The story of The Aeneid begins in the mediterranean sea, where a Trojan fleet led by a

warrior named Aeneas is on a voyage to find a new home in Italy. It has been foretold that
Aeneas, who is the son of Goddess Venus, will create a new honorable nation there.

Goddess Juno, who is the Roman equivalent of Hera, is still angry at Paris for not choosing
her as the most beautiful goddess and therefore hates all Trojans. Juno also believes that Aeneas's
descendants will one day destroy her favorite city, Carthage. On top of that, she is also angry that
a Trojan prince has replaced her daughter, Hebe, as Jupiter’s cupbearer. Juno bribes Aeolus,
King of winds, with her most beautiful sea nymph, and asks him to destroy Aeneas’s fleet.
Aeolus agrees to the bribe and creates a thunderstorm to devastate the Trojan’s ship. Neptune,
who is the Roman equivalent of Poseidon, gets angry with Juno for this aggressive intrusion into
his domain and although he doesn’t like the Trojans, he calms the waves and orders the winds to
not bother the fleet anymore. The Trojans disembark on the coast of Libya and take shelter there.

At the same time, Venus, who is the Roman equivalent of Aphrodite, begs Jupiter to spare her
son. Jupiter reassures Venus that Aeneas will survive and that his descendants Romulus and
Remus will build a mighty empire in Italy. He then sends a messenger to the Carthaginians and
makes sure that they treat the Trojans with hospitality. Next, Venus visits Aeneas in disguise and
tells him about the history of Carthage. Aeneas, who is still unaware of the interference of the
gods in his destiny, agrees to venture into the city and meet with their queen, Dido. Venus covers
Aeneas and his friend Achates in a cloud to prevent them from being recognized. They first
arrive at a temple dedicated to Juno in the suburbs and are astonished to see a grand mural
depicting the events of the Trojan war. Next, Aeneas and his friend Achates arrive at the court of
queen Dido. To their surprise, they see many of their companions who they thought were
drowned in the storm, present at the palace and begging the queen for her support in rebuilding
their devastated fleet. Queen Dido kindly agrees to their request and asks to meet with their
leader. At this moment, Aeneas steps out of the cloud and shows himself to the queen. Dido,
amazed by the turn of events, gladly receives Aeneas and throws a banquet in his honor. Venus,
worried that Juno’s relentless hatred can turn the queen against Aeneas, asks her other son and
the god of love, Cupid, to disguise himself as Aeneas’s son and make Dido fall in love with him.
At the banquet, Cupid makes the queen's love for her late husband fade away and awakens a
burning desire for Aeneas in her heart. Next, Dido asks Aeneas to tell the story of the Trojan war
and his adventures since the fall of Troy. Aeneas warns the queen that remembering the past will
invoke many painful memories.
Then he begins his story with the final days of the Trojan war and when his countrymen first
encountered the Greek’s wooden horse outside their gates. The story has it that the Greeks built a
massive wooden horse and hid a group of their best warriors inside its hollow belly. When the
Trojans opened their gates to investigate the giant horse, they found a young soldier named
Sinon stranded around it. Sinon explained to the Trojans that the Greeks had wished to leave
Troy for some time but the stormy sea did not allow them to go and that when the time finally
arrived, a prophet told them to sacrifice one of their own before leaving. So, they chose him.
Sinon then told them that he managed to escape during the preparation for his sacrifice and now
that his countrymen are gone, he is left all alone in a foreign country. Trojans showed mercy to
Sinon and asked him about the wooden horse. Sinon answered that it was meant to be an offering
to the goddess Minerva and that if any harm comes to the horse Troy will be destroyed by the
goddess's wrath. However, if they take the horse inside their walls, with Minerva on their side
they will be victorious in their future wars against Greece.

