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Dido falls in love with Aeneas who is forced to abandon her in order to follow his destiny: "It is not by my own choice that I voyage onward to Italy". Book 4 ends with Dido's desperate suicide with the Trojan sword left by Aeneas. Again deflected off course, Aeneas next lands in Sicily where Funeral Games are held to honor the dead father of Aeneas and, in the final book of this first part, book 6, Aeneas visits the underworld. He visits his father there and is shown a pageant of Rome's future with some of its future great leaders, including Caesar.

In the second half of the Aeneid, the wanderings of the Trojans are over but although they are at first welcomed to Italy's shores by king Latinus, they become embroiled in battles and war. The king wishes his daughter to marry Aeneas, but his wife wants her to marry Turnus, handsome young king of the Rutulians. Juno is behind the conflict and in ensuing battles many of Aeneas' warriors are killed, including Pallas who is slain by Turnus. The final book of the Aeneid describes Aeneas and Turnus battling to death until Turnus is wounded and begs Aeneas to spare him; Aeneas almost does so but when he sees that Turnus is wearing Pallas' belt he is filled with vengeful rage and sinks his blade into his opponent's chest. Virgil's great epic ends at this point; he has brought Aeneas to the place ordained for him and there Rome will have its beginning.

The Aeneid speaks across the centuries, still read today and presenting us with an illustrious picture of the beginnings of the great Roman Empire. Virgil begins his epic: "I sing of arms and the man..." and the man Aeneas, is an example of one overcoming despair. Destiny we understand is to be accepted and trusted by mortals, despite the trials and tribulations of our daily lives.

The Aeneid can be read simply as an exciting story of ancient lives and deeds. However, at a more sophisticated level an understanding of the allusions and symbols in the work can reveal greater depth and meaning to the perceptive reader.

Source: Virgil, the Aeneid [ translation by WF Jackson Knight].

Learn more about this author, Anne Penny.
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