Carthage where he met Queen Dido. After having been amorously involved with the queen, Aeneas returned to Drepanum, and thence he crossed to Italy. In Cumae he descended to the Underworld, ending soon after his trip in the harbour of Caieta.

First part of Aeneas’ wanderings In Thrace, where he came first, he received a warning from the ghost of Polydorus 3 (Priam 1’s son), whom King Polymestor 1 of the Bistonians had treacherously murdered [see also Priam 1 and Hecabe 1]:

“Get away from this cruel land, from these hard-fisted shores.” [Ghost of Polydorus 3 to Aeneas. Virgil, Aeneid 3.44]

Next, they were received by Anius, king of Delos, where at the temple of Apollo he received instructions which he believed to mean that he ought to sail to Crete. However, famine and sickness waited for them in Crete, and when they left the island, the home-gods of Aeneas appeared to him and told him to sail to Italy, but having reached the Strophades Islands, they were plundered by the HARPIES.

In the island of Zacynthus, they were received in a friendly manner. The island is called after Zacynthus, son of Dardanus 1 and Batia 1, and brother of Erichthonius 1, an ancestor of Aeneas.

Later they arrived to Buthrotum in Epirus, where Priam 1’s son Helenus 1, having married Andromache (first wife of Hector 1 and, after the Trojan War, concubine of Neoptolemus until the latter’s death) reigned. Helenus 1 gave Aeneas further directions who allowed him to reach Drepanum in Sicily. Some say, however, that Aeneas marched two days from Buthrotum to Dodona, in order to consult the oracle, and that it was in Dodona that he met Helenus 1.

Fails to reach Italy

Thence they intended to sail to Italy, but a storm sent by Hera, who had not forgotten the outrage she suffered at Mount Ida on the occasion of the Judgement of Paris, carried them to Libya, where there was a city Carthage, ruled by Queen Dido.

Queen Dido’s story before Aeneas

Dido, daughter of Belus 2, an Assyrian, was a Phoenician who had left Tyre and founded Carthage. In Tyre she had been married to Sychaeus, a man of great status among the Phoenicians. Sychaeus, however, was murdered by Dido’s brother Pygmalion 2, who was a great lover of gold and a man of power. Dido learned about what had happened when her husband’s ghost appeared to her, disclosed the crime, and urged her to flee the country. She then organised her friends for escape, and having come to Libya, she purchased land, a site that was called “Bull’s Hide” after the bargain by which she should get as much territory as she could enclose with a bull’s hide. And in that site she founded Carthage.

Others say, however, that a Moor king called Iarbas, son of Zeus-Ammon, wished to marry Dido, who, being in love with Aenas, rejected him. Iarbas is also said to have given her the country where she founded her kingdom (Carthage). So, after Dido’s death, Iarbas invaded the country and Dido’s sister Anna 1, who had hoped that Dido would marry Aeneas, went into exile, first in Malta and afterwards in Italy, where she met Aeneas.

Extraordinary paintings in Carthage

After his father’s death at Drepanum in Sicily, Aeneas arrived to the prospering Carthage, where he discovered a series of frescoes depicting the Trojan War. In them, Agamemnon and Menelaus, Priam 1 and Achilles could be seen. He also recognised in the paintings the tents of Rhesus 2, who came from Thrace to fight at Troy and died the day after his arrival, killed by Odysseus and Diomedes 2.

Dido & Aeneas

Queen Dido received the Trojans with hospitality, and fell in love with Aeneas. He, in turn, started to forget that he was meant to sail to Italy. But as he was superintending public works, Hermes, sent by Zeus, came to him, amd reproached him:

“So now you are laying foundations for Carthage, building a beautiful city to please a woman, lost to the interests of your own realm?” [Hermes to Aeneas. Aeneid 4.265]

Aeneas then, remembering his own destiny, decided to leave Dido and Carthage:

“In Italy lies my heart, my homeland. You, a Phoenician, are held by these Carthaginian towers, by the charm of your Libyan city.” [Aeneas to Dido. Aeneid 4.345]
But as Dido would not accept the separation, Aeneas proclaimed:
“No more reproaches ... they only torture us both. God’s will, not mine, says ‘Italy’” [Aeneas to Dido. Aeneid 4.360]

Dido, who felt she had rescued Aeneas’ lost fleet, saved his friends from death, taken a pauper and a castaway and shared her kingdom with him, could not see in Aeneas’ decision more than betrayal and ingratitude. So on Aeneas’ departure, Dido cast herself upon Aeneas’ sword on a pyre, and that is why upon her tomb it was written:

“Aeneas caused her death and lent the blade, Dido by her own hand in dust was laid.” [Ovid, Heroides 8]

Aeneas descends to Hades

After landing once more in Sicily, Aeneas’ fleet came to Cumae where Aeneas, led by the Sibyl, descended to the Underworld. There he met his father, and also Dido, who reunited with her Tyrian husband, refused to talk to him. Some of those whom Aeneas met in the Underworld belong to the past, but others belong to the future, as those from the future lineage of Alba Longa [see also AENEAS IN HADES], and his own son Silvius, who had not yet been born.

End of journey

Next Aeneas came to Latium, a land ruled by King Latinus 1 (son of Faunus 1, son of Picus, son of Cronos), whose daughter Lavinia 2, King Turnus of the Rutulians wished to marry. Turnus was son of King Daunus of Apulia, the same who gave his daughter and lands to Diomedes 2, when the latter landed in Italy after the Trojan War. Latinus 1, however, preferred to give his daughter to Aeneas, as he had learned from an oracle that she was supposed to marry a foreigner. But his wife Amata encouraged Turnus, and because of the intrigue that ensued, a significant war broke out with many allies on both sides.This war only ended when, in single combat, Aeneas killed Turnus. After the war, he married Lavinia 2, and their son Silvius became the founder of Alba Longa.