At this moment a Trojan priest named Laocoon who was doubtful of Sinon’s honesty and
could not believe that the Greeks had left so unceremoniously, poked the horse with a spear.
Suddenly two sea serpents jumped out of the ocean and devoured the priest and his two sons.
The Trojans seeing this believed that the horse is important to the goddess and took it inside
Troy. According to some sources, this was done by Athena or Poseidon to stop Laocoon from
unraveling the Greeks’ plot. At night, Sinon opened the horse’s belly and let the Greek warriors
out. The warriors then killed the guards and opened the gates of Troy to the rest of the Greek
army. At this moment, Hector, the fallen hero of Troy, appeared to Aeneas in a dream and told
him that the city is about to fall. Aeneas rushed to his rooftop and from there saw his beloved
country engulfed in fire. Next Aeneas, accompanied by a few warriors, joined the battle and
bravely fought his way into the court of king Priam where he witnessed a Greek general named
Pyrrhus murdering Priam and his son Polites on the altar of his palace.

At this moment, Aeneas saw Helen, who he believed to be the root cause of all the evil that had
befallen Troy, So, he decided to kill her, but Venus appeared to him and explained that the war
was entirely the fault of the immortal gods, and Helen was only a victim of their games. Then
Venus encouraged Aeneas to escape Troy. Aeneas went straight to his father Anchises’s house to
flee with his family. Anchises at first refused to leave his homeland, but when a flaming tongue
appeared on his grandson’s forehead, he prayed to Jupiter and asked for a sign. At this moment
he saw a bright falling star in the sky and agreed that they all must leave. So, Aeneas carried his
infirm father on his back and with his wife and son on his side rushed through the uproar. In the
commotion, Aeneas’s wife, Creusa, went missing. When Aeneas returned to find her, he saw her
departed spirit telling him to stay strong and look forward to a new future that awaits him in a
new country.

Aeneas continues his story by recounting their party’s arrival to Thrace, He tells queen
Dido, that when he tore the branches of a tree to offer sacrifices to the gods, dark blood dripped
from it and the tree started to speak. The talking tree introduced himself to Aeneas as Polydorus,
son of King Priam who had been sent to Thrace to be kept safe from the war but when the news
of Troy’s fall reached there, the Thracian king killed him to prove his loyalty to the Greeks.
After performing funeral rites for the Trojan prince, Aeneas and his companions, heartbroken
and disappointed by the Thracians’ betrayal, left their shores and set sail towards the holy island
of Delos.

In Delos, Apollo appeared to Aeneas and ordered him to go to his ancestral homeland.
After hearing about this, Aeneas’s father, Anchises, interpreted that Apollo’s instructions
must have meant for them to go to the Island of Crete, where one of their Trojan ancestors
had built a kingdom centuries ago. Upon arriving in Crete, Aeneas and his people started to build
a new city but after a few weeks, a deadly plague ravaged them and destroyed their hopes of a
new kingdom. One night the gods of Troy appeared to Aeneas in his dream and told him Crete is
not the land of his ancestors and that his forefather, Dardanus after whom the Trojan race is
called the Dardanians, was from Italy. Hearing that, the Trojan hero set sail again and led his
countrymen towards Italy.

After a few weeks of traveling the seas and upon seeing dark clouds in the sky, to avoid
the imminent storm, Aeneas and his companions landed at the mysterious island of Strophades,
home to the Harpies. The Harpies were mysterious bird creatures with feminine features that did
not like strangers. Once on the island, the Trojans slaughtered many free-roaming cows and
goats and after a long time held a feast, which caused the unwelcoming Harpies to attack them.
The Trojans defended themselves and a short battle ensued. It was in the middle of this fight that
one of the Harpies prophesied that Aeneas and his people are headed to Italy but will not succeed
in establishing their dream kingdom until hunger forces them to eat their tables. Aeneas and his
party reached the shores of Buthrotum. There, to Aeneas’s surprise, he found out that one of
Priam’s sons, Helenus and Hector’s wife, Andromache had established a kingdom. Aeneas then
met up with Andromache who told him about how they were captured after the fall of Troy.
Andromache then advised Aeneas that to get to the western shores of Italy, it's safer to
circumnavigate around Sicily to avoid a six-headed monster named Scylla and a deadly
whirlpool. Aeneas tells Dido that he listened to Andromache’s suggestions and continued his
journey towards Italy. On their way, they passed through many famous landmarks, and after a
dangerous encounter with cyclopes, they landed on an island, where Aeneas unexpectedly lost
his father. At this point, Aeneas concludes his story and tells Dido that the fate and will of gods
have driven him to her country and now they are at her mercy.

At this point, she knows that she is madly in love with the Trojan hero but the oath
that she took after the death of her husband, to never marry another man, stops her from
proclaiming her feelings. Juno, who wants nothing more than to stop Aeneas from reaching Italy
sees Dido’s love for Aeneas as a way to achieve her objective. So, she offers a peace treaty to
Venus and tells her that if Dido and Aeneas marry, the hostility between the Trojans and the
Tyrians will end, she will be ready to let the feud between the goddesses go.
Venus knows very well that Juno only wants to stop the Trojans from advancing towards Italy
but she agrees with her to buy Aeneas time and support. One day Aeneas accompanies queen
Dido and her court on a hunting expedition. Suddenly Juno starts a storm which forces Aeneas
and Dido to shelter in a cave where they profess their affection for each other and make love.
After returning to Carthage, they live openly as lovers, and Dido being under the impression that
their love will result in marriage, devotes herself entirely to Aeneas. Meanwhile, Jupiter sends
Mercury to Aeneas and reminds him that as long as he is in Carthage his destiny will remain
unfulfilled and he must go to Italy. The seriousness of Jupiter’s warning shocks Aeneas. Torn
between his love for the queen and obeying Jupiter’s order, he decides to prepare his ships and
leave in secret. Dido, however, finds out about his plot and confronts him. Aeneas tells the queen
that his decision is not of his free will, and he must obey Jupiter's command.
 The grief-stricken queen instructs her sister, Ana to pile up every memorabilia that Aeneas
has left behind and tells her that she will forget the Trojan hero by burning the tokens of their
love. On the same night, Mercury comes to Aeneas again in a dream and orders him to leave
right away. Aeneas obeys the command and leaves without saying goodbye to Dido. Dido, who
cannot sleep, sees Aeneas’s fleet leaving the Carthegian shores and loses her composure. She
runs outside to her courtyard and climbs upon the pyre, she then sees a sword that Aeneas has
left behind and kills herself with the blade. With her last breath, the good queen, Dido, curses her
lover and dies with a broken heart.

On his way to Italy Aeneas directs his fleet to Eryx, the Kingdom of his friend and fellow
Trojan, Acestes. While there, he commemorates the anniversary of his father’s death by
proposing nine days of sacrificial offerings and tournaments. Juno is now angrier at the Trojans
over Dido’s death. Worried of their impending arrival to Italy, she sends her messenger, Iris, to
the Trojan women and incites a riot among them. Under the influence of Iris, the women
claiming that they are tired and worn, set fire to the ships and refuse to travel any further. At
night Aeneas’s father comes to his dream and advises him to leave the weak and the elderly in
Eryx and travel to Italy only with those who are ready to face hardships. He also tells Aeneas
that he must journey to the underworld to visit him.

Meanwhile, Venus asks Neptune to allow a safe passage to Aeneas and his fleet. Neptune
agrees on the condition that one of the crew members gives his life as a sacrifice for others. A
few hours later, one of Aeneas’s captains falls asleep on the deck and drowns in the sea. Finally,
the Trojan fleet drops anchors in Italy. There, a priestess named Sibyl, tells him that no living
man can journey to the underworld and return alive unless he carries a sign. She then instructs
Aeneas to go to the nearby forest and find a golden branch, if the branch breaks off easily it
means that destiny calls Aeneas to the underworld if not then he is not supposed to travel there.
While in the forest, Aeneas prays and asks for guidance. Suddenly a pair of doves arrive and
show him the way to the tree.
Aeneas breaks the golden branch with ease and returns to the priestess to travel to the
underworld. When they arrive at the river Acheron. Aeneas witnesses Charon the famous
ferryman delivering the spirits of the dead across the river.
Charon tells Aeneas that he is still alive and he cannot travel to the underworld but when
Sibyl shows him the branch, he agrees to allow Aeneas to pass through. On his journey through
the underworld, Aeneas passes by a group of souls who died for love. There to his sorrow, he
sees queen Dido’s spirit. Aeneas tries to explain to her that he left her because he was forced to,
Dido turns away and goes to the ghost of her dead husband, and Aeneas witnessing this cries and
sheds tears of regret. After traveling through many destinations in the underworld, Aeneas and
Sibyl arrive at the blessed groves where the Trojan hero visits his father’s ghost. Aeneas asks his
father about the future of his lineage in Italy, and the spirit informs him that his descendant
Romelus will build a prosperous city called Rome and it will reach a golden age of civilization.
Aeneas who now has a good understanding of the importance of his journey leaves the
underworld and returns to his fleet.

While exploring the coast of Italy, Aeneas and his party arrive at the Kingdom of Latium
where King Latinus gives them land to settle and also offers Aeneas the hand of his daughter
Lavinia in marriage despite her already being promised to the legendary warrior, Turnus. One
day when Aeneas and his captains are eating on the beach, they spread fruits on loaves of hard
bread and use them as tables. Ascanius, Aeneas's son, laughingly mentions that the prophecy of
the Harpy who cursed them that they will have to eat their tables has now been fulfilled. Juno,
who has now failed to stop the Trojans from reaching Italy, dispatches one of her furies to infect
King Latinus’s wife, Queen Amata and Turnus the Latin hero with doubt and suspicion towards
the Trojans. Turnus, infuriated by the thought of both losing Lavinia and serving a Trojan King,
plots to defeat Aeneas. While Turnus is preparing for war, Ascanius hunts a stag that belongs to
Latinus.

The animal runs away injured and goes back to its master and dies before him. In a short
battle, the Trojans kill many of the shepherds and the crisis becomes even bigger. The surviving
shepherds go to King Latinus and beg him to avenge them. At first, the king does not want to
start a war but when his entire court including his wife and Turnus vociferously insist, he orders
for the army to assemble. Aeneas asks Arcadians who are the enemies of the Latins to join forces
with him. The Arcadian king, Evander, agrees and invites Aeneas to feast with them. During the
feast, he asks the Trojan hero to allow his son Pallas to accompany him on his campaign to learn
the art of war and return home safely.

Meanwhile, Venus goes to the temple of Vulcans and returns with a new set of armor for
Aeneas. She then presents his son with a special shield on which the story of future Roman glory
has been depicted. Aeneas beholds the magnificent shield in wonder and sees many scenes from
the future, such as a wolf raising his descendant Romulus and the victory of Caesar Augustus in
the battle of Actium over Mark Antony and Cleopatra. While Aeneas is busy mobilizing the
Arcadian reinforcement, Juno incites Turnus to attack the Trojan camp while their hero is away.
The Trojans fortify inside their newly built fortress and decide to avoid open battle.
Turnus, who cannot find a way inside, goes around the Trojan camp and sets fire to their
ships, but an old blessing that was bestowed upon Aeneas at the time of building his fleet by
Jupiter renders the ships immortal. Suddenly all the engulfed vessels submerge in water and re-
emerge as sea nymphs. The Latin soldiers witnessing this, waver and doubt their cause.

In the morning and after a failed attempt to send the news of Turnus’s attack to Aeneas, the
Trojans prepare for war. Turnus attacks the fort by setting fire to a high tower and collapsing it
on the Trojans. Ascanius, in return, shoots an arrow and kills a famous Latin General. The battle
heats up and the Trojans surprise the Latins by opening the gates and attacking the enemy
outside the walls. At this moment Turnus joins the fight and repulses the offensive. The Trojans
fall back inside the fort, not knowing that Turnus has followed them inside in the chaos. The
Latin general kills many Trojans with ease but is eventually outnumbered and escapes by
jumping into the river and swimming away.

On Mount Olympus, Jupiter who is surprised by the bloodshed in Italy summons the council
of gods to find a solution. There, Venus accuses Juno of trying to hurt her son and Juno replies
that she was not the one who forced Aeneas to go to Italy. Tired of the fighting, Jupiter
announces that from now on he will not help either side of the war and that the mortals have to
settle this themselves. Meanwhile, Aeneas who is marching towards the Trojan camp receives
naval reinforcement from the king of Tuscany. He orders his men to embark on the ships and sail
towards the battlefield.
 On their way, they see the sea nymphs that were born from the burnt Trojan fleets, who help
them to travel faster. Turnus spots the fleet getting close to the shore and orders his men to camp
at the beach to engage them upon their arrival. A few hours later a bloody battle begins. Aeneas
plunges himself into the fray and kills many of the Latins. Pallas, the Archadian prince, fights
bravely and despite his young age destroys the enemy in every turn. A few moments later,
Turnus and Pallas face each other in combat and throw their spears. Pallas’s spear goes through
Turnus’s shield and armor but fails to penetrate his skin, Turnus’s javelin in return, breaks
Pallas’s armor, sits deep in his chest, and kills him. Turnus then arrogantly walks towards the
fallen prince and takes his belt as a trophy.

The news of Pallas’s death reaches Aeneas. The Trojan hero furiously cuts through the Latin
army to find Turnus and avenge the prince. On Mount Olympus, Juno sees the Trojans winning
the battle and begs Jupiter to allow her to rescue Turnus. Jupiter agrees and Juno descends to
earth. First, she creates a phantom of Aeneas on the battlefield and fools Turnus into chasing
him. The phantom leaves the battlefield and goes on a ship, Turnus thinking that Aeneas is
fleeing goes on the ship to kill him. Once Turnus gets on the ship, Juno cuts the moorings and
the ship floats out to sea, taking Turnus to safety. The day after the battle, Aeneas orders an army
of one thousand soldiers to escort Pallas’s body to his father, King Evander. The Archadian king
is devastated by his son’s death but because Pallas fought and died with honor, he forgives
Aeneas and asks him to avenge his son. The Latins ask Aeneas for a twelve-day truce to bury
their dead.

At the court of King Latinus, the courtiers and other generals blame Turnus for the war and
ask him to challenge Aeneas to a duel and settle the quarrel himself. Right at this moment, the
news reaches the court that Aeneas is marching towards the city. Turnus who has now received
reinforcement from a race of warrior maidens leaves their leader Camilla in charge of the city
and rushes to face Aeneas. Aeneas splits his army into two divisions and sends his light cavalries
to encircle the city while he marches with the heavier units on a slower path. Soon the trojans
arrive at the gates and the battle begins. After a few hours and despite fighting with valor,
Camilla gets killed which causes the Latins to lose heart and go back inside the city. Meanwhile,
Turnus who is busy laying a trap to surprise Aeneas receives the news of Camilla’s death and
rushes back to the city. Turnus decides to challenge Aeneas to a single combat to settle both the
two nation’s quarrel and win Lavinia’s hand in marriage.

The next day both armies gather to witness the duel. Juno who knows that Aeneas will win the
duel, warns Turnus’s sister, Juturna, to be fearful of her brother’s safety. Juturna dresses up as a
noble officer and incites the army to start another battle and succeeds in doing so when a Latin
soldier throws a spear towards the Trojans killing a young warrior. The two armies engage in
battle again, Aeneas tries to stop the fight but when a stray arrow lands on his leg he retreats to
safety. Aeneas’s retreat emboldens Turnus to violate the terms of the pact and joins the battle.
Back at the Trojan camp, where their physician cannot remove the arrow from Aeneas's leg,
Venus sends a healing balm to pull the arrow and heal the wound.

Next, Aeneas goes back to the battlefield and charges the enemy. A bloody fight ensues, the tide
of battle changes a few times while both sides lose many men. After a few hours of bloodshed,
Aeneas realizes that the city’s defenses have been neglected during the battle, so he gathers a
group of his soldiers and conquers the capital. Hearing that the city has fallen to the Trojans,
queen Amata loses all hope and hangs herself. When Turnus finds out that the city has fallen, he
goes to Aeneas and asks him to fight him man to man and honor their original agreement. Just
like Achilles and Hector, Aeneas chases Turnus ten times round, between the walls of Latium
and the lines of men. On Mount Olympus, Jupiter tells Juno that she must concede defeat. Juno
seeing that Turnus is no match for Aeneas agrees to stop the animosity against Venus, if the
Trojans adopt the name and the language of the Latins. Jupiter accepts, then sends one of the
furies in the form of an ominous bird to flap its wings before Turnus. Terrified by the haunting
omen of the bird, Turnus wavers and loses his concentration.

At this moment, Aeneas throws his spear at him and injures his leg. As Aeneas walks towards
Turnus to finish him, the fallen general begs the trojan hero to spare his life for the sake of his
father. Aeneas is almost convinced to let Turnus live but at the last moment, he sees Pallas’s belt
around his shoulder. Filled with rage by remembering the fallen youth, he kills the Latin hero by
driving his sword into his heart.