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Plot in Aeneid

Plot Examples in Aeneid:

Book I

🔒 15

"Idalian..."   (Book I)

This refers to a mountain and forest in Cyprus considered sacred to Venus. Since she is his mother, then this is a completely safe place for Ascanius to be while he is asleep.

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"That Cupid should assume the shape and face Of sweet Ascanius..."   (Book I)

Venus doesn't trust Dido and the Tyrians, so she asks Cupid to assume the shape of Ascanius to serve as a spy just in case there is some treachery brewing.

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"We want not cities, nor Sicilian coasts..."   (Book I)

Illoneus is emphasizing that the Trojans are not seeking military conquest—they simply want a new home.

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"Antheus, Sergestus grave, Cloanthus..."   (Book I)

Antheus, Sergestus, and Cloanthus are all comrades of Aeneas. They are believed lost in the storm at sea until Aeneas spots them at Dido's temple.

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"My household gods, companions of my woes, With pious care I rescued from our foes..."   (Book I)

Aeneas means that he literally retrieved the statues of his household gods to save them from the Greeks, who sacked Troy. This act serves as a symbolic representation of saving his faith from destruction so he can take it to a new land.

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"her friendly pow'r shall join, To cherish and advance the Trojan line..."   (Book I)

Venus foretells a time when even Juno will begin to use her powers to help the Romans as their civilization develops.

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"Thy son (nor is th' appointed season far) In Italy shall wage successful war, Shall tame fierce nations in the bloody field, And sov'reign laws impose, and cities build..."   (Book I)

Venus is foretelling the outcome of Aeneas's and the Trojans' arrival in Italy—the creation of the Roman civilization—and the successes of the future civilization, which will rule the known world for centuries.

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"Lavinian..."   (Book I)

"Lavinian" is a reference to the city of Lavinium, which Aeneas establishes once he arrives in Italy.

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"And is it thus that Jove his plighted faith regards..."   (Book I)

By asking questions such as this, Venus is trying very hard to goad Jupiter into helping Aeneas and the Trojans reach Latium (Italy) so that they can start the Roman race.

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"Are banish'd earth; and, for the wrath of one, Remov'd from Latium and the promis'd throne..."   (Book I)

Venus, goddess of Love,  is referring to Juno's hatred of the Trojans and how that hatred has ruined Jupiter's plans to begin the Roman race with Aeneas and his survivors of the Trojan War. Venus is also Aeneas's mother.

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"Acestes' gift, When his Trinacrian shores the navy left..."   (Book I)

Acestes, who lives in Sicily, is the son of the Sicilian river god Crimisus and a Trojan woman named Egesta. When Aeneas and the Trojan fleet stop in Sicily, Alcestes entertains them and helps supply their ships. Trinicria is a Latin poetic name for Sicily.

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"Is it for you to ravage seas and land, Unauthoriz'd by my supreme command..."   (Book I)

As the sea-god, Neptune is not so much angered by what Aeolus, the god of wind, has done to the Trojan fleet but because no one consulted him first before creating such a storm.

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"the god his sister's envy knew..."   (Book I)

As Neptune sees the Trojan fleet in distress, he realizes that Juno is responsible.

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"The trembling pilot, from his rudder torn, Was headlong hurl'd..."   (Book I)

The ship's pilot, the only person who could navigate the ship through the reefs, is lost.

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"Expell'd and exil'd..."   (Book I)

The basis of the Aeneid is that Aeneas, part of the royal family of Troy,  escaped from Troy at the end of the Trojan War and fled to a mythical area of Italy known as Latium.

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