Death 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 2.

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 worshipped under the name of Indiges.

Aphrodite receives Aeneas in Olympus

Ascanius 2 Son of Aeneas and King of Latium after his father. He is called founder of Alba on Mount Albanus. Upon his death, in the 38th year of his reign, Silvius, his brother, succeeded to the rule.

DH.1.65.1, 1.66.1, 1.70.1-3, 1.72.6; Ov.Met.14.610; Pau.10.26.2; Plu.Rom.2.1; Strab.5.3.2; Vir.Aen.2.675.

Silvius Succeeded Ascanius 2 on the throne of the Alban and Latin state. Son of Aeneas and Lavinia 2. He was father of Latinus 2 and of Silvius Aeneas.

DH.1.70.1-2, 1.71.1; Ov.Fast.4.43; Ov.Met.14.610; Vir.Aen.6.763.

Silvius Aeneas or Latinus 2 Both called sons of Silvius. Latinus 2 is father of Alba.

Silvius Aeneas: DH.1.71.1; Vir.Aen.6.769. Latinus 2: Dio.7.5.10; Ov.Fast.4.43; Ov.Met.14.611.

Alba Son of Latinus 2. Alba or Alba Silvius succeeded Latinus 2 on the throne and himself, some say, was succeeded by Epytus 2.

Dio.7.5.10; Ov.Fast.4.44; Ov.Met.14.612.

Capetus 4 DH.1.71.1.

Capys 2 Son of Epytus 2 and father of Capetus 2.

Dio.7.5.10; Ov.Fast.4.44; Ov.Met.14.612; Vir.Aen.6.768.

Capetus 2 Succeeded his father Capys 2 in the throne of Alba and Latium, and himself was succeeded by his son Tiberinus 2.

Ov.Fast.4.46; Ov.Met.14.612.

Tiberinus 2 This Tiberinus 2, also called Tiberius Silvius, drowned in the river Tiber, which was named after him. He undertook a campaign against the Etruscans, but while leading his army across the Alba river, he fell into the flood and met his death. He was father of Remulus 1 and Acrota, or else of Agrippa.

Dio.7.5.10; Ov.Fast.4.47, 4.49; Ov.Met.14.614.

Agrippa or Acrota Both called sons of Tiberinus 2.

Agrippa (but some say Acrota) became king of Alba after his father [see also Acrota]. Some say he was succeeded by Allodius. Agrippa had a son Remulus 1.

DH.1.71.2; Dio.7.5.10. Ov.Fast.4.49.

Aventinus 2 Received the throne of Alba and Latium from Acrota. From him the place, and also the hill, took their name.

Dio.7.5.12; Ov.Fast.4.51; Ov.Met.14.619.

Proca Proca Silvius. King of Alba and Latium, over the Palatine race. Succeeded his father Aventinus 2. At his death, his younger son Amulius seized the kingship by violence. His other son was Numitor 2.

Dio.7.5.12; Ov.Fast.4.52; Ov.Met.14.622; Vir.Aen.6.767.

Amulius Governed after Proca by the force of arms. He vanquished his brother Numitor 2, and robbed him of power. He is said to have divided the whole inheritance into two parts, setting the treasures and the gold which had been brought from Troy over against the kingdom, and Numitor 2 chose the kingdom. Amulius, then in possession of the treasure, and made more powerful by it than Numitor 2, easily took the kingdom away from his brother. He ordered the twins, sons of his niece Ilia, to be sunk in the river. He is also said to have deflowered Ilia himself. He was finally killed by Romulus, who restored the kingdom to his grandfather.

DH.1.77.1, 1.71.5; Dio.7.5.12; Ov.Fast.3.49, 3.67; Ov.Met.14.772; Plu.Rom.3.2, 3.3, 4.2, 8.6.

Numitor 2 Son of Proca, brother of Amulius and grandfather of Romulus and Remus 1, the founders of Rome. When he died in Alba, the throne devolved upon Romulus. He was father of Ilia, Lausus 2, Aegestus 2, and Aenitus.

DH.1.76.2; Dio.7.5.12; Ov.Fast.4.53, 4.55; Ov.Met.14.773; Plu.PS.36; Plu.Rom.27.1; Vir.Aen.6.768.

Romulus
Romulus is of uncertain parentage; he has been called son of Ares, son of Latinus 1, son of a Phantom, son of Amulius and son of Aeneas. He was, along with his twin brother Remus 1, suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus founded Rome, and gave his name to the entire nation. As he saw twelve birds flying in the sky and his brother only six, Romulus was accorded the government of the city.

Quote:

1) Anchises 1 was a member of the royal house of Dardania, which is a region neighbouring Troy. Anchises 1’s father was King Capys 1 of Dardania, who recommended throwing the WOODEN HORSE into the sea

Idea : Dardania=Illyrian Tribe

Quote:

2)Aeneas was born from the union of a mortal, Anchises 1, and a goddess, Aphrodite. Some say that it was Zeus himself who aroused in Aphrodite the desire to be joined with a mortal man, so to prevent her to say mockingly that she had joined all the gods with mortals

Idea : Aeneas is a Dardarian-Illyrian blood and a half God born .

CONCLUSION:

Are all greek mythology Gods or they copy from others exmp,Illyrians,Dardarians, Egyptians etc etc